Are ad sites killing the forum?

[dautley]

I've noticed forum pages being really slow lately waiting on ad sites viglink and netshelter to load ads.
What I mean by really slow is enough time to go to the Windows menu/all programs/accessories/ and load the snipping tool and take a screen capture, 30 to 45 seconds.
I know a sight like this needs ads to exist but why is it so slow? Hopefully you guys can find something a little faster, the wait times between page loads each time you click a link are getting really bad, and I'm on a G4 LTE Mi-Fi hotspot.
Sorry in advance Phases, I know I've complained about this before but it's really starting to hurt the whole experience you've worked so hard to build.

 

[SUroot]

You could try employing the "No Script"" add on to firefox.

 

[dautley]

It's working fine right now but there are times almost everyday it has that big lag.

 

[David56543]

You could try employing the "No Script"" add on to firefox.

^ This.

Ad servers are blocked via no-script add-on.

 

[dautley]

I'll have to admit the "No Script" add on seems to fix the page load time problems but some pages no longer display correctly on this and other sites, so the cure seems as bad as the problem. It's a shame things aren't working correctly to began with forcing members to pick which is the less of two evils.

 

[SUroot]

You can tailor what No Script blocks. It takes a little time to get it right but its worth the effort. Have a read of their site

NoScript - JavaScript/Java/Flash blocker for a safer Firefox experience! - what is it? - InformAction

 

[dautley]

You can tailor what No Script blocks. It takes a little time to get it right but its worth the effort. Have a read of their site

NoScript - JavaScript/Java/Flash blocker for a safer Firefox experience! - what is it? - InformAction

Thank you for offering a solution SUroot, while we all know that AF has to generate income to stay in business, hopefully Rob and Phases will understand that the average user shouldn't have to go through all of this just to make the site useable at times, and may eventually do something to alleviate the root of the problem.

I do realize the AF staff has been hard at work improving the forum over the last several months and we all appreciate the effort!

 

[iowabowtech]

There appears to be an extra long script running right now at each page load. This is well beyond what I've experienced in the past. Temporarily switching to FF.

 

[iowabowtech]

At this time, I can no longer access the site via my Gnex using Android browser. I get a popup about the page becoming unresponsive.

 

[Spz0]

I understand wanting revenue from a site, but thats a little ridiculous.
Skimwords hijacks your threads with shopping links that it "thinks" are relevant (but rarely are), has the horrible side effect of having people unintentionally click ads they dont want, just so you can get a few cents in your bank account. Come on shelly...
This is a higher traffic development site, and Im not sure about everyone else, but I personally dont want skimwords sticking links to ad revenue in a development thread that Im trying to have people download from.

Anyone else?

 

[treb1797]

Is this why the site has been running very slow today & at times unresponsive?

 

[dautley]

"waiting on skimwords" is what I've been getting but how do people expect AF to exist without donations or ad revenue? I just wish they would do ads that don't drag the site down the drain with them.

 

[Spz0]

google adwords works fine for 99% of sites. Why not this one? Why do the users have to suffer, and the developers have to have senseless ads injected into their threads?

There are pop up ads here, footer and header banners. That should be more than enough. If your that insistent on making m0ar m0ney$, how about sidebar adwords?? Skimwords is a nasty way to generate revenue by tricking the end user into clicking something they think may be a relevant thread link, when in actuality they are redirected to a pop window of something _completely_ irrelevant -- as well as piss off thread OPs.
tsk tsk...

edit:
Holy christ.... my "Device(s)" section is affected by adwords too?
This is seriously intrusive and angering to the point of not wanting to contribute to the site.

 

[Spz0]

one word.
Skimwords.......
http://androidforums.com/suggestion-box-feedback/588722-skimwords-really-af.html

 

[dautley]

My Premium membership expires Friday and it's going to be really hard to donate $20.00 for six months to keep it, and help out the site till the ad situation is resolved in a way that can help AF generate revenue And is customer friendly.

 

[Slug]

google adwords works fine for 99% of sites. Why not this one?

Only Rob, as owner, can answer that. However I'm pretty sure that as the guy who pays for the site he's got a pretty good grasp of what's required to keep a site with this level of traffic viable.

If your that insistent on making m0ar m0ney$, how about sidebar adwords??

The easiest option to would be to move to a subscription-only model to generate a regular income, like so many other sites have had to do to ensure their survival. I'm guessing that would generate even more complaints though.

 

[Spz0]

Only Rob, as owner, can answer that. However I'm pretty sure that as the guy who pays for the site he's got a pretty good grasp of what's required to keep a site with this level of traffic viable.



The easiest option to would be to move to a subscription-only model to generate a regular income, like so many other sites have had to do to ensure their survival. I'm guessing that would generate even more complaints though.

I've admined multiple forum sites over the decades (albeit none as high traffic as AF) and I dont think this site is suffering financially to the point of being in danger of shutting down.
I guess what Im trying to say is that by using skimwords to essentially trick users into clicking links ad links (because like it or not, unintentional clicks amounts to over *correction* 50% of the revenue generated using this method) is a proverbial shot below the belt to forum users, and lowers the standard of quality and user experience of the forum as a whole.
I hope that whoever made this decision reconsiders.

 

[Slug]

I've admined multiple forum sites over the decades (albeit none as high traffic as AF) and I dont think this site is suffering financially to the point of being in danger of shutting down.

As you've been an admin yourself you will then be well aware that as sites grow in popularity and gather content the resources required increase. Bandwidth and servers cost hard cash on a monthly basis, cash which has to come from somewhere. Despite this members here get full access gratis, something that's worth remembering.

I won't even comment on the suggestion that members are being deliberately "tricked".... disrespect like that isn't deserving of it.

 

[Spz0]

As you've been an admin yourself you will then be well aware that as sites grow in popularity and gather content the resources required increase. Bandwidth and servers cost hard cash on a monthly basis, cash which has to come from somewhere. Despite this members here get full access gratis, something that's worth remembering.

I won't even comment on the suggestion that members are being deliberately "tricked".... disrespect like that isn't deserving of it.

You can choose to be mad about what I said or take it as constructive criticism, but realize that my comment made was in regard and directed at the skimword module, not really at the admins.
An afterthought :
You can't tell me that skimword links are distinguishable in any way from posters links. So yes, it's designed to trick users in my opinion, and I'm sure in the opinion of others as well.
Out of curiosity : Do paid users have to endure that scamwords as well?

 

[Xyro]

Out of curiosity : Do paid users have to endure that scamwords as well?

Rob (the site owner) has now informed us that our inital implamentation of skimwords had a few bugs, which came to light once it was turned on. Most importantly, they were intended to only show up for guests; anyone logged into an account (be it premium/non-premium) should not be seeing them. I never saw them myself, as for whatever reason not everyone did, but several of the mods who were effected have said they are now gone.

Thanks for bearing with us.

 

[breadnatty08]

Just got one in Tapatalk. Blocked them all in Chrome at home. Are all the bugs fixed for users (and premium since I am)?

 

[Spz0]

Rob (the site owner) has now informed us that our inital implamentation of skimwords had a few bugs, which came to light once it was turned on. Most importantly, they were intended to only show up for guests; anyone logged into an account (be it premium/non-premium) should not be seeing them. I never saw them myself, as for whatever reason not everyone did, but several of the mods who were effected have said they are now gone.

Thanks for bearing with us.

Thanks for the update and Level response m8.

 

[dautley]

I get excited cause its fast again but on the very next page load back to running like molasses.

 

[badblue1]

I use ad free from the market, no problems at all. I never get popups or any ads, works great!

 

[dautley]

I use ad free from the market, no problems at all. I never get popups or any ads, works great!

The actual ad's aren't the issue here, it's the lag caused by the ad sites and/or AF.