We're Going to Try Some Banner Ads for Guest (Not Logged In) Users

[DavidR8]

Crisis is over folks!

 

[Jwest7788]

Man, that stirred up a flurry of communication.

Here's a super reply to keep it all in one spot. Seems we split into a few common themes:


The "This Sucks" Camp

Without the ad blocker the forum is just awful!

I paid as a premium to support a good forum however this form of ads interfere with the use, if it continues, the forums usefulness has come to an end.

Hopefully that is clear enough to shut it off.

This. F This. Twice. In the Ear. With an Ice Pick

Ads with popup and a LOT of them. The ad settings must be cranked to max.

Its a small community, the admins of the site better be listening.

Firstly, I agree, that sucked. I am also a user here consuming the content like anyone else. Rest assured that I know a terrible user experience when I get to suffer through one.
As a few mentioned, that was a mistake and generally not the intent. I have standards too, that was gross. lol

What Happened?
There was a two-week application and vetting process that I have been waiting around for.
They approved it and turned ads on, but they didn't actually give me a heads up that it was the case. It was the 29 alerts and several direct messages which tipped me off to the issue.

I agree that was way too much, even for non-registered users, and especially for actual community participants, for whom I never intended to see any ads at all. Sorry about that folks.

To @Tom Kitta 's point, Yeah, the default level of ads is way too high, sorry about that. All I had was a slider for "level of ads" with no indication as to the impact until after the ads were on the forum.

Here's a scary thought: When I was setting things up, I turned that slider down to halfway, basically 5/10. Imagine how terrible 10/10 would be. Yukk.


The "We Understand" Camp

Yep, I just got one too. I'm sure there's a few kinks to work out.

Take the time needed to make it right.

I have confidence that it will be fixed as soon as @Jwest7788 has the time to correct it. I can live with the ads till that happens.

And many others with this sentiment.
Thanks for your patience folk, there's a clear alignment between this camp and the folks who have been a part of the community the longest. I appreciate your steady voices during a briefly turbulent time of uncertainty. You were spot on though, we just needed a day to get our crap together.

Somebody needs to find and post a cartoon of what @Jwest7788 looks like right now while he works away at this little problem......

Then signing into the forum to see why I have so many messages and alerts:

Other Items

How do you know that? I haven't seen a lot of posts here from admin. Who knows if it's even possible to back out of the agreement/contract/commitment (?) admin has made to host ads for pay?

They knew. We're pretty open about our game plan prior to making any changes here at the forum. I hate bad surprises as much as the next guy.

my $0.02. Ads are annoying, banner ads at the top isn’t a deal breaker, pop-up ads that require me to find the hidden (X) to close the window are beyond aggravating.

Yeah, I need to figure out the ad types a bit more, automatic clearly isn't cutting it.

Another option, which I have seen implemented on other sites, is that 'premium' members arent subjected to ads to the same extent that the unwashed masses (joking of course) are.

See above, and the original post in this thread. Anyone logged in was never supposed to be exposed to ads, regardless of their status as a premium member.

Also:

The plan was (and still is) that only non-registered visitors would get ads. All registered members will have a no ads experience.

I personally don't think it should matter whether or not they are premium members. A member is a member is a member is a member in my view. I didn't get a premium membership to get premium features. I got it to help finance the best forum that I have ever had the privilege of participating in.

This is correct, and in line with my beliefs too. If folks are contributing by participating in the community, then they aren't going to have to deal with ads.
If anyone finds the forum to be a resource, premium (etc) allow contributions beyond just participation. Again, we've made some changes to our finances and planning, funds contributed are functionally being managed by a small committee, and we're planning for the future.



Edit:
1) Of yeah, Also, I can't control what ads you see. If you see ads for weird stuff, that just means you've visited weird websites. If you want to see fun tooling ads, browse more websites with tooling. etc. lol

2) I'll be trying to figure out more specific ad placement for non-registered folks. I know that ads being seen is low value, ads being clicked is higher value, but no one wants to accidentally click on ads (like those damn popups), but figuring it all out will take me a bit, please bear with me while I get my footing in a new arena.

 

[Tom O]

Another option, which I have seen implemented on other sites, is that 'premium' members arent subjected to ads to the same extent that the unwashed masses (joking of course) are.

I may be part of the great unwashed but in my defence I did wipe it with the supplied paper.

 

[Former Member]

Might I suggest that the Admins contact Accusize for some sponsorship as the are Canadian, and while we are hobby machinists some are in the field.

Us speak about their product enhances their presence on the web.

KBC and a few others as well.

 

[Jwest7788]

Might I suggest that the Admins contact Accusize for some sponsorship as the are Canadian, and while we are hobby machinists some are in the field.

Us speak about their product enhances their presence on the web.

KBC and a few others as well.

We've explored sponsors in the past, but we had trouble showing the value of the forum to their bottom line. There doesn't appear to be a good way to show vendors ahead of time if they will recoup any money invested, so it never really went anywhere.

If you have a contact, we're open to the discussion, but I'm not likely to start cold-calling folks.


I am working on the display of things again this morning, please let me know if anything is out of place, though I am not expecting issues, I figure I should mention it just in case. lol

 

[Mcgyver]

No worries...the customary next step from the 'monetize everything' movement is to block page access if you are using an Ad Blocker. I see this on some sites I used to visit. Stay tuned....

Give Brave a try....makes it all go away.

The browser that puts you first | Brave

The Brave browser is a fast, private and secure web browser for PC, Mac and mobile. Download now to enjoy a faster ad-free browsing experience that saves data and battery life by blocking tracking software.

brave.com

 

[architect]

Just wanted to show that the site looks very cluttered still without logging in, and may turn off users from browsing? It also has pop up ads that must be clicked away viewing from thread to thread. Would folks know they can remove the ads by signing up?

Also this specific thread cannot be viewed while using ad blocker, but only this thread it seems. Is that intentional?

 

[architect]

When browsing the main pages with thread overviews, I have persistent ads at the top and bottom and sometimes even a click away ad. But within the threads itself there are no longer ads. Is this intentional? Just FYI.

 

[historicalarms]

A few days ago I got the adds at the top & bottom of the pages, two days ago It progressed to adds between post and to day i have all that plus pop-ups....but I'm going to say that if the forum owners can make some change from them and the forum remains free to a peon like me "git-er-done".

 

[SomeGuy]

Just FYI, this specific thread to logged in members becomes inaccessible for some reason when an adblocker is running. If I did incognito it would load, if I paused my adblocker it would load, but otherwise it gives me an error.

If you turn on anything that prevents viewing of this site from an adblocker or pops up each time, will probably stop coming.

 

[LenVW]

We've explored sponsors in the past, but we had trouble showing the value of the forum to their bottom line. There doesn't appear to be a good way to show vendors ahead of time if they will recoup any money invested, so it never really went anywhere.

If you have a contact, we're open to the discussion, but I'm not likely to start cold-calling folks.


I am working on the display of things again this morning, please let me know if anything is out of place, though I am not expecting issues, I figure I should mention it just in case. lol

Maybe the CHMWs need to keep some data records that support sponsors.
I have multiple purchases of Accusize products.
Data can support sponsors actions if you are trying to build funding for forum tools.

 

[SomeGuy]

Ok, when not logged in, the fact you can literally have a screen that is ONLY ads...AND it shows a bunch of smut? Really not cool.

 

[Former Member]

Pop ups still occuring.

 

[calgaryguy]

Yeah banner ads are back for me today.

I get that this will take a while to sort out, so I've put away my torch and pitchfork

 

[calgaryguy]

Ok, when not logged in, the fact you can literally have a screen that is ONLY ads...AND it shows a bunch of smut? Really not cool.

View attachment 24961

Its picking those ads based on what kinds of sites you have visited and do visit and then makes some VERY general categorizations about what kind of ads are likely to entice you. You dont even have to visit smut sites, but if the 'logic' behind the ads has a 'rule' (and likely one of MANY rules) that says "people who visit machinery websites tend to like 'smut' ads" then thats what it will deliver. If you want a clean browsing experience you need an ad blocker.

 

[architect]

Pop ups still occuring.

Same

 

[DavidR8]

I'm ad free without ad blocker.

 

[SomeGuy]

Its picking those ads based on what kinds of sites you have visited and do visit and then makes some VERY general categorizations about what kind of ads are likely to entice you. You dont even have to visit smut sites, but if the 'logic' behind the ads has a 'rule' (and likely one of MANY rules) that says "people who visit machinery websites tend to like 'smut' ads" then thats what it will deliver. If you want a clean browsing experience you need an ad blocker.

Oh, I'm well aware how targeted advertising works. That said, when setting up an ad subscription for the site, you can choose what general types of ads are allowed. All my smut viewing is done incognito, so it's not able to track that

Additionally, the full page of ads is still ridiculous and a problem IMO. I would never have joined this site if I got the level of advertisement I saw when not logged in.

 

[Janger]

Just FYI, this specific thread to logged in members becomes inaccessible for some reason when an adblocker is running. If I did incognito it would load, if I paused my adblocker it would load, but otherwise it gives me an error.

If you turn on anything that prevents viewing of this site from an adblocker or pops up each time, will probably stop coming.

Just again - the main idea on ads was only non registered users would see any ads. Everyone posting or just being a signed up member would see no ads. Please bear with us while Josh tries to get this sorted out. We only wanted to show some ads to people lurking and not participating - not an overwhelming number or discouraging number of ads. .

 

[DavidR8]

Just again - the main idea on ads was only non registered users would see any ads. Everyone posting or just being a signed up member would see no ads. Please bear with us while Josh tries to get this sorted out. We only wanted to show some ads to people lurking and not participating - not an overwhelming number or discouraging number of ads. .

Thanks John.