E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 170: Episode 170: Advertising Revenue is Important, Netizens are Also Important

Chapter 170: Episode 170: Advertising Revenue is Important, Netizens are Also Important

Similar incidents where netizens protested about excessive advertising had happened to 51buy once before.

After that, netizens’ tolerance for ads did indeed increase somewhat, and there were also those activities where they could earn points by clicking on ads, so netizens stopped complaining.

However, this time the full-screen waterfall ads were different; they were mandatory, and every day, the content was exactly the same, which is why netizens quickly stopped buying into it.

The number of abusive posts in the water cooler area increased, and even netizens from competitor companies deliberately came over to disturb the normal order of the forum.

"kk, raise the daily login points reward to 1000 points! Then, for clicking on this waterfall ad, award 50 points each time, up to a total of 5 times... and give a 20% discount on products redeemed with points!" In response to this situation, Zhou Xueyin promptly had Kang Siyin make adjustments.

Even with these measures in place, they still failed to quell the netizens’ anger.

[You’ve sold out to a big corporation, and the prizes are so stingy. Can’t you exchange for the latest model of a phone at least? Oh! Sorry, do you only have an iPhone that’s visible but unattainable? I wish you that nobody will ever get this phone!]

[Exactly, the products for points redemption are those that should have been outdated eons ago! Do you really have the nerve to put them up there? Who are you embarrassing?]

[Not to mention, the pictures and the actual products don’t match at all! Last time I redeemed a product from a major cosmetics brand, and what arrived? Just a sample size! A sample, for crying out loud! And here I spent all that effort earning points!]

[Digging your brain out every day earns you just 1000 points, and redeeming an iPhone requires 300,000 points? The points reset to zero every year? Last year I was just 100 points shy from getting one! Whoever bothers with these points anymore is a fool!]

[To the person above, speak from your heart—if you come to the forum every day to earn points, you wouldn’t worry about getting an iPhone! I got one! Here’s the proof, here’s the truth!]

[Yo! Look, a paid shill has arrived! How much did 51buy pay you for speaking up for them?]

[Trash website, I can’t believe I posted so much useful content here! I’m deleting my account and leaving! Goodbye forever!]

..................

"Netizens are harder to placate with each passing generation..." Zhou Xueyin looked at the negative messages on the forum with growing anxiety.

She couldn’t just spend her own money on a Barbour bag to put up for redemption, could she?

The iPhone was previously an advertising product that ended up being used to pay off debts when the balance couldn’t be settled. There was only one, and unexpectedly, it really was redeemed.

Now, the top prize hanging there was just for show; if someone were to redeem it, she’d have to go out and buy one...

"Yinyin, look at you frowning so hard, you could catch a sheet of paper in your brow..." Li Jinian came over carelessly, rubbing Zhou Xueyin’s forehead.

"How can I not frown... just look at all these negative comments on the forum! And look at the daily active users!" Zhou Xueyin said anxiously, "Is it almost the end-of-year exam season? Are the students not willing to hang around the forum anymore?"

"Yinyin, the daily active count hasn’t changed much, and those IDs posting negative messages were all registered less than a month ago, new accounts. The ad click rate isn’t low! Don’t be anxious!" Kang Siyin sent Zhou Xueyin a screenshot of the most favorable data as evidence.

"Then delete those negative posts, right? They’re affecting the experience of new users too much..." Zhou Xueyin was about to delete them.

"No worries, leave them. You forgot, these cyberbullies, you kill one, and more will fly in. Ignoring them is the best counterattack! Relax, relax, don’t get anxious!" Li Jinian patted Zhou Xueyin’s head, "Bring out the spirit you used against that what’s-his-name! They’re just a bunch of cyberbullies, right? Just pretend they don’t exist!"

"All right! I’ll listen to you! Pretend they don’t exist. Anyway, the policy’s been changed, and the prizes are there. If they want them, they need to work for it!" Zhou Xueyin perked up, choosing to ignore the negative comments, "For this ad campaign, let’s change the big prize to Barbour’s latest bag of the season, okay?"

"Sounds good!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

But the internet trolls wouldn’t stop just because the admins ignored them and updated with a brand-new product.

They shamelessly posted a thread falsely accusing 51buy: [Unscrupulous company, the latest grand prize is actually a fake?]

The content of the post actually seemed credible, with screenshots of the redemption information, postage, receipts, and so on...

However, the images they provided were all blurrier, obviously made to be unclear whether they were Photoshopped.

"Ridiculous! Does the admin look like a fool to you? There’s no redemption info in the backend? How did they redeem it? Quite amusing!" Kang Siyin responded below the post using the admin account: The information does not match the actual situation. After posting that, she locked the thread.

Everyone treated it like a joke and just moved on.

Who would have thought that the next day, Chen Yue would come storming into the Silver Web Building’s 20th floor, paying a personal visit.

"President Chen, what brings you here?" Although she had already removed the cast from her leg, Zhou Xueyin still needed crutches to walk.

"President Zhou... What happened to you?" Chen Yue, who initially came in a fury, suddenly lost all her anger upon seeing Zhou Xueyin’s condition.

"Just an accident, let’s talk in the conference room..." Zhou Xueyin led Chen Yue into the conference room.

"I’ll get straight to the point. Someone sent me this screenshot in my email yesterday... What’s this about?" Chen Yue slammed a printout on the table in front of Zhou Xueyin.

"Ah, it’s just some trolls sent by competitors, trying to smear our site. Honestly, we haven’t even bought the prize for redemption yet..." Zhou Xueyin said apologetically.

"So, it was intentional slander... Now I understand, no wonder the pictures were so blurry. I’ve wronged you again... But after you published that ad, our sales department’s order line was inundated! They say it’s more attractive than our promo brochure." Chen Yue completely changed her aggressive stance and was almost beaming with joy.

"I’m glad it’s effective!" Zhou Xueyin truly breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that to achieve effective ads, it was necessary to take the pictures herself!

"Oh, and your foot?" Chen Yue was still very curious, how someone who sat in an office all day ended up on crutches.

"About that, it’s a long story..." Zhou Xueyin shared the tale of how her foot ended up in this condition with Chen Yue.

"Gosh, what a mess... I’m really sorry, President Zhou, this batch of products was actually left here by Philip for you. It was just me getting a bit selfish, my apologies!" Chen Yue apologized profusely.

She could never have dreamed that 51buy’s advertisement would be so effective.

While it was their first attempt at luxury product advertising, judging by the sales volume, it was more than double that of the previous quarter. It seemed genuinely necessary to form a long-term partnership with Zhou Xueyin.

"I’ll send those 15 items over as soon as I get back! It’s also a good chance to fight back against the forum trolls!" Chen Yue said with conviction.