Ad Blockers

[Matt Bacon]

From my experience, it seems that ads have got much more “in your face” than they used to be... a few weeks back, if memory serves. On the mobile site I now get a pop down ad at the top... which covers the navigation, and a whole lot of rubbish at the bottom. Is it just me? Maybe the site is finding a way round my ad blocker...

best,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

So, since the poll is closed... yes I find the advertising on the site intrusive and annoying. 
bestz,

M.

[Deuces]

I have no comment!.... 😬🙄😠😡👿

[High octane]

While there seem to be more ads lately, and more "in your face" ads, I understand that there's a need to pay the bills. I myself would not like to see this forum shut down, how 'bout you?

[Dave Ambrose]

The current settings are too aggressive. I’ll turn them down as soon as I get back to San Diego. 

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, Dave... it seems a lot better now...

best 

M.

[Toner283]

I view on mobile 99% of the time. When the ad poll first went up, I voted that no I did not use an ad blocker and no, I did not find the ads intrusive. 

However, since then the ad settings seem to have changed there is now as others have said pop-ups at the top and bottom as well as when I click to open a thread I quite often get a full page pop-up that won't close for 10-15 seconds. This causes very slow page loads (two to three times as bad as I have become used to on this site) and about once out of every three category or thread clicks it will load so slow that it actually stalls out and freezes. At that point I either have to refresh the screen or close the window completely and restart it. It seems to be about 50 50 as far as which option I have to go with. As I stated, I view 99% the time on mobile so this also uses up my mobile data.

I realize revenue to keep the site up and running is ad driven but this is getting ridiculous. I am more than willing to pay a monthly/yearly user fee to be able to use the site and not have the ads. In the absence of something like that, I am actually considering putting an ad blocker in just so I can continue to enjoy the site without the frustrations of dealing with the overbearing ads. As it is, I used to be on the site basically daily sometimes two or three times a day checking on what was happening. Since this ad thing is been going on I find it being two and three days between site visits just because I don't want to deal with the ads. This in itself is frustrating because MCM is one of my favourite websites to visit.

[George Bojaciuk]

Honestly, it is terrible on my phone. I can’t see if there is a message unless I move the ad and then it moves back down. The more I collapse the message, the faster it seems to come back to annoy me. Personally, I think it’s very distracting.

[aurfalien]

Well, wondering if there would be some sort of fund me apparatus just here on this site were we could pay what we can afford to keep the site ad free and running.

We all pitch in to help out.  A few bucks here and there from many would make a difference.

However to make it worth while and workable, a cost break down of what it takes for this site to stay operational would be prudent.

This way when annual targets or goals are met, we can simply relax until the following year.

The magazine itself is I think a dead issue.  I've paid for 2 years in advance several years back and have gotten 1 issue.  Eh, water under the bridge at this point.  Better then water over the bridge

 

Edited October 6 by aurfalien

[djflyer]

I dont mind the ads at the top and bottom of the page, but the ones that insert between posts get a bit annoying, especially when they're totally unrelated to anything I have interest in or need for.  (would be curious to know why the google bot thinks I need a divorce atty seeing as I havent been married in years)

What would be more appreciated is ads for hobby related vendors and sites - kit manufacturers, retailers, even links to social media streams would be great.  We're the people they need to sell to, and I'm always looking for new sources so add 'em if you can.

[Dave Ambrose]

On 10/6/2019 at 8:46 AM, djflyer said:

I dont mind the ads at the top and bottom of the page, but the ones that insert between posts get a bit annoying, especially when they're totally unrelated to anything I have interest in or need for.  (would be curious to know why the google bot thinks I need a divorce atty seeing as I havent been married in years)

What would be more appreciated is ads for hobby related vendors and sites - kit manufacturers, retailers, even links to social media streams would be great.  We're the people they need to sell to, and I'm always looking for new sources so add 'em if you can.

I agree with you completely. I'll be working on turning those off tonight. 

[PierreR89]

Have anyone noticed that there is some random popup ad that will take over the entire screen when visiting on a phone?
It started happening today, i got it 2-3 times and each time when i pushed on the return button it took me all the way out from the site...
When i tried to enter again everything was normal...

Ads like that is why i am seriously considering getting adblocker for the phone to...
Small ads att the top or bottom is no problem.
But a gigant popup ad that blocks everything is NOT okey...
 

[Matt Bacon]

Yep... I thought it had got better, but now I’ve got the “window blind” thingy at the top covering the navigation and coming down again at random after I’ve closed it, ads amongst the run of posts, AND occasional  full page “takeovers”. As others have said, most of them aren’t even relevant, so whatever it is that makes Google-powered advertising so scarily knowledgeable on other sites doesn’t seem to be working here...

best,

M.

[Dave Ambrose]

I changed the settings to be much less prolific. Hopefully, this will fix the problem without killing our support revenue. 

I do apologize, and thanks for being patient. If you turned on your ad blocker in disgust, please white list us again. 

[stitchdup]

I'll give it a chance but if it gets bad again I'm afraid i will replace it

[Snake45]

On 10/6/2019 at 11:46 AM, djflyer said:

I dont mind the ads at the top and bottom of the page, but the ones that insert between posts get a bit annoying,

And now they are actually appearing IN THE MIDDLE OF A POST!  

That's going TOO FAR. I'm not currently running an ad blocker (obviously), but if this keeps up, I'm getting one. 

[youpey]

The ads seem inconsistent now. The last topic I had looked like 2 or 3 pages of scrolling (on my phone), then another thread has just 1 small ad at the bottom. 

EDIT: I too just got 1 ad in the middle of a person's post.  Not in between posts. In the middle, cutting off a sentence.  At least this one was for hockey jerseys and not dating sites that I was getting last week. 

Edit2: ironically I got an ad for an ad blocker

Edit3: changed my settings from dont block ads to block ads. I enjoy looking at people's models too much to stop using this site. If you get a paid sub to disable ads I will pay. 

Sorry. There is still way too  many ad they are incredibly intrusive 

Edited October 8 by youpey

[youpey]

Also

Is there an option to just have all the ads at the bottom of a thread. I have never clicked on any ad ever because it's the internet and it's not smart to click on links that you dont know where it will take you. If the ads were stacked at the bottom they would still load but wouldn't be in the way. Also do you only get paid if people click or do they just need to load. 

[Snake45]

3 hours ago, Snake45 said:

And now they are actually appearing IN THE MIDDLE OF A POST!  

That's going TOO FAR. I'm not currently running an ad blocker (obviously), but if this keeps up, I'm getting one. 

Here's the proof. 

[youpey]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Here's the proof. 

I saw similar thing only it cutoff the person sentence halfway through

[bobthehobbyguy]

Well the adjusts Dave made have helped. I was getting ads I had to close to see the topic I was veiwing. The adds on my android tablet were never as bad. If the ads are needed to keep the site going fine with me. Dave has said he is still tweeking the ads to balanced revenue and  inconvenience. The idea of paying for the site has been discussed but that comes with its own set of issues. 

[stitchdup]

I'm starting to enjoy the vatiety of ads I'm getting at the moment. If you're not playing CaptTuttles game already, after you do the ads get crazy funny

[Tom Geiger]

Dave, is there a setting for family appropriate ads only?  I am seeing some naughty ads showing adult toys and dress up!  

[440 Dakota]

21 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Dave, is there a setting for family appropriate ads only?  I am seeing some naughty ads showing adult toys and dress up!  

same here and dating sites also, I assure you these are not generated by tracking and no one else uses this computer

[niteowl7710]

We can't curse here, or even use Peanuts style typewriter characters to serve for it...but I'm getting ESL (I'm gonna guess Chinese) ads for ED "meds" mid-post? I get the point about revenue, but if you can't keep the ads family friendly then what's the point?