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Yes it was £4.50 on one click. Please discuss or do me the justice of closing and at least an email to explain!
The stock line is..... This doesn't happen on dracs iPad so it's not an issue 😉
Happened to me too on Friday
You seem to think you have a right to free speech here....
Well no, that really isn't on, I'm no big hitter and cause **** all bother whilst here so I do believe it needs either some explanation or acknowledgement. The games did look good, but for 4.50 a week is be on 4 good Xbox games a year!
Never click on the ads!!
I don’t understand how you were charged by simply clicking on an ad?
Pocket click! It's a standard line I use if the wife views my browsing history but in this case it was genuine.
See if you can do it again.
Confused. What is it charging? Mobile account or uploaded card?
Prime take the piss material 🙂 , but subscription services like that are the bottom-feeders of the internet. I'd like to think STW would have an answer if they have been served on here.
Same thing happened to me.
I got told off for discussing why I never now turn off the thing that we aren’t allowed to discuss that stops adverts from ripping us off for £4.50 by accidentally clicking on them.
I got no other kind of explanation or apology. So I just turned it back on again.
I don’t understand how you were charged by simply clicking on an ad?
Same.
Confused. What is it charging? Mobile account or uploaded card?
This. How are they getting your money?
On my xiaomi phone with opera I don’t even know if I get logged out as none of those adverts show up.
Not sure why but I’m not complaining.
How did it charge you with no details?
Charges straight to your phone bill. You have 24 hours to cancel or it goes on at 4.50 a week.
How do they know your phone number/details?
What’s it for and (this is probably naive) how does it gain permission to charge your mobile account?
Shit! That just seems wrong. Never knew that was a thing. Something needs doing to plug that gaping hole.
Well, every day is a school day. Glad I have a p...
Thinking about it further, I assume it’s only an issue if you are browsing on 4G?
I was on 4g on my phone when it happened to me. I assume that I accidentally clicked on an ad when the screen was jumping about as it was loading.
I assumed it was just me though.
I’d also like to know why the original thread was shut down.
Never click on the ads!!
Definitely this.
i didn't know that was a thing either. That's a bit scary.
Apart from receiving money from ads, why would stw allow that kind if advert on their site which is almost scamming their customers.
Do they not have any say on the advertising space?
I've had to get all our numbers set to not authorise any charge of any kind, after getting caught by these scam artists a few years back (nothing at all do with this website I must add)… do it now. I couldn't get the money back. The only downside of a total block is that an easy route to giving to charities is then lost, but I've not noticed any other genuine uses of being charged to bill by third parties, so just get them blocked.
So clicking on an ad makes it call or text a premium number or something which starts a subscription?
So whichever over zealous mod that closed the original post I do hope you realise now it was worth a post and that you do something about it. The only reason I knew about it was that I got a text from the offending company warning/telling me of the 24 hrs. I then responded to that text cancelling the subscription where on my phone told me I was replying to a chargeable number with that very text. Utter bollox to be fair. I'm not overly precious about the money but very precious about the censorship of the first post on the matter.
I got pinged by this too a few weeks back. Could well have been here as I was getting loads of and redirects then.
Normally, you need to "respond" to a txt to get charged. Sometimes that response is an auto opening link… in which case you're screwed just by reading the txt. Sometimes it is a link to "more information" etc. Sometimes it is made to look like you have to cancel, and responding that you want to actually results in charges. Get your number set to not except any of these charges… that's the action to take. Ranting at owners of websites that might or might not have been hit by the original ad is pointless… get your telco to take action to protect you. It's not the fault of this or any other website. Get your telco to prevent you from being billed.
not the fault of this or any other website.
Do owners of websites have no control over adverts?
Listen, the owner of this website can’t even get the mag out. Anybody else having download problems with the mag.I also posted it on here and have contacted the tech side a couple of times, but hey ho. No issues with taking my sub mind; that works just fine.
Listen, the owner of this website can’t even get the mag out.
Probably something along these lines. The Ad network on this site is the worst I see, although I see the same network in other places. Seems to be deliberately set up so that having a choice is as difficult as possible. Is it possible it’s just as bad for the site owner?
Something of an irony that I normally only visit this site via a browser that means the problem of not having a choice is dealt with. Whilst sites that do give me a easy choice are visited on other browsers with targeted adverts galore.
Never click on the ads!!
not so easy when you get logged out every 2 weeks and forced to play whack a mole to try and get to the login page
Never click on the ads!!
not so easy when you get logged out every 2 weeks and forced to play whack a mole to try and got to the login page
Or get logged out 6 times in one weekend 🤣🧟♂️
So whichever over zealous mod that closed the original post I do hope you realise now it was worth a post and that you do something about it.
I suspect it was closed, less because of it subject, more because of the banned swear word in the title/URL. Happy to be corrected though.
not the fault of this or any other website
I think they have to accept some culpability when they threaten sanctions if you run an ad-blocker.
Insisting that you stroll around the internet with your wallet open to keep their revenue stream flowing is poor.
PlanetF1 have a more pragmatic view. If you have an ad-blocker it asks for a contribution up front, but still lets you have access to the content because even if you can't directly monetise a view; all traffic to your site has value.
But that isn't the STW way.
not so easy when you get logged out every 2 weeks and forced to play whack a mole to try and get to the login page
I can’t help but think that wasn’t really what the architects of the web had in mind when they set this thing up. Web 3.0* really sucks.
(*Do people call it that? Anyway, it’s rubbish)
So do I need to check my mobile bill, or will my provider have sent some kind of notification?
The main issue with the mobile site is the cackhanded way it loads the forum, waits a bit, waits a bit more, then shoves everything in all directions to make way for the ads, normally misdirecting your click. Normal browsing is a PITA, even before you have to deal with the regular burst of pop-ups and shite.
What is wrong with loading the correct sized placeholder for the ads. Other sites seem to manage it OK?
I'm still puzzled how the advertiser gets your phone details. On my phone, the permissions for Chrome are limited to location and storage.
So you know how some phone/data providers offer free data on music/movie streaming? Works both ways. When using 3/4G they can see where the data is coming from and charge accordingly. It’s the equivalent of a premium rate phone number. That appears not yet to have any sort of adequate regulation
This one isn't closed - https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/adds-ok-but-adds-that-charge-you-sort-it-stw/
Ads is spelt wrong though
"Don't click on the ads" is sound advice, however...
The main issue with the mobile site is the cackhanded way it loads the forum, waits a bit, waits a bit more, then shoves everything in all directions to make way for the ads, normally misdirecting your click. Normal browsing is a PITA, even before you have to deal with the regular burst of pop-ups and shite.
What is wrong with loading the correct sized placeholder for the ads. Other sites seem to manage it OK?
This.
I'm lucky if I can click on the thread I want, never mind avoid self-charging ads.
Not cool Singletrack. Not cool.
This one isn’t closed –
It was closed.
You posted an expletive-ridden complaint last night, which I assume is why it was closed.
You reported your own post at 21:42. You received a reply at 22:06 telling you that Tech have been notified. I understand that you're cross about the advert, I would be too, but quite why you're having a paddy about not receiving a response I've no idea. Check your emails.
Despite your demand for the mods to "sort it," the moderators have no control over STW's advertising. Similarly, starting (multiple) threads complaining about it won't get it investigated any faster, or indeed at all, Tech don't actively monitor the forum.
STW uses - and indeed relies on for its continued existence - third party advertising. This is primarily served by Google but other ad networks are used from time to time (or at least, this was the case the last I time I discussed it with The Powers That Be). Occasionally a rogue ad slips though, which is unfortunate but the nature of the beast I'm afraid. I'm sure it'll be looked into as a priority.
If you get these in the future you can email tech@ who will investigate. You can email moderator@ if you like, but all we can do is forward your message on to Tech which adds a delay into the process so you may as well cut out the middle man and contact them directly. CC: us in for completeness by all means if you wish.
Hope this helps.
This one isn’t closed –
It was closed.
URL changed to SFW words too.
Doesn’t affect me in the slightest but it shouldn’t happen on a site that has a strong community.
I wouldn’t rip other forumites off , I expect the same from Singletrack.
It isn’t STW ripping anyone off.
I'm still a little unclear on how they actually managed to charge you. How can they send you a text without having your mobile number?
Once upon a time your mobile number was actually included in the browser's useragent string, but AFAIK that hasn't been the case for a long time. You can check this by going to the following address and checking that your mobile number doesn't appear:
URL changed to SFW words too.
Yeah, I've now sanitised it. I'm not certain but this might be why it was reopened just now, so I've closed it again.
Occasionally a rogue ad slips though, which is unfortunate but the nature of the beast I’m afraid.
Only this beast
I got told off for discussing why I never now turn off the thing that we aren’t allowed to discuss that stops adverts from ripping us off for £4.50 by accidentally clicking on them.
The first rule of adblocker club is don't talk about adblocker club.
Call the Zinsser twins Fabian and Frank, they will sort it out