Ads

[JtB]

I’m not going to worry about the extra second or so loading a page, the ad free period is up and the options available now have changed (that’s life) and I’m not that concerned about scamy / distasteful ads, I see far worse in my email spam folder.

 

[JtB]

In my case the banner ads on my phone are shrinking the columns of threads to 50% of the screen width making them very hard to read.

Not seeing that myself, but I would say that’s useful feedback for site admin.

 

[Kempstonian]

I don't particulary like ads - that's why I have Adblocker Plus installed - but if the site is losing out I'll happily turn them on here. Its no bother.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I bought a treadmill

Must be hard to get off

 

[classic33]

There's one change, on site, since the adverts appeared. The disappearance of a name from the bottom site banner.

No-one seems to have noticed that bit, or even mentioning it.

 

[Mugshot]

There's one change, on site, since the adverts appeared. The disappearance of a name from the bottom site banner.

No-one seems to have noticed that bit, or even mentioning it.

From what I understand you’ve had longer than most people on this thread to look at the ads, so maybe that extra time has allowed you to notice more things, perhaps you could share your insights.

 

[classic33]

Amongst other things:
1. they're slower to load than the site, so you go to click on something and between you moving and clicking, the banner appears and dagnabbit you clicked on the banner and then the Googopoly thinks you're a good mark for more ads like that;
2. donors were told the ads wouldn't appear for quite a long time but it seems that's over - I suspect people were expecting another chance to donate to keep the ads away;
3. some of the ads seem to be scammy or otherwise distasteful;
4. they seem to be farking up the layout on mobiles.

The first part of your post makes you sound like a car driver held up for a few seconds by a cyclist.

 

[mjr]

The first part of your post makes you sound like a car driver held up for a few seconds by a cyclist.

I'd say more like a cyclist diligently following NCN route signs and ending up without warning redirected into a no-cycling area.

 

[postman]

I'm tired i have now been on here twenty six hours and thirty five mins.And still no singles or Russian ladies want to meet me,is it cos i'm bald and ugly.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I'm just wondering why this site change was done with no announcement. There's nothing in the Site News section about it.

 

[I like Skol]

I'm tired i have now been on here twenty six hours and thirty five mins.And still no singles or Russian ladies want to meet me,is it cos i'm bald and ugly.

It must be your pish poor pension?

 

[ColinJ]

[QUOTE 5441809, member: 9609"]
... many sites run quite a lot of scripts that control the adverts and trackers, its quite easy to demonstrate if you use something like "NoScript" where you can turn these things on and off, that coupled with a good multimeter and you can watch the amps change.

many many sites can be using an extra 10 to 20 watts, some of the ridiculous local newspaper websites are running that much crap they can put your consumption up by 50 or 60 watts - seriously, they are as resource hungry as gaming.
[/QUOTE]
I am using my old laptop this evening. (I stick with it because it has a great keyboard.) Many webpages load slowly on this machine and I had assumed that it was just the speed of my broadband that was the limiting factor. In fact, it turns out that my 15 Mb/s is plenty fast enough - it is the lack of processor power that is to blame. My new laptop loads the same pages about 10 times quicker because it has the oomph to handle all of that extra crap. It was quite a shock to realise how much hidden processing was going on!

 

[PaulSB]

I'm always amused by online advertising and the complete waste of money it represents to the companies involved.

Recently I've been booking long haul flights, hotels and car hire. All completed and paid for - now I start to receive targeted advertising!!!

At the top of this page I'm offered running "action plans." At the bottom a nice Cannondale. I don't need either.

Prior to these threads I was only vaguely aware adverts were appearing as I simply mentally screen these out on any web page. When I want to buy something I search for it, advertising has no impact on me.

If advertisers want to spend their money supporting my enjoyment of CC for no financial returns it's fine with me. As another poster effectively said advertising doesn't work. In a career spanning 40+ years I found advertising of value in the early 80s - trade papers and magazines being virtually the only method of mass communication. In the 22 years of my last employment before retiring I quickly learned it was pointless and simply had a negative impact on our bottom line.

If this helps Shaun with CC costs it has my support. All we have to do is avert our gaze. Simple.

 

[PaulSB]

[QUOTE 5442182, member: 9609"]I'm a bit like you in that I also can't believe it works, I doubt ads have ever tempted me with anything, in fact I have intentionally not bought products because of their intrusive adverts.

But I think we are both wrong, these mega companies wouldn't do it unless it had value, and the amount of money they spend suggests to me it has colossal value. Advertising must work (probably even on us at a deeper level than we know)

One thing that surprised me was "Targeted Ads" and how most people prefer them to random. this suggests to me most people must like to interact with the ads, which I just find as odd. I do my very best to change all my online settings to avoid targeted but I mustn't be very skilled with googles software, and no doubt through 'user error' on my behalf these settings keep reverting back to targeted.[/QUOTE]

Yes, you're right. There has to be great value in the advertising industry otherwise the millions spent would simply not be. I never buy from an advert and always research the specific product I need and then make my choice from the outlets, online or physical, which offer it. A major part of my decision is the quality of the supplier and often whether or not I can speak to a real person when things go wrong. For example a recent phone purchase was made in Carphone Warehouse specifically so I had a physical contact. I would always pay more if it means I get to deal with a reputable, quality company with which I can interact.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I have inbuilt as blockers - my eyes. I just don't look at them.

Ah but how do you know they're there, eh?