Why am I getting ads in my posts???

[jack58]

Just run an adblocker.

Hey! You have the same amount of "trophy points" as me. LOL
How does this adblocker work? Will it eliminate all ads or just some?
Would it work in my google email too. I hate those google ads...

 

[bIOforger]

I think a lot of people have the same amount of trophies now after the forum changes lol. They block all usually, you can disable or enable it by site if you wish and you can also customise the lists they use for blocking ads, they also auto update the ad lists. It's a no brainer as ads are a pet hate of mine, find them very intrusive. ABP for Chrome is a popular one and the one i use.

For the one that gets updated auto, they use Easylist; https://easylist.to/

 

[Phases]

Trophies are great It will take people some getting used to, but they take a number of things into account to generate the number you have. They are definitely growing on me.

 

[jack58]

Trophies are great It will take people some getting used to, but they take a number of things into account to generate the number you have. They are definitely growing on me.

Gee, you only have 1,463 of 'em.

 

[Phases]

I've been around for a minute.

 

[mikedt]

I think a lot of people have the same amount of trophies now after the forum changes lol. They block all usually, you can disable or enable it by site if you wish and you can also customise the lists they use for blocking ads, they also auto update the ad lists. It's a no brainer as ads are a pet hate of mine, find them very intrusive. ABP for Chrome is a popular one and the one i use.

For the one that gets updated auto, they use Easylist; https://easylist.to/

Google gives you a lovely browser for free, and you want to block their ads?

It is advertising that pays for pretty much everything free from Google, and Android Forums, etc. And tracking things that you do online, to give you ads based on what you might be interested in.

 

[bIOforger]

Google gives you a lovely browser for free, and you want to block their ads?

It is ads that pays for pretty much everything free from Google, and Android Forums, etc.

Don't see your point really all browsers are free, Google? not so much, but they get plenty of revenue from unpaid taxes it's all the other sites, including most forums that annoy me as they are overly intrusive. I didn't mind a few ads in the past, but these days it goes too far. And then of course some sites don't function correctly unless ads are allowed and they can detect if you are running a blocker, Google, here, wherever could implement that if they wanted to.

Anyway personal choice isn't it.

 

[lunatic59]

I had to go to an ad blocker because it's entirely too intrusive on many sites and interferes with ... well, everything. AND I AM IN THE ADVERTISING BUSINESS!!

You're going to have to look at the long term math with your ad management team. This is all about impressions and if you have fewer views with more ads, you're breaking even but hurting your brand. Not to mention, Google penalizes your SEO ranking if there are too many ads per page, even if the ads come from Google. Ads in the posts are a losing proposition.

 

[Rob]

I want to preface this post by saying right now we are doing A LOT of testing and A LOT of tweaking, ad placements included.

This 1st Post ad is something we've shown for years, but to guests only. As a company, we need to start reintroducing some ads to members (we will also be reintroducing a VIP ad-free option), and I felt that this ad placement was much LESS intrusive than the alternative. Sign out and look at the "guest" ad in the header- I personally find that the most intrusive ad of all (especially mobile). With the 1st post ad being the first on the page for members, it allows you to consume new threads without distraction.

If you had to choose- would you rather see the header ad instead of the 1st post ad? Do both completely turn you off?

We've opened a more detailed discussion about this complaint and will be monitoring feedback. You also may notice a few different "tests" we run with different ad configurations/placements for members. Feel free to screenshot and share things you hate or don't mind. I'm guessing most people aren't going to "love" anything, but if you happen to... entertain me!

 

[Clementine_3]

I'd prefer to not see any within the threads. Slap them all over the top and side bars but keep the threads clean. And no auto play videos. And and no full screen pop-ups, they just suck

 

[PurrsSW]

I have a rather slow connection, certainly by city standards, so if I don't have my computer locked down against ads, particularly video ads, I can't even load a page. So far, I haven't seen one here, but I haven't tried to come in on mobile yet. Sites with a lot of ads have hung up my whole browser plenty of times and I had to shut it down in task manager just because some bit of media got stuck trying to load and I didn't have enough speed for it. I get stuck at least once every time I go to Google Playstore with script running errors- usually when I was trying to read all the reviews.

I dread going to graphic-heavy sites in general because I'll have to sit there ten minutes waiting for one large picture to load. I only do my shopping in the middle of the night, when I have a little better speed and can even look at the products. There is nothing I can do to improve my speed in rural NM; it's bad for all of us and because we haven't a lot of population, it's not going to get better any time soon. I'm just going to be targeted with ads for organic food and supplements for cats and dogs anyway, so it's not as if I object to ads for their own sake.

 

[iowabowtech]

Oh my, I run an ad blocker but just turned it off to see what people were talking about. The full page ad and the ad in the OP are not good karma. I'm not sure I've ever seen one in the posting area on any reputable forum and if I have, there's a reason I don't remember it...didn't stick around long enough to retain it.

 

[psionandy]

I suppose I could live with most of them if I had to... Except adverts within a post. They cross the line

 

[El Presidente]

If you had to choose- would you rather see the header ad instead of the 1st post ad? Do both completely turn you off?

I'd prefer neither, but if I had to choose, I'd say the header ad would be preferential.

 

[psionandy]

I'd prefer neither, but if I had to choose, I'd say the header ad would be preferential.

Agreed.. Androidforums.com owns the page... So the header is your space.. And as long as it's a legitimate ad, I'm fine with that.


Once you start tampering with users posts and adding advertising inside them , it effects the moral integrity of the site.

That's a deal Breaker for me. Im prepared to stake my digital reputation on anything I write... And also prepared to apologise for any mistakes I make... But if you're going to be placing advertising content in my posts, that looks like it may have come from me, then I can't do that.

I also expect assume that other people behave in a similar way.

Ad blocking wouldn't solve that problem, you guys deserve to get paid for what you've built.... And I'm fine with that. And i understand your experimenting right now

BUT if you did carry on with advertising in users posts, that would be a big problem...

 

[PurrsSW]

ABP for Chrome is a popular one and the one i use.

Is that available for mobile too? I know I should know this much already but I haven't been using Chrome on mobile up till now, but Opera Mini and CM browsers instead (they were 'supposed to be' faster...?) and I never found an ad-blocker for either. I have been driven off a lot of forums I like because of full page ads taking over that I can't close without throwing myself off the page. Most business sites have their own apps now, anyway so I just don't do any browsing on mobile anymore except on Google or Amazon playstores. Now I'm going to use Chrome in the hope that at least Google already knows it's a waste of time showing me anything but natural food stores and veterinary supplies.

But- and this is another newbie question: is it just the users being targeted or does the specific site we visit attract its own type of ads that we can't influence no matter what we actually buy on our own? I shop at Sportsman's Guide too, do all my 'fashion shopping' there but I'm not being shown survival gear and discount ammo, just a lot of stuff I'd never under any circumstances take an interest in. Showing a senior female survivalist who does no social media networking (and doesn't go to queer sites either) a lot of scantily-clad young tarts promoting hook-up sites and games developed by perverts is kind of stupid.

 

[El Presidente]

Is that available for mobile too? I know I should know this much already but I haven't been using Chrome on mobile up till now, but Opera Mini and CM browsers instead (they were 'supposed to be' faster...?) and I never found an ad-blocker for either. I have been driven off a lot of forums I like because of full page ads taking over that I can't close without throwing myself off the page. Most business sites have their own apps now, anyway so I just don't do any browsing on mobile anymore except on Google or Amazon playstores. Now I'm going to use Chrome in the hope that at least Google already knows it's a waste of time showing me anything but natural food stores and veterinary supplies.

ABP doesn't work on Chrome for mobile unless you're rooted. If you're not, this is by far the best Adblocker I've used - https://block-this.com/

But- and this is another newbie question: is it just the users being targeted or does the specific site we visit attract its own type of ads that we can't influence no matter what we actually buy on our own? I shop at Sportsman's Guide too, do all my 'fashion shopping' there but I'm not being shown survival gear and discount ammo, just a lot of stuff I'd never under any circumstances take an interest in. Showing a senior female survivalist who does no social media networking (and doesn't go to queer sites either) a lot of scantily-clad young tarts promoting hook-up sites and games developed by perverts is kind of stupid.

I'm not sure how it works as several staff members, including myself, are reporting similar sorts of ads on freshly installed, never before used browsers. I think that's something the admin team will need to take up with the ad network.

 

[bIOforger]

Is that available for mobile too?

What @El Presidente said and you can get stand alone browsers based on chrome with an AD blocker extension included from the Play store, but yea the ad blocker for android linked above is probably your best bet. I also use it on my phone.

 

[PurrsSW]

ABP doesn't work on Chrome for mobile unless you're rooted. If you're not, this is by far the best Adblocker I've used - https://block-this.com/

Thanks! Going to get it.

What @El Presidente said and you can get stand alone browsers based on chrome with an AD blocker extension included from the Play store, but yea the ad blocker for android linked above is probably your best bet. I also use it on my phone.

Thanks to both of you! I downloaded and installed it but may have to try again. When I try to start it in my app drawer, it just sits there and won't open, no matter how many times I tap it. I can't start it up from there and the S7 Edge won't tell me if it's running or not - well not the way the Note 4 used to do in the application manager. I'll uninstall and try again.
Edit: It's working now. It was probably just my connection and yes, I'm still learning where things are in my new phone. Thanks again for enabling me to browse at last!

 

[Xyro]

If you had to choose- would you rather see the header ad instead of the 1st post ad? Do both completely turn you off?

The apps I find most off putting are actually those that move with the screen, when on mobile. Not just full screen ads (we all know those are awful on a mobile), but I'm specifically referring to the ones that are attached to the bottom of the screen. When you scroll, they disappear, and then when you stop, they reappear. Whilst I'm sure that these are more profitable ads, given that they're so hard to ignore, it sure is irritating to have them pop up all the time.

 

[PurrsSW]

The apps I find most off putting are actually those that move with the screen, when on mobile. Not just full screen ads (we all know those are awful on a mobile), but I'm specifically referring to the ones that are attached to the bottom of the screen. When you scroll, they disappear, and then when you stop, they reappear. Whilst I'm sure that these are more profitable ads, given that they're so hard to ignore, it sure is irritating to have them pop up all the time.

Are they more profitable? I've experienced the ones you're talking about on a lot of sites. My favorite conspiracy site was ruined by them because the whole site is text and they make it so much harder to read on mobile.

I've wondered how all that works and how you get which kinds of ads. Is a site compensated if users click on an ad, (maybe by mistake) even if they don't buy anything? How can something that most often annoys people turn out to be profitable for the advertisers? Remember Starship Troopers? 'Would you like to know more?' Maybe we wouldn't resent that approach quite so much.

There's a site I go to every day, just to 'click,' because it's supposed to be helping feed animals in shelters - that I have never ever seen popping up on a webpage. They also have a store and whatever one purchases contributes more, but I'll at least visit and click on the bar, since it helps.
http://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ars/home
But, I've never seen that one go anywhere it isn't asked to do so clearly they're not hustling on websites. I had to sign up to get them to send me 'daily reminders' to go click there and only heard of them through signing so many petitions for animals, I found myself on some they sponsored.

The knowledgeable members and admins here already know where they like to do business and if I were going to look at ads here, I'd be more interested in their opinions about where to shop for all my technology needs. They're bound to turn me on to places I'd never hear of otherwise that could actually do me some good.

 

[Xyro]

Are they more profitable? I've experienced the ones you're talking about on a lot of sites. [..]

I've wondered how all that works and how you get which kinds of ads. Is a site compensated if users click on an ad, (maybe by mistake) even if they don't buy anything? How can something that most often annoys people turn out to be profitable for the advertisers?

I'm not privy to any specifics about AF. But I do know that ads generate money for the site that hosts them either (a) when a user clicks on them (regardless of whether the user goes on to use that service) or (b) when 1000 people view the ad.

Option B is still desirable for the advertiser because they are exposing people to their brand. They're not necessarily trying to attract web traffic.

The amount of money the host site receives per click, or per 1000 views, does differ depending on the type of ad, with full screen ads apparently being more valuable than smaller ads, because they're harder to ignore. However, I was making an assumption that the 'always on screen' ad is more profitable than those with a fixed position.

 

[mikedt]

I want to preface this post by saying right now we are doing A LOT of testing and A LOT of tweaking, ad placements included.

This 1st Post ad is something we've shown for years, but to guests only. As a company, we need to start reintroducing some ads to members (we will also be reintroducing a VIP ad-free option), and I felt that this ad placement was much LESS intrusive than the alternative. Sign out and look at the "guest" ad in the header- I personally find that the most intrusive ad of all (especially mobile). With the 1st post ad being the first on the page for members, it allows you to consume new threads without distraction.

If you had to choose- would you rather see the header ad instead of the 1st post ad? Do both completely turn you off?

We've opened a more detailed discussion about this complaint and will be monitoring feedback. You also may notice a few different "tests" we run with different ad configurations/placements for members. Feel free to screenshot and share things you hate or don't mind. I'm guessing most people aren't going to "love" anything, but if you happen to... entertain me!

Rob, now that I'm an ordinary AF member and no longer Guide status. I'm finding that I do have to block the ads in AF, because otherwise quite often pages fail to load in the browser, that's both on my phone and laptop.

I can't use the Forums for Android app at the moment because of the Google requirements.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

First post is okay.
That little pop-up that cover things at the bottom sucks though.

 

[jack58]

I'd prefer to not see any within the threads. Slap them all over the top and side bars but keep the threads clean. And no auto play videos. And and no full screen pop-ups, they just suck

I forgot about that pop up ad that takes over the whole page when I first come onto the forum. I don't like that either.

Ads on the top, sides & bottoms are OK, but If I keep seeing ads in my first post and pop ups that take over the page when I log on... I guarantee I won't be coming in here as much, only when I have to.

Are you sure paying ads is worth losing some long time member?
I've been here since 2011, six years.