Forum Ads

[EEVblog]

If you see some changes in the forum ads it's because I'm trialing a new ad system. I have to pay the bills somehow, it ain't Youtube ads any more I'm afraid.
Feel free to block as usual of course if you want to.
Please report any issues.
Thanks.

[Kean]

OK, these are the slightly more annoying overlay style.  I'll see if I can continue to bear with them without blocking.

It is understandable, as we all need to pay the bills.  Any way you can offer an ad-free membership level?  Can SMF handle that?

[mikeselectricstuff]

I'm seeing  a whole screen full of blank space at the top of every page (running Adblock Plus)

[wilfred]

I see nothing different. Never seen ads and not seeing any now. Windows 10 with both Firefox and Edge. I'm also not seeing the white space Mike mentioned.

I use UBlock Origin.

[langwadt]

ouch they are pretty bad taking up a full page at the top and overlay at bottom, and even worse it is the usually scams with subscription for "internet protection" etc.

[EEVblog]

I'm seeing  a whole screen full of blank space at the top of every page (running Adblock Plus)

That's strange.
With my ad blocker (also Adblock Plus on Chrome) on I just don't see the ads. Not a lot of white space.

[tooki]

I would characterize the new ads as “obnoxious”, with the fixed footer overlay (“dickbar” style) always present and full-window overlays (“dickover” style) that appear sometimes when you click something (like an expandable thumbnail).

[Kean]

OK, I couldn't last an hour with those new ads for toenail fungus and other irrelevant garbage.

Sorry, I've just installed an ad blocker for the first time.  I normally just don't (re)visit sites with obnoxious ads.

Thanks for pushing me towards ad-freedom... 

[EEVblog]

OK, these are the slightly more annoying overlay style.  I'll see if I can continue to bear with them without blocking.

Yeah, I'm trying out the bottom stick because they assure me that's the highest performing.
Will trial it for a few weeks and get some data and maybe mix things up a bit and compare.
They also said it takes a week or two to get the based ads as it learns the content and targets better for advertisers.

If anyone saw a full page ad, that was mistake in their code, it's now deprecated and has been fixed, so shouldn't see it again.
Actually that might have been what Mike saw.

It is understandable, as we all need to pay the bills.  Any way you can offer an ad-free membership level?  Can SMF handle that?

These are the options the SMF ad manager I'm using has:
Doesn't seem to be an option for excluding all ads from board and/or supporters.

[mikeselectricstuff]

This is what I see - zoomed to 60%, as at 100% it fills a whole screen ( Firefox, Win11)

[EEVblog]

OK, I couldn't last an hour with those new ads for toenail fungus and other irrelevant garbage.

They assured me it will get way better targeted after a week of training. Because it's fresh it has no idea about content yet.
The whole point of their system is to learn the data and then specifically target advertisers at a much higher rate because of that user/content interest targeting.

[Kean]

This is what I see - zoomed to 60%, as at 100% it fills a whole screen ( Firefox, Win11)

I don't see that gap with AdBlock (not ABP) in Firefox on MacOS

[EEVblog]

This is what I see - zoomed to 60%, as at 100% it fills a whole screen ( Firefox, Win11)

Wow, that's odd. I'll try some browsers at the lab tomorrow.

I just got a JLCPCB ad, so the system is learning.

[tautech]

Please NO !
The forum owner just busted the forum ! 

[nali]

Brave browser no change
Firefox + uBlock ditto
Edge - yerk! 50% zoom and I still have to scroll down to see past the ads.

[EEVblog]

Please NO !
The forum owner just busted the forum ! 

How? The forum has always had ads.

[Kean]

They assured me it will get way better targeted after a week of training. Because it's fresh it has no idea about content yet.
The whole point of their system is to learn the data and then specifically target advertisers at a much higher rate because of that user/content interest targeting.

OK, I will try pausing ad blocking on EEVblog occasionally and see if it improves.  It would be sensible if they could better target based on the site content rather than the user data, at least initially.  I'd prefer not to have user targeting at all.

I was hoping I could allow blocking of the bottom overlay without blocking the top static ones (that I occasionally look at but can easily ignore).  I will try again sometime to see if I can do that with uBlock Origin or similar.

I don't mind some ads, especially the relevant ones EEVblog has typically had.

PS. I don't believe I have ever had toenail fungus in my nearly 60 years, so I never understood the prevalence of those ads.

[tautech]

Please NO !
The forum owner just busted the forum ! 

How? The forum has always had ads.

Sure but as it is now.....
W10 and Chrome here....I'll wear out the mouse scrollwheel just getting to any content of a post.

[EEVblog]

Edge - yerk! 50% zoom and I still have to scroll down to see past the ads.

Yikes.
Edge is working for me:

[coromonadalix]

Dave may need  to generate some revenues, witch i totally understand, it is a free forum, with free downloads when people push files

if his revenues are declining and the cost get higher and higher       


@PEOLPE what will happen or may happen in the future ?     we have BADCAPS owner who explain things, surey Dave face costs and BW too, from his isp or else ...
owning and managing, time put into this forum etc ...


if ads are say pushed to the side and are not too intrusive ...

[EEVblog]

W10 and Chrome here....I'll wear out the mouse scrollwheel just getting to any content of a post.

Are you seeing huge white space like some others have reported? If so can you post a screen shot.
I don't see that on my end with any browser, with or without ad blocker.

[Kean]

I paused AdBlock for EEVblog and indeed I got a JLCPCB ad - after quite a few seconds of no ad.

But the placement at bottom plus the regular activity, makes it far too distracting in a forum.  Completely different to the prior ads.

[EEVblog]

if ads are say pushed to the side and are not too intrusive ...

There is literally only one change that I am trialing here, that is the bottom "sticky".

The extra top ad is just the usual 728x90 like the others, just with changing ads instead of fixed as is usually the case.
There may be a bug in that one though as some people are reporting seeing large white space, and that should not happen.
The company has already fixed one code bug for me, and I have pointed them to this thread. So any issues should hopefully get fixed quickly.

After a couple of weeks I'll evaluate if it's all worthwhile or not.

[Kean]

@PEOLPE what will happen or may happen in the future ?

Unfortunately it is a race to the bottom.

I generally find that non-intrusive ads (as we had until now) are fine.  Most of us regulars understand quite well the need to pay for running the site.

[tautech]

W10 and Chrome here....I'll wear out the mouse scrollwheel just getting to any content of a post.

Are you seeing huge white space like some others have reported? If so can you post a screen shot.
I don't see that on my end with any browser, with or without ad blocker.

Scroll up to the forum link and hit it to see all the forum lists.
Now start scrolling down until you eventually see the subforums.
Pick any one to really see how the new ad settings have changed the whole forum experience.