Info: FYI on noisy/annoying ads

[ChrisMWilliams]

Fanatics -

Just wanted to take a few minutes to communicate with you about a few complaints we've recently had about noisy 3rd party ads on the right side of the page.

I have been working all day on this and think we are making progress. I won't be on the site much this week (jury duty) but Sam and David will be running tests all day tomorrow until we get to the bottom of it.

Over the last week, we've had more noisy ads than we want. They are not allowed on our site but from time to time, these things always slip through cracks. It is a nature of the beast sort of thing. We've been working hard and I promise we will get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later. The problem is sifting through the 100 plus ad vendors and figuring out where these are coming from. It's very complex.

Know that I know this: Ads fund our site but we can't sell ads if we don't have traffic. The integrity and user experience on CF is my No. 1 priority and we will burn the midnight oil until we get it figured out.

Thanks for your time and have a great Sunday night.

 

[jdoggivjc]

It's annoying as hell, but, as much as we're guilty of complaining, this site has to be expensive to run, especially when it's free for us. Thanks for all the hard work, and thanks for working on this.

 

[CycloneErik]

I've been feeling cocky about how these haven't happened for me this time. When they blow up on me later tonight, I'm only blaming myself.

 

[BCoffClone125]

I've seen the complaints, but haven't had this happen to me yet. I use Chrome as my browser with the AdBlock extension and haven't had any issues. Typically, it shows 6-8 ads that are being "blocked" on any given CF page.

 

[k123]

I've seen the complaints, but haven't had this happen to me yet. I use Chrome as my browser with the AdBlock extension and haven't had any issues. Typically, it shows 6-8 ads that are being "blocked" on any given CF page.

Theoretical question. Does your revenue suffer from people using ad blocker?

There are some sites (this one) that I disable it b/c I want to "support it" and/or they aren't obnoxious there. Does it help/hurt/matter? Do the ad sellers know if it is 'blocked'?

I know you wouldn't get the "click through ad revenue" since they wouldn't be seen therefore clicked on, but what about the "ads seen by eyeballs revenue"?

 

[Farnsworth]

Theoretical question. Does your revenue suffer from people using ad blocker?

There are some sites (this one) that I disable it b/c I want to "support it" and/or they aren't obnoxious there. Does it help/hurt/matter? Do the ad sellers know if it is 'blocked'?

I know you wouldn't get the "click through ad revenue" since they wouldn't be seen therefore clicked on, but what about the "ads seen by eyeballs revenue"?

Yes it does. See this post from Chris from an earlier thread on the topic

I'm on this. We can't really control it. Any ads with sound come through third-party ads (which fund the site). If you use ad-blocker, you're really hurting CF (not saying don't use it, just know that in advance). Any time that I see an ad with sound, I immediately report it to the company it is coming from.

I know I also saw another post by either Chris or a mod recently saying they are debating whether or not to put on something that stops users using Adblock from being able to log into the site.

edit: here was Chris's post on it (doesnt come with his username as threads were locked so can't hit quote).

A few things:

1 - Audio ads are not allowed on here. Whenever I see one or you guys report one, we get it taken care of ASAP. Sometimes it takes just a little bit as we have to figure out which vendor it is coming from but getting rid of these ads is a priority on our site.

2 - I get it. Annoying ads suck. But it really is the only way that CF is funded. We are actually contemplating putting a code on CF that won't allow ad block users to log on. I know a bunch of other sports sites who use it. I've never wanted to implement it here but we're looking into it. It only disallows use while on CF. Doesn't affect any other site or what program you have downloaded on your computer.

 

[ISUCubswin]

I'm fine with any and all ads on here.

Unless CW starts letting ads that drop down from the top out of nowhere, take up the whole screen, and in the 5 minutes it takes you to figure out how to close the ad, it doesn't even phase you what what the ad was endorsing.

 

[Farnsworth]

I'm fine with any and all ads on here.

Unless CW starts letting ads that drop down from the top out of nowhere, take up the whole screen, and in the 5 minutes it takes you to figure out how to close the ad, it doesn't even phase you what what the ad was endorsing.

Or changes the site where you can only view one post per page, then you have to click to the next one, and get an ad in between each post.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

I'm fine with any and all ads on here.

Unless CW starts letting ads that drop down from the top out of nowhere, take up the whole screen, and in the 5 minutes it takes you to figure out how to close the ad, it doesn't even phase you what what the ad was endorsing.

Or changes the site where you can only view one post per page, then you have to click to the next one, and get an ad in between each post.

I agree with both of these. The ones that are on here now are not particularly annoying if my computer is on mute...

 

[00clone]

I agree with both of these. The ones that are on here now are not particularly annoying if my computer is on mute...

But as Chris said, you don't get ad revenue without pageviews. I do the 2 monitor thing at work, and if I'm working on chugging some data, I'll open CF on another window. And sometimes I get called away to support the minions. If I fear that I forget to turn down my speakers and an add with sound plays...I will be much less inclined to open CF on another window.

I know Chris and the team know this...that's why it's their policy to not use ads with sound, so I'm not directing it at them, and I'm not 'whining' about them either, most of the time I don't care...but if you're saying no ads are a problem, mute your computer...that will affect pageviews, as some don't want to mute their computer, and some won't take the risk.