Is there any value in owning RateMyProfessors?

by misc92
7 replies
I recently noticed, first hand, that Rate My Professors is an excellent tool for college students like myself.

It has also been a great success in the USA for the past decade.

So I would like to benchmark it and bring a version to my country and language. However, while i see it bringing a ton of traffic in (about 3 months every year - course election period), im unaware of how i could monetize it? I have no idea of the real value of a site like this

So far i thought of this methods:
- Random Google Ads
- Amazon Ads linking to books (hard to make $$ with them in this country, people rarely use amazon and rarely purchase the college books)
- Trying to sell advertisement space to large offline companies (like coke) once i have good traffic.

What do u think?, any advice?
#owning #ratemyprofessors
  • Profile picture of the author TryBPO
    Does you country/language not have anything similar?

    I think the real value with a site like RMP is that it holds people's attention in a really tough demo. While you might be able to make some $$ via AdSense with a site like this, you might be better off having a ratings section for student loans (affiliate offers + lead gen) or something like that.

    Honestly, I think the real value is in the content, reviews, and users. While you and I might not be able to see the value or make a ton of money with this age group, MTV purchased the site and will find some value there, I'm sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
    A similar website were put up in my country regarding school teachers. It did not become liked by the rated teachers. They felt that angry students could potentially harass them as revenge for bad grades..
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    • Profile picture of the author misc92
      Originally Posted by TryBPO View Post

      Does you country/language not have anything similar?

      I think the real value with a site like RMP is that it holds people's attention in a really tough demo. While you might be able to make some $$ via AdSense with a site like this, you might be better off having a ratings section for student loans (affiliate offers + lead gen) or something like that.

      Honestly, I think the real value is in the content, reviews, and users. While you and I might not be able to see the value or make a ton of money with this age group, MTV purchased the site and will find some value there, I'm sure.
      There is a really poor version made in 2007 that never became popular, but the owners never promoted it. They just purchased and installed a rating script and forgot about the site.

      The value might be in reselling a popular website then.
      Originally Posted by HomeBizNizz View Post

      A similar website were put up in my country regarding school teachers. It did not become liked by the rated teachers. They felt that angry students could potentially harass them as revenge for bad grades..
      I understand this, i think the original american site also has this issues but we have to live with them since there is no way to keep this system annonymous and at the same time, keeping it safe from fake reviewers.

      Anyway, the potential benefits students get from legit reviews really outweight fake reviews
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    • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
      Originally Posted by HomeBizNizz View Post

      A similar website were put up in my country regarding school teachers. It did not become liked by the rated teachers. They felt that angry students could potentially harass them as revenge for bad grades..
      Is this a bad thing? Why not have a site where the students get to have their say, good or bad. Allowing students free speech would make it popular and a lot easier to monetize. Of course, you'd want to keep it civil and remove inappropriate comments but that shouldn't be a problem.
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      • Profile picture of the author misc92
        Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

        Is this a bad thing? Why not have a site where the students get to have their say, good or bad. Allowing students free speech would make it popular and a lot easier to monetize. Of course, you'd want to keep it civil and remove inappropriate comments but that shouldn't be a problem.
        Yeah i dont see it as a bad thing.

        If anything, lets remember that bitter people are bitter for a reason, so if they take time out of their day to rate the professsors their comments, even if rude, migh hold some truth.

        In the past some professors in other countries have taken advantage of the anonimity provided by this sites and put up fake reviews about themselves to bump up their ratings.
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      • Profile picture of the author DTGeorge
        Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

        Is this a bad thing? Why not have a site where the students get to have their say, good or bad. Allowing students free speech would make it popular and a lot easier to monetize. Of course, you'd want to keep it civil and remove inappropriate comments but that shouldn't be a problem.
        Coming from a tiny country, I can safely say that many people would think of this as a horrible idea.

        Truth is, there are still many places where an "establishment" rules, and a section of the population is not seen as intelligent enough to make their own decisions.

        It would be great among the students - but hated among the school administrators (just speaking for my tiny space in the world)

        Of course, this would actually mean it's an even better idea in this country than most lol
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        • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
          Originally Posted by DTGeorge View Post

          Coming from a tiny country, I can safely say that many people would think of this as a horrible idea.

          Truth is, there are still many places where an "establishment" rules, and a section of the population is not seen as intelligent enough to make their own decisions.

          It would be great among the students - but hated among the school administrators (just speaking for my tiny space in the world)

          Of course, this would actually mean it's an even better idea in this country than most lol
          I understand. What do you think the bigshots in your country would think of your sig file?
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