Ads embedded into posts

[ahfix]

Hi,

Anyone else having issues with ads being embedded into user posts? I don't mind ads as they support the side but sometimes the ad look like they are part of the post making it difficult to read the text.

ah

[ahfix]

Here's an example ... it looks as if I have attached a pic

ad.PNG (182.3 KiB) Viewed 2644 times

[arco_iris]

THAT is a paticularly annoying one, though if I visit that thread now, I don't see it or any ad in your post (whether logged in or out) - but I do see one in the OP's initial post.

I had thought in the past that being logged in got rid of a lot of them, but just proved that's not the case. Unfortunately these ads pay for the running of the website, this forum, and keep the owner in the manner to which he has become accustomed!

I quite like the ones that offer to find me a new wife !

[ultimatehandyman]

When the forum was updated I added new Advertising code to the forum. In the old forum there used to be banners above every forum, but this is not possible with the new forum software. The new code is just embedded into the page and then it decides the best position for the advert. This means that it should work on any device.

With the old forum software, I used to hide the ads from logged in members, but unfortunately the server costs have gone up to cover the cost of increased electricity prices and I’m sick of paying for the server each month ( the advertising revenue, pays for roughly half of the server costs – this does not include paying people to work on the website ).

As annoying as it might be, I’m afraid the adverts are essential.

[arco_iris]

I used to hide the ads from logged in members, but unfortunately the server costs have gone up to cover the cost of increased electricity prices and I’m sick of paying for the server each month ( the advertising revenue, pays for roughly half of the server costs – this does not include paying people to work on the website ).

Boss, we understand and you of course do not have to answer this, but do you really think that displaying ads to logged in members will indeed increase the revenue? Presumably time will tell, it would be interesting to learn the results in due course.

I always avoid clicking on adverts on any site (remember the old side panels on Google) because they are a nuisance trying to sell me something I don't need, taking me away from what I'm actually interested in, and would only assume that if revenue increases it will be by accident, clumsy clicking & fat fingers.

I do click on adverts, which I know the advertiser pays for, if I am using a search engine looking for something specific - but not these randomly generated ones.

Should we all be the clicking ads to generate income to keep the server running? (Only just thought of this possibility, as typing).

[arco_iris]

I used to hide the ads from logged in members, but unfortunately the server costs have gone up to cover the cost of increased electricity prices and I’m sick of paying for the server each month ( the advertising revenue, pays for roughly half of the server costs – this does not include paying people to work on the website ).

Boss, we understand and you of course do not have to answer this, but do you really think that displaying ads to logged in members will indeed increase the revenue? Presumably time will tell, it would be interesting to learn the results in due course.

I always avoid clicking on adverts on any site (remember the old side panels on Google) because they are a nuisance trying to sell me something I don't need, taking me away from what I'm actually interested in, and would only assume that if revenue increases it will be by accident, clumsy clicking & fat fingers.

I do click on adverts, which I know the advertiser pays for, if I am using a search engine looking for something specific - but not these randomly generated ones.

Should we all be the clicking ads to generate income to keep the server running? (Only just thought of this possibility, as typing).

Sometimes it does not matter if the adverts are clicked on, but the more times the adverts are shown, the more appealing it is to advertisers.

For example if the forum gets 50,000 page views per day, that means that adverts could be served on all 50,000 pages. If (like I used to), I was to hide the adverts from logged in members, that might mean that the adverts are only shown on 30,000 pages. So people who want to advertise might be more willing to advertise on a site with the more page views.


It’s against Googles terms for service for me to encourage anyone to click on the adverts, so please don’t click on the adverts (unless the advert is something that you are genuinely interested in)

[wine~o]

Don't tell anyone but I use an adblocker...

[oz0707]

Do you run this site at a loss then? Fair play to you if so

[ultimatehandyman]

Do you run this site at a loss then? Fair play to you if so

Yes, the site used to make decent money and did for a few years. But after social media became popular the advertising revenue took a nose dive. The site also got hit with Google Penguin and Panda updates in about 2011, when I discovered that hundreds of people had copied my articles and pictures and were using them without my knowledge. This meant the site was penalised in Google’s search results, as they thought this site was full of copied content – although it was the other sites that had copied from this (I spent three months of my life filling out DMCA takedown notices)

Due to the size of the size of the site and particularly the load that the forum puts on the server, it has to be on a decent server and that costs over £600 per month.

Now the site is in a good position, as the forum software has been updated. The video section of the site is in the process of being updated and the main content management system for the site will be updated soon. The software on the server can then be updated to the latest version

[ahfix]

When the forum was updated I added new Advertising code to the forum. In the old forum there used to be banners above every forum, but this is not possible with the new forum software. The new code is just embedded into the page and then it decides the best position for the advert. This means that it should work on any device.

Totally understand the need for advertising and support this. Would appreciate if you could take a look to see if the embedded ads stop clashing with the content? In my example, if the ad had space above and below and a neat little outline it would be obvious to the eye.

Yes, the site used to make decent money and did for a few years. But after social media became popular the advertising revenue took a nose dive.

Have you thought of contacting the likes of Toolstation and see if they would consider sponsorship in exchange for a permanent ad banner ? The forum sends them a fair amount of traffic.


ah

[arco_iris]

I see they're still playing around with it.

Yesterday I had an advert popping up from the bottom of the screen (using a tablet), this evening they're coming down from the top, floating above, staying on screen when you scroll through threads. There is a small arrow you can touch to make them disappear, but it's only temporary, they come back when you go to another page.

On top of that, I'm currently on Tenerife so these ads are in Spanish & I don't understand a word of them, except I recognise "BMW X7", which I'm damn sure I can't afford.

To be frank, I would rather pay a modest subscription to be a forum member and make the adverts go away.

Shall we have a poll? I suggest £25 per annum, £48 up front for two years, auto-renew?

[ultimatehandyman]

I’m looking into this (I’m not ignoring anyone)

It could be a week or two before I sort something, as I’m dead busy.

[ultimatehandyman]

This should be fixed now, for members that are logged in with more than 100 posts

Only visitors and new members should see the adverts