Too many Google popup ads!!!!

[Awinner2]

While I enjoy my morning coffee, is anyone else having their viewing pleasure ruined by the Google ad popups dominated the bottom of every page?

 

[fisicx]

Install adblocker! Can understand why anyone hasn’t already.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Adblocker, Brave Browser, No-script, etc, etc

You are already providing free content, no reason why you should be tolerating invasive ads.

 

[fisicx]

^^ brave all the way. Don’t use anything else. Total privacy.

Only problem is none of the local women think much of it as they no longer want to meet me.

 

[AllUpHere]

Install adblocker! Can understand why anyone hasn’t already.

As a marketer I would never want to block ads. Maybe I'm just a bit sad, bit I'm always interested to see how good / bad (or indifferent) ads from certain companies are.

 

[Alan]

Up until the bottom pop up ad - I have never felt the need for an Ad Blocker on any site, sort of similar reasons to AllUpHere but today I installed Ad Block Plus - now thats better.

I guess what I'm saying is, 99.9% of websites are responsible with their Adverts and it doesn't hurt them.

But if I were a non member visiting UKBF for the first time, the ads would drive me away, so I'd assume they are having a negative impact on participation and potentially membership.

 

[Ozzy]

Can I ask, judging by the comments does the ad at the bottom look more intrusive than this on others browsers?

 

[fisicx]

The problem is that's a popup. It covers the content until you click to make it go away.

If it were just an inline advert it wouldn't be a problem.

And the advert itself is just clickbait. 'what Gordon Ramsey rides at 54' has no relevance to a business forum.

 

[Fagin2021]

The problem is that's a popup. It covers the content until you click to make it go away.

If it were just an inline advert it wouldn't be a problem.

Agree.

 

[Alan]

image upload

 

[Ozzy]

Understood and thank you for the screengrab @Alan
I'll move this to the feedback forum, and use it as a reference for trying to get it sorted.

 

[Ozzy]

You are already providing free content, no reason why you should be tolerating invasive ads.

I obviously have a slightly different opinion on this. I'm paying Google, Facebook and other agencies money to drive traffic to these forums in the hope some of the visitors spend money with the members on here...in turn driving engagement and community cohesion. Just the hosting platform costs into the thousands a month, and these ads alone don't cover that cost.
I do have more long term plans too, but these are as it stands for the next few months.

^^ brave all the way. Don’t use anything else. Total privacy.

I do dislike browsers like that and feel there are longer wider ramifications of them. They implement ad-hijacking, so I pay a lot a month in advertising to promote these forums and the ads help recover some of that income. Browsers like Brave rewrite the site code hiding my ads and showing their own in their place. They then take that ad revenue and keep it themselves.
It's like owning a restaurant, you pay to promote your restaurant and people come in to eat, you feed them at your cost, but then someone walks in saying pay me instead and I'll keep what you ate a secret, and your guests pay that person instead and leave. It's basically theft.

However...
I'm going to try something today and hope I don't break the forums. If I do then I fear my colleagues may kill me, but I'm going to try and hide the ads from Full Members. I feel that is a fair option.
I don't have control over how the ads are displayed, their size or positioning at the moment but I think I may be able to implement this.

 

[Newchodge]

I don't have any ad blocker and I haven't seen the bottom popups for a while. When I did the annoyance was more that you got rid of one and, like a bus, another immediately turned up.

 

[fisicx]

@Ozzy, the problem coming down the road is all browsers will block third party cookies by default. This means no tracking which means no adverts. Google is developing FLOC so they can track you if you use chrome but targeted adverts are likely to be a thing of the past. Many major sites are now looking at alternative means of income.

Ps, I’ve enabled adverts on UKBF for you.

 

[UKBF Tech Support]

Ps, I’ve enabled adverts on UKBF for you.

You don't need to, you Mods do enough to help support these forums

Anyway, I think I've removed the top and bottom ads for Full Members so if @Alan and @Fagin2021 can confirm it's worked that would be grand please. The left ads make me nervous as last time I tinkered with the left side of these forums it caused the down time earlier this week, so I'll leave them for one of my developers to look at.

 

[Newchodge]

You don't need to, you Mods do enough to help support these forums

Anyway, I think I've removed the top and bottom ads for Full Members so if @Alan and @Fagin2021 can confirm it's worked that would be grand please. The left ads make me nervous as last time I tinkered with the left side of these forums it caused the down time earlier this week, so I'll leave them for one of my developers to look at.

What have you done with Ozzy you robotic tech person?

 

[fisicx]

That’s Marvin the Paranoid Android. Well known product of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Mate of Zaphod Beeblebrox.

 

[Newchodge]

That’s Marvin the Paranoid Android. Well known product of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Mate of Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Brain the size of the universe and they've got him opening doors!

 

[AllUpHere]

Adblocker, Brave Browser, No-script, etc, etc

You are already providing free content, no reason why you should be tolerating invasive ads.

I'm a firm believer that we shouldn't have to pay to be members because we provide all the content for free, but that's only half the story. The content we provide is no good unless the forum owners have a commercial use for it. If allowing advertising is how they choose to monetise our content, we can't really complain.

 

[Ozzy]

What have you done with Ozzy you robotic tech person?

Full body assimilation has been accomplished. Greetings human.

 

[fisicx]

I'm a firm believer that we shouldn't have to pay to be members because we provide all the content for free, but that's only half the story. The content we provide is no good unless the forum owners have a commercial use for it. If allowing advertising is how they choose to monetise our content, we can't really complain.

Yes, but the ads should be relevant and useful and not so intrusive they make using the site difficult. I have ads on one of my sites and they bring in a decent amount each month. But that’s because I’ve taken time to make sure they are the right adverts. The ones I see on UKBF are mostly clickbait.

 

[Newchodge]

Full body assimilation has been accomplished. Greetings human.

You are making a bit of an assumption in your second sentence, there!

 

[Ozzy]

I'm a firm believer that we shouldn't have to pay to be members because we provide all the content for free, but that's only half the story.

I accept there are different definitions that could be applied with the term "content", so in my interpretation of what you are saying...
In it's current structure and usage, no-one has found a way to make these forums sustainable on the content/discussions. The previous owners tried to address that by creating their own content but still that wasn't financially viable.

I have a 5 year road map for these forums which I believe will work, but it means changing their purpose. Why do these forums exist, what purpose and value can they provide to the members. The discussion (content) is the goo that helps bring everyone together in my roadmap, it's not a commercial benefit.