Yes, There Are More Website Ads.

Blog Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Todd, Feb 25, 2018.

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  1. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    In an ideal world...
    ...but until we live in that world, we still have to pay the bills.

    We've always approached the monetization of the website with hesitation, but decided to revisit the topic with open minds. This led to our joining forces with a new ad partner and increasing ad units on the website as a cost effective solution to help us achieve our financial goals.

    In addition to the existing ads (below the navigation and in the sidebar), last week we added units in the footer, articles, and forum/conversation threads. Some adjustments may occur (like removing those disruptive 970x250 ads that were initially running), but for the time being we're going to let the updates settle in.

    In the meantime, if you run into a mobile redirect (or similar takeover) please refer to: Reporting Ad Redirects, Overlays, and Pop-Ups.

    Annoyed by the ads? Become a Premium Member and you won't see any banner ads. Otherwise know that your site usage is directly helping to support our ongoing efforts.

    Thanks, Todd
     
    #1 Todd, Feb 25, 2018
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  2. Shanex

    Shanex Grand Pooh-Bah (4,960) Dec 10, 2015 France
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Ads within threads can be irritating, but it's the same on other forums (vBulletin) I'm on. Bills have to be paid, and unlike different communities, BA also focus on beer events, fest and real life stuffs so I'm not going to complain if this keeps BA running.
     
    #2 Shanex, Feb 26, 2018
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  3. pat61

    pat61 Initiate (0) Dec 29, 2010 Minnesota

    Like the old Albert King song - "everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die."
     
    #3 pat61, Feb 26, 2018
    PatrickCT, TrojanRB, jmdrpi and 1 other person like this.
  4. moshea

    moshea Initiate (0) Jul 16, 2007 Michigan

    I have no problem with ads on a free site. I'd prefer ads than being a supporter. Nice to have options. Thanks as always
     
    #4 moshea, Feb 26, 2018
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  5. Jugs_McGhee

    Jugs_McGhee Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,140) Aug 15, 2010 Texas
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Hat tip for the transparency. Many websites would just do it but would try to sneak it under the radar.
     
    #5 Jugs_McGhee, Feb 26, 2018
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  6. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Visually, I think the ads would be better if they lived between the bounding boxes of people's posts. Since they currently sit inside the bounding box of the preceding post, the ads look like they are part of someone's post.
     
    #6 zid, Mar 1, 2018
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  7. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Agreed. It's a forum templace thing that's been bugging me since launch, but I just discovered and applied a solution.
     
    #7 Todd, Mar 1, 2018
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  8. mnrider

    mnrider Savant (1,147) May 26, 2009 Connecticut

    The new ads are giving me the “Congatulations amazon/walmart malware”
     
    #8 mnrider, Mar 7, 2018
  9. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    As posted above: "if you run into a mobile redirect (or similar takeover) please refer to: Reporting Ad Redirects, Overlays, and Pop-Ups."
     
    #9 Todd, Mar 7, 2018
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  10. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,701) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    25 years ago this would never have happened on the internet...... They're fun to poke fun of, but other sites' ads are really annoying. It's a brave new world of marketing. They don't really bother me and this site is fun.
     
    #10 rgordon, Mar 7, 2018
  11. flaskman

    flaskman Pundit (985) Aug 3, 2015 New York

    No issues with me. I have plenty of fun and get tons of free information. Someone has to pay for it all. I totally understand.
     
    #11 flaskman, Mar 7, 2018
  12. donspublic

    donspublic Grand Pooh-Bah (3,552) Aug 4, 2014 Texas
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Next night I have a big BA Stout, you'll see the supporter badge on my avitar. Right thing to do seeing how much time I spend on here, and what I have learned
     
    #12 donspublic, Mar 8, 2018
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  13. CarolinaCardinals

    CarolinaCardinals Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,219) Jun 11, 2003 North Carolina
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    The bros and the community have been great in guiding me thru my beer journey and i am definitely down with helping the site continue on! Cheers, Tom.
     
    #13 CarolinaCardinals, Mar 10, 2018
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  14. HopsDubosc

    HopsDubosc Pundit (803) Apr 24, 2015 Vermont

    I'm totally fine with the ads, but I cruise this site at work in an open floor plan, and would make a small suggestion to limit the underwear/swimsuit ones.
     
    #14 HopsDubosc, Mar 16, 2018
    SammyJaxxxx and flat_lander like this.
  15. dbrauneis

    dbrauneis Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,071) Dec 8, 2007 North Carolina
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I don't get a lot of underwear/swimsuit ads so that is likely based on other sites you have visited (almost all of my ads are technology/IT, travel, or beer related). Remember that advertisers are tracking you across devices/computers.
     
    #15 dbrauneis, Mar 16, 2018
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  16. HopsDubosc

    HopsDubosc Pundit (803) Apr 24, 2015 Vermont

    Very interesting! Thanks for the info!
     
    #16 HopsDubosc, Mar 16, 2018
  17. flat_lander

    flat_lander Pooh-Bah (2,490) May 11, 2016 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Well, whatever they are using to decide these ads isn't 100% accurate. Yes, I'm seeing a lot of ads related to the things I actually search for and participate in online. But I see a lot for some women's fashion site called Rotita - don't crossdress and I asked my wife and she's never shopped there. Now today I'm seeing ads for women's swimsuits and basically gay anime comics from what I can tell. And although I definitely watched some Robotech back in the day, I'm not sure how either of those things relate to my actual online history.

    Probably forking the $20 over to be a member. I spend enough time on here and the ads are killing me a little bit each time. Seems to make the pages load slower and be jerky for lack of a proper IT term.
     
    #17 flat_lander, Mar 17, 2018
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  18. dbrauneis

    dbrauneis Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,071) Dec 8, 2007 North Carolina
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Well, it can be more than exact searches/visits that you have done and is effected by the ad content the provider has available (I'm assuming there is a certain amount of ad content purchased through BA and the rest is open-market bid).
     
    #18 dbrauneis, Mar 17, 2018
    flat_lander likes this.
  19. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    While certain ad units display different ads sizes, resulting in that jerky page effect, the new ad server is significantly faster than the previous one.
    I'm bias, but you won't regret it.
     
    #19 Todd, Mar 17, 2018
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  20. meefmoff

    meefmoff Pooh-Bah (1,922) Jul 6, 2014 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I seem to be getting an autoplay of a cover of the song "What's Going On?" by Four Non-Blondes sometimes when I open a page.

    I assume it's an ad but have not been able to locate the source on the page and have had to just close the windows.

    Or perhaps you guys are just adding mood music? :stuck_out_tongue:
     
    #20 meefmoff, Mar 22, 2018
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