Ad Reduction For Registered Users

[Ian]

In an effort to try and further offset the forum costs - I have made changes to the ad spots while trying to give all of the registered users a better experience.

Many of you have seen "Sponsored Link" areas on this forum, which will now only be viewed by guests, along with a notification to sign up for an account. To view the difference simply logout, and view the forum, click on posts, etc. I'm sure you'll see the difference.

I have also reduced the number of third party ad spots for registered users, with registered users now seeing a minimal number of ads on each page at any given time during your session. In most cases you'll now see just one at the top of the board, and one at the bottom. There will also be a reduction of third party ads in the middle of posts, etc. But you should notice a cleaner and smoother and less "noisy" experience compared to the previous set-up going forward. For those who have donated the ads have now been completely eliminated all together.

Hopefully the reduction for normal registered users helps to make your experience here a bit easier compared to previously. The goal was to reward all of our regular registered users and those who donate, so for those visiting the forum - if you would like reduced noise and fewer windows - please simply take a moment to register and you'll see many of those windows disappear once you login.

 

[DSal]

Great job, Ian, thank you.

 

[amazinPats]

Ian,

I logged out, checked it out and logged back in. I'm still getting the annoying ads which follow me like some (mis)guided missile!

It's okay to have ads but the kind which chase your every move is a real downer. Still, I'd rather have ads than no site at all. I depend on coming here for the latest news and analysis.

 

[Ian]

Ian,

I logged out, checked it out and logged back in. I'm still getting the annoying ads which follow me like some (mis)guided missile!

It's okay to have ads but the kind which chase your every move is a real downer. Still, I'd rather have ads than no site at all. I depend on coming here for the latest news and analysis.

I've noticed pop-up ads that I wasn't aware would be running with this ad network. From what I can see they happen once per session - and only when I first get on the forum. I'll have to investigate this further.

As an FYI most ad networks now are implementing cookies (even Google Ads) to track your trends and interests to deliver ads targeted toward that. So be sure to clear out your cookies every so often if you have any privacy concerns - or enable the privacy functions in your browser as well.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

I've noticed pop-up ads that I wasn't aware would be running with this ad network. From what I can see they happen once per session - and only when I first get on the forum. I'll have to investigate this further.

As an FYI most ad networks now are implementing cookies (even Google Ads) to track your trends and interests to deliver ads targeted toward that. So be sure to clear out your cookies every so often if you have any privacy concerns - or enable the privacy functions in your browser as well.

OK, got it. I was wondering why all of sudden i was getting pop ups when id log in. lol.

 

[PrairiePat]

Some of these pop ups are getting very annoying. I just had one that triggered the corporate filter on explicit sites, and also put up a second "Are you sure you want to leave this page??" pop up when I tried to close it.

If this is the way the site is intended to work, I may be forced to only drop in here from home.

 

[Ian]

Some of these pop ups are getting very annoying. I just had one that triggered the corporate filter on explicit sites, and also put up a second "Are you sure you want to leave this page??" pop up when I tried to close it.

If this is the way the site is intended to work, I may be forced to only drop in here from home.

I'll get in touch with them and see if I can filter that out - I found it pretty annoying as well and am not a fan of those either

 

[Ian]

I'll get in touch with them and see if I can filter that out - I found it pretty annoying as well and am not a fan of those either

That one is now disabled - so it should go away in a few hours.

 

[jmt57]

Hey Ian, thanks for getting rid of those pop-ups, they were very annoying.

I don't mind the new ads at all, since there are enough of them in the rotation I don't find myself getting sick of seeing them. There is one quirk to the new ads though; I wanted to see if for some reason this is only happening to me or if this happens to others as well.

When the McDonalds ad comes up the box just below the ad and above the thread - the one with the hyperlinks back to the subforums on the left, and the welcome message on the right - disappears. The result is no way to get back to the forum other than hitting the back arrow. Not a huge inconvenience but just rather odd.

The other thing that happens when that add appears is that I can no longer see the whole message horizontally; I have to scroll left to right to see everything. I've double checked and this has nothing to do with a specific thread, but does happen whenever that McDonald's ad is at the top of the page. Again, not an earth shattering inconvenience but does seem kind of strange.

Anyways, thanks for all your effort, the additional server, and getting rid of those pop ups for us.

 

[Ian]

Hey Ian, thanks for getting rid of those pop-ups, they were very annoying.

I don't mind the new ads at all, since there are enough of them in the rotation I don't find myself getting sick of seeing them. There is one quirk to the new ads though; I wanted to see if for some reason this is only happening to me or if this happens to others as well.

When the McDonalds ad comes up the box just below the ad and above the thread - the one with the hyperlinks back to the subforums on the left, and the welcome message on the right - disappears. The result is no way to get back to the forum other than hitting the back arrow. Not a huge inconvenience but just rather odd.

The other thing that happens when that add appears is that I can no longer see the whole message horizontally; I have to scroll left to right to see everything. I've double checked and this has nothing to do with a specific thread, but does happen whenever that McDonald's ad is at the top of the page. Again, not an earth shattering inconvenience but does seem kind of strange.

Anyways, thanks for all your effort, the additional server, and getting rid of those pop ups for us.

What browser do you use?

 

[jmt57]

The computer I'm on right now uses IE but tomorrow I'll try it on my other one w/Firefox and see if it does the same thing, and let you know.

thanks

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Edit: regarding the need to scroll left-to-right to see everything that was written on a post or thread, that has nothing to do with the ad. Have figured out that is due to the size of a picture in a forum member's signature.

 

[jmt57]

Have been on the site this morning using Firefox, and finally just got that McDonald's ad. Same thing happened as when I used IE - both the need to scroll left to right, as well as losing the box between the ads and the thread that contains the links back to the subforums and the welcome message. This is the only ad that this happens with.

As for the other times I need to scroll left to right, that is strictly due to sizes of images within a thread or signature; has nothing to do with the ads or which browser I'm using.

-

edit: Just got the McDonald's ad at the top again, and now the page appearance is normal (i.e., I can see the box with the links back to the subforums and the welcome message.) First time that has happened, so I'm guessing whatever caused that to happen previously has now been fixed.


thanks