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[Closed] pop up adds

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CountZero: It does seem that the agencies producing these ads should have it firmly pointed out to them that their chosen business method is counter-productive, as evidenced by the number of threads they've spawned.

2 different things. It's almost certainly counterproductive for the forum, but the advertisers don't care about that, they're not selling the forum.

I've got a premier signup so I've got ads turned off. Just switched them back on for a minute and helllllll with that 😆 There's a level I'd be happy to have but it's like putting your head in a fairground ride.


 
Posted : 10/02/2015 11:27 pm
 DrJ
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I wonder how many visitors to the forum are "regulars" who will persist despite the incredibly annoying popups, and how many are casual visitors who will just surf away. I know that when I encounter a popup ike this in the normal course of random surfing I just jog on by.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 6:55 pm
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

Mark - Resident Grumpy
Its an ad targeting tablets.
We are being paid to display it.
This helps us pay the bills.
It ends on Friday.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 6:56 pm
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At work I like pop up especially those flashing ones with loud noise that surprise every one. Break the silent boring bureaucratic work you know.

Once I spent so much time finding ads that annoy the hell out of my colleagues ... my excuses ... "Oh, sorry I did not know that would happen ..." Hell, of course I know as I already checked it prior to clicking the site again you bunch of ZMs.

I find that Youtube got plenty of those ads ...


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:01 pm
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

At work I like pop up especially those flashing ones with loud noise that surprise every one. Break the silent boring bureaucratic work you know.

You should have mentioned it earlier.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:05 pm
 DT78
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More invasive ads = grumpy users, ultimately = less users = less click through revenue = more adds = even less users = dead site when users go elsewhere.

Listen to your users, or loose them

Other forums seem to cope.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:06 pm
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

Listen to your users, or loose them

Seems he has.

The frogman Tudor campaign is set to run until the end of March, but at a much lower daily impression target that means it should be rare to see it much. For some idea it targets only tablet users and is capped at 5000 impressions per day. Considering there are on average 25k Unique users a day tuning in on a tablet the chances of seeing it are slim..

..unless you spend a LOT of your time here


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:07 pm
 DrJ
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Its an ad targeting tablets.

Strange to target tablets with an ad that is uniquely annoying to tablet users - these popups would be less irritating if they occurred on a normal computer.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:08 pm
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Did anyone mention crass mass marketing for premium brands?


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:12 pm
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Seems he has
But then he also said the other one would only appear once in 24 hours which it blatantly doesn't. Let's see.

edit. Frogman just popped up. Now I feel special. 🙂


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:32 pm
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Which other websites feature the watch and bank adds?


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 7:36 pm
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I'm a Premier member and the ads still pee me off when logging in from an Android device if I've been logged out of the site.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 8:05 pm
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

But then he also said the other one would only appear once in 24 hours which it blatantly doesn't. Let's see.

And as that didn't work he took a different approach.

Which other websites feature the watch and bank adds?

I have no idea.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 8:20 pm
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lol for the ipad owners complaining about ads for stuff they cant afford.

it took me four days to post this via my 56k connection.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 9:16 pm
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Which other websites feature the watch and bank adds?

The Economist


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 9:35 pm
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that audi nonsance over christmas was bad enough, anyone now getting the private banking add which takes you away from here to their site.
yes this is a free site and stw need to make money but this is not good

For some reason my browser wasn't doing the "remember me" option so whilst I pay I also got the full whack when logging in.... So I feel your pain.

I just try to remember its more about the content in the magazine than on the site... I've been told off before for naming browser addons (including tablets) that hide adverts, block pop ups etc so I shall refrain.

I dislike the adverts not because there adverts but because of the size, colour, the in your face the auto play tv etc etc its just horrendous. At the same time nothing these days is free, its pretty reasonable cost to be a member.

Purely out of interest why do people opt to not pay?


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 9:41 pm
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Anyone concerned about this site should visit lingscars.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 9:43 pm
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The private banking ad was annoying enough - at least you could get rid of it, the effing Tudor ad takes over the entire screen and you can't get rid of it :(( incredibly annoying, nothing could put me off a brand more than this kind of behaviour


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 10:14 pm
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Purely out of interest why do people opt to not pay?

Perhaps because they don't want to.


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 10:15 pm
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100!!


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 10:25 pm
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Is the problem not actually the ads but the fact the Ipad can't display them properly? ( 😉 )


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 10:26 pm
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I'm looking out for a watch for my birthday. Definitely won't be getting a Tudor after these annoying adverts!!

Shame that enough income isn't being made by the side adverts. Most newspapers (don't know about mags) make most of their revenue from the advertising. I should imagine that ABC figures of the Evening Standard rocketed when that was made free, and so must have made them quite sought after for ad space?

So just saying I suppose that people shouldn't dismiss people who don't pay to use this forum, they have their uses!!


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 11:27 pm
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I absolutely detest adds of any sort on websites and if they annoy me then i don't use that website again, that's the main reason i subscribed to Grit cx pretty much straight away as the few times i used the forum the adds really pissed me off, thankfully i quite like the mag now it's up n' running but i still don't like reading articles online, even on the iPad i find i loose interest quickly but i'll suffer it for the content.

As for adverts on here?, i find these days i get logged out of STW a damn site more often than i used to and when i do open the STW page i find the amount of adverts ludicrous, thankfully i'm quite happy to pay for the magazine so i don't have to suffer the adverts for more than a quick page reload.

Adverts just **** me off though no matter what format they appear - stop trying to sell me utter shite and just **** right off, if i want something i'll buy it without being reminded, i was round at my folks for xmas and i tried to watch a film on tv, the amount of ad breaks just took the piss so i lost interest…and the adverts were so mind numbing banal and selling us shite or advertising unmissable sales that i actually wanted to grab whatever ad executive dreamt them up and slap him till my palms bled.

Thanks god for BBC radio, phew!………. Yeah i'm ranting but it seems these days we are not so much a citizen of the state but rather treated as a vapid consumer to be bombarded continuously with offers of [i]better / improved / New / shiny / buy this and you'll be happy [/i] - it's all a crock of shite. Thank god i don't have anything to do with it.

And breathe……...


 
Posted : 11/02/2015 11:49 pm
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but rather treated as a vapid consumer to be bombarded continuously with offers of better / improved / New / shiny / buy this and you'll be happy - it's all a crock of shite. Thank god i don't have anything to do with it.

[img] http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/140353068.pn g" target="_blank">http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/140353068.pn g"/> [/img]
Ads eh? New fangled crap

It's part of life, going from a point where we had 4 TV channels 2 of which were ad free to a point where you can access a huge range of content for almost no direct cost to the consumer. The trade off? That content needs to be paid for, one of the greatest bits of misdirection was the belief that the internet is free. It all costs money, it costs to run, it costs to provide content. It's take a long time to get to the point where it is getting paid for properly. Ads are part of that and always will be, the delivery method might need to change but people need to wake up to the fact that they should be paying in some way for the service/product they receive.

Just glancing through the mag that landed this week, it's got probably the least ads for any mag I pick up, it's full of content. In the end you get what you pay for.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 12:01 am
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And as i said i am quite happy to pay so i get content that is entirely advert free…..take my money….drop the adverts.

From my point of view years ago the adverts didn't seem to intrude so much into our lives but perhaps they did and i just can't remember them all that much?, we never really had a fully functioning tv growing up as we always seemed to stay in areas of the west coast where reception was so poor it was not worth it, and staying in the highlands and having a long trek to even get to the village shop i guess that element of normal life by visiting glitzy advert laden shopping areas in towns/city's kinda passed me by.

Christ!….i sound like a troglodyte who's just ventured above ground for the first time 😀


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 12:14 am
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I tried to become a Premier user as I was sent an offer for £5 off for the whole year after getting the free trial. But it seems I can't pay by debit card to get that offer. I do not like direct debits for this sort of thing so it looks like I'm still not going premier. I can't help thinking STW doesn't want my money!


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 6:42 am
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

Give this number a ring Rob.

01706 814397

They will help you out.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 7:15 am
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Since yesterday STW has been taking between 20s and Firefox timeout to open a page. Firefox is the fastest as it loads the least. STW is the only site I use affected, local sites generally load in the blink of an eye and STW in a couple of seconds:

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 7:34 am
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Drac, already been in contact with Subs people, they said its DD only.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 7:41 am
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I cancelled my sub recently as the mag just was not doing it for me any more. TBH the content beyond the forum is not really worth paying in my opinion and the forum content is provided by the members not the owners so I'm not paying for that either. Therefore the best way for the owners to get money from me is through the adverts, I agree with that. This in turn needs me to view it a lot as one day an advert will pique my interest and hey-presto cash. Having lost my "P" I now cannot use the site on a mobile device as it is completely unusable. I have had to take measures to be able to view it on my computer but am not allowed to disclose these. So surely we've all lost in this situation? If STW could get adverts right especially on mobile whilst making the site a great experience they would win on all accounts. These stats about being in the top 2k of websites ever are great but Friendsreunited used to be able to boast similar....


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 8:53 am
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This forum is now completely unusable for me on my iPad. The watch advert is ridiculous. Could a site admin say if this is to continue or not. It does not happen on my laptop, which is old and slow, so Impresume the administrators do not actually want this horrible advertising to be happening. So a technical solution needs putting in place for iPads pleae.

If this is not to be done, simply will stop visiting the site. Shame really, I enjoy the banter.

Brian


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 8:56 am
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I think that with 32,547 unique visitors every minute, and what with the site being in the top 5% of sites in the universe, a few non-paying users won't be missed.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 9:11 am
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I think that with 32,547 unique visitors every minute, and what with the site being in the top 5% of sites in the universe, a few non-paying users won't be missed.
Are you sure about the numbers? Mark said 25,000 unique tablet users per day. I wonder if the owners of MySpace said something similar when they were getting 500,000 visitors a day?


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 9:34 am
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Are you sure about the numbers?

Well, y'know, ball park and all that...


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 9:57 am
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I just wish people would stop calling them 'adds'.

Carry on.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 9:57 am
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My problem fixed. Thanks if anyone actually did anything.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 9:58 am
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brianp
This forum is now completely unusable for me on my iPad. The watch advert is ridiculous. Could a site admin say if this is to continue or not. It does not happen on my laptop, which is old and slow, so Impresume the administrators do not actually want this horrible advertising to be happening. So a technical solution needs putting in place for iPads pleae.

If this is not to be done, simply will stop visiting the site. Shame really, I enjoy the banter.

Brian

The only way I've found to clear the ad is to refresh the browser.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:00 am
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I've got a couple of questions:

The companies are targeting the site due to user demographics but subscribers don't see the ads. Is there a difference between demographic of those who pay to view and those that choose not to?

Is it possible that the very people who are being targeted are not seeing the ads because they pay to see the site?

The 'sort of person' who won't pay to use the stw site may be entirely the wrong person to try to sell private banking or an expensive watch to but are the only people to see the ads.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:05 am
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I'd love to know what the viewer demographics are....

There are only two sites I pay subscriptions to, STW and The Economist, the latter still shows adverts to subscribers (not that I see actually them mind), so STW is pretty subscriber friendly.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:07 am
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As it's a tablet campaign perhaps that's the driver. Tablet = probably an ipad = high disposable income + susceptible to marketing 😉 .


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:09 am
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First of I like the site so thanks to STW Staffers etc...

Buuuut:-

1 I get annoyed that the last thing to load is the [i]Log in[/i] button so I get the ads first. The avoidance of ads is why i pay my subscription
2 I have tried several times to cancel the print subscription and go digital only but it won't let me, why?


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:26 am
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2 I have tried several times to cancel the print subscription and go digital only but it won't let me, why?

Give 'em a ring maybe? Number's in Drac's post at the top of this page.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:34 am
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

Surrounded ring the subs bods they will assist you. The number is up there.

Robdob sorry I wasn't aware of that.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:35 am
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Four brief visits today - six private banks and two bloody watches in the process. Getting Tudor and lloyds at the same time is taking the proverbial.

It's not the 12 days of Xmas!!!!


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:36 am
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Four brief visits today - six private banks and two bloody watches in the process.

Surely a man of your means can afford a 'P'!


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:48 am
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I stopped my kids subscribing for me as a pressie for two reasons which I shared with mods. Enough said.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:49 am
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Too many lefties on the forum? 😉


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:50 am
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[i]Enough said. [/i]

I shall now fret about this for the rest of the day.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:51 am
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I shall now fret about this for the rest of the day.

I think the STW Towers Pro-independence stance really upset him 😉


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:52 am
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eamhurtmore - Member
I stopped my kids subscribing for me as a pressie for two reasons which I shared with mods. Enough said

You wanted something more? Is it the campag bottle opener?


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 10:57 am
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I stopped my kids subscribing for me as a pressie for two reasons which I shared with mods. Enough said

I don't remember what that was now. I'd go back and check but your name is on so many Moderator emails it'd take me hours to find it.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 11:00 am
 sbob
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Cougar - Moderator

I don't remember what that was now. I'd go back and check but your name is on so many Moderator emails it'd take me hours to find it.

On the forum I paid to subscribe to, I'd be inserting a handbags smiley.
😆


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 11:07 am
 Rio
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I get annoyed that the last thing to load is the Log in button so I get the ads first

I've got rid of this problem on IOS by somehow bookmarking the login page rather than the forum page. I'm not sure how I did it but it now gives me the login page if I'm not logged on or goes straight to the forum (with no adverts) if I'm already logged on.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 11:11 am
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I don't remember what that was now

A Nomad Carbon frame with XTR-DiII groupset and a STW bobble hat.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 11:11 am
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Drac - Moderator
Surrounded ring the subs bods they will assist you. The number is up there.
Robdob sorry I wasn't aware of that.

So I got a free one month "P" from STW to make me see what the fuss what about, and then they baited me with a £5 off deal to subscribe but then STW won't take my money. You couldn't make it up. 🙄

The offer email I got didn't mention is was DD only, so I spent an hour trying to pay by card, then emailing them to ask what was wrong to be told then it was DD only and my card wasn't accepted.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 11:29 am
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A bit OT but as the mods (and techies?) are here - it's working on FireFox again, thanks.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 11:49 am
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Having lost my "P" I now cannot use the site on a mobile device as it is completely unusable

I am not sure what devices you are using but Opera Mini set to 'single column view' is by far the best way to view this site. Adverts are non existent


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 12:05 pm
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Cougs - I doubt that. But don't waste your valuable time. It's not important.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 2:33 pm
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[quote=surroundedbyhills ]First of I like the site so thanks to STW Staffers etc...
Buuuut:-
1 I get annoyed that the last thing to load is the Log in button so I get the ads first. The avoidance of ads is why i pay my subscriptionThe "Subscribe" button comes up early. Click that and then you'll see a login box (prefilled).


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 5:58 pm
 Drac
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Or keep logged in.


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 6:36 pm
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But you are logged out occasionally (see various threads on this).


 
Posted : 12/02/2015 6:56 pm
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Well just to see how things were I opened singletrackworld.com forum.

Up comes private banking, okay, just wait a minute, let it settle then close. Okay. Oh **** bang here comes Tudor, screen hijacked only way out is to shut down the window. It's almost like you [i]want[/i] me to **** off.

In my deleted post (I mentioned the unmentionable) I stated I was a print subscriber for 4 or 5 years so my choice of 'abandoning' the P was because it wasn't worth it for me (and I'm not a long time 'freeloader' just bitching). Never used the premier content and only download a couple of the mags in all that time.

I've stopped visiting on my phone and had it with the iPad now. So it's either flounce (or the unmentionables) for me I'm afraid.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 6:12 am
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I don't mind the ads (usually). But the full screen ones are a little bit ewwwww....

I know, I could subscribe. But I don't actually like the mag. No offence, I don't like any of the others either. Of any genre. Especially the running mags. Don't get me started on Cycling Weekly.

This is my entry for most useless post of the day. I can sense a long day at work, whinging, complaining and generally being joyfully miserable.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 8:08 am
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I never read the mag. I subscribe to support the forum.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 8:10 am
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Arrghhh, just opened this on the laptop to find the ads covering the left third of the page, and it's totally unusable as a web page even on a 17" screen. I had to re-load the page to remove. This isn't some kind of short lived pop up ad like you might get on a newspaper site, this is a complete balls up of the forum.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 8:49 am
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I never read the mag. I subscribe to support the forum.

Which is a good thing to do. But I'm basically not that 'good' a person.

I prefer to have 50% of my screen as an advert(mainly Tripsters and Rosetta Stone ads) to support the forum.

100% is a bit much, and it's a terrible chore to drag my finger across to the top right of my ipad. Can we not stick it the 'X' somewhere central. My calories are precious.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 9:54 am
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Oooh, that top banner ad reminds me. Need to book a dentist appointment.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 9:55 am
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Arrghhh, just opened this on the laptop to find the ads covering the left third of the page

Yes, that would be the ad for ST Mag. It always does that.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 12:28 pm
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dragon - Member
Arrghhh, just opened this on the laptop to find the ads covering the left third of the page, and it's totally unusable as a web page even on a 17" screen

[img] [/img]

I reloaded it about 10 times to see what all the fuss was about. No pop ups just some ads, yes it's a lot of ads but it's still perfectly usable (on a 17" laptop or my mobile when I need to login again which is about once a month)


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:42 pm
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lol @ that pic. The forum content is easily less than 50% of the screen real estate (sorry for terminology). I would have thought that content first, ads second would be the way to go. But then I don't pay the bills. Does seem odd.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:47 pm
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yeah it is but unusable is a bit of an exaggeration.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:49 pm
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The forum content is easily less than 50% of the screen real estate [b](sorry for terminology)[/b]

Easily fixed.

The forum content is easily less than 50% of the screen [s]real estate (sorry for terminology)[/s]


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:51 pm
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[quote=mikewsmith said]yeah it is but unusable is a bit of an exaggeration.

Well it's certainly crass from a web design point of view.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:52 pm
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If that takes your machine more than 5 seconds to load you have problems with it!

You could avoid the delay by right-clicking on the links you wish to view and opening them in new tabs, then when you've chosen all the pages you wish to view, select the first tab containing the thread you wish to start with, which by that time will have loaded, and so on. When you've finished with it, hit back, and while THAT loads, select the next tab to read in the meantime. HTH

And of course the ads load first, or you'd just hit the stop button when the forum appeared 🙂


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:53 pm
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I click loads of adverts every few days to support the forum 🙂

Costs me £0/month.

(Hope it works)


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:54 pm
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Also, zoom in. HTHF 😉


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:54 pm
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[quote=nealglover said]I click loads of adverts every few days to support the forum
Costs me £0/month.
(Hope it works)

Repeated ad clicking from the same identified source may well have a detrimental effect on revenues. The ad supplier's aren't stupid and make efforts to detect bogus clicking.


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 10:57 pm
 iolo
Posts: 194
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Here's a crazy idea.
If the ads annoy so much on the sides and you believe the forum is unusable as it's less than a third of the screen how's about increasing the screen percentage so that all you see is the forum?
Or is that too much like hard work and you will have nothing to complain about?


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 11:01 pm
 Mark
Posts: 4241
 

It does Neal.
Thanks


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 11:04 pm
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It does Neal.
Thanks

Nice one.

Yorkshire premier membership tag please 😉


 
Posted : 13/02/2015 11:09 pm
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