Adverts within threads (1 Viewer)

[Steve Lister]

I asked about this before but have not had a reply. I find the adverts within threads a distraction and I am hoping there is a way of removing them. One at the top and one at the bottom as on the old BF would be fine.

I have just looked at a thread on Ruddy Duck and it goes like this:
Original post
Advert for Luxury Asiatic River Cruise
Reply
Advert for Luxury Asiatic River Cruise (exact same one as before)

Steve

 

[Nutcracker]

Try Firefox with adblock

 

[Allen]

I'm also finding this frustrating and don't feel I should have to change my browser to fix. The old version didn't have adverts littering the thread content so why now?

 

[Steve]

I'm also finding this frustrating and don't feel I should have to change my browser to fix. The old version didn't have adverts littering the thread content so why now?

By the end of the week you will have an option not to see any ads.

 

[Allen]

Thanks Steve, the Victorias Secret add which just popped up on the home page for me was most distracting and the laser tattoo removal machine advert is clearly trying to tell me something!

 

[Alexis Powell]

By the end of the week you will have an option not to see any ads.

A free option, or an option with paid subscription?

To the OP--I use uBlock Origin (ad blocker) in Chrome, so I see no adverts.

--AP

 

[opisska]

I personally turn off adblock on pages that I care about. It doesn't hurt me that much and makes them some money. Just something to consider.

 

[Nutcracker]

I personally turn off adblock on pages that I care about. It doesn't hurt me that much and makes them some money. Just something to consider.

Actually, it doesn't make any difference! Birdforum gets the advertisers' money, whether you see their ads or not. But if you don't like the ads, you're not going to buy their products anyway, so you might as well use the adblocker: it won't change how much money is spent on their products. Putting adverts out to people who don't want them doesn't make them any money, only potentially loses customers who take the attitude "I don't like that ad so I'm going to boycott their stuff".

 

[opisska]

Actually, it doesn't make any difference! Birdforum gets the advertisers' money, whether you see their ads or not. But if you don't like the ads, you're not going to buy their products anyway, so you might as well use the adblocker: it won't change how much money is spent on their products. Putting adverts out to people who don't want them doesn't make them any money, only potentially loses customers who take the attitude "I don't like that ad so I'm going to boycott their stuff".

That's simply not true. Most ads online are paid per impression, so the more people who see them, the more money is paid. A person with adblock simply doesn't count as a visitor to the page for ad-revenue purposes.

 

[Steve]

A free option, or an option with paid subscription?

To the OP--I use uBlock Origin (ad blocker) in Chrome, so I see no adverts.

--AP

I don't think anything we do will meet with your approval, perhaps you have outgrown BF and need to find something more to your tastes.

 

[Nutcracker]

That's simply not true. Most ads online are paid per impression, so the more people who see them, the more money is paid. A person with adblock simply doesn't count as a visitor to the page for ad-revenue purposes.

Can they tell that, though? And it certainly doesn't answer the second point of unwelcome ads driving customers away

 

[opisska]

Can they tell that, though? And it certainly doesn't answer the second point of unwelcome ads driving customers away

Yes they can, because the ad is loaded from their servers, not BF ones. That's the whole point why the ad-blockers work - they stop elements located at servers known to be used to serve ads from loading. If an ad can be blocked, then the ad network knows that it has been blocked. (Yes, you could, technically, load the ad but just don't show it, but I am not aware of any widespread tool that would do that, because most people care more about conserving their own bandwidth.)

 

[Steve]

The ads do help the running costs of the site if people click them, but trust me when I tell you it nowhere near covers the costs, shall we just leave it there.

 

[Alexis Powell]

I don't think anything we do will meet with your approval, perhaps you have outgrown BF and need to find something more to your tastes.

Dude, you are awfully thin-skinned for someone in charge of replying to a Forum that is about dealing with complaints! Chill! We are invited in this forum to communicate what we don't like, have problems with etc. That is all that I have done! Maybe you need work in the background and let others deal with the PR and the petty to profound gripes that are bound to fill the threads of this forum. Your response to me was inappropriate. I simply asked a question. I also provided a possible solution to another member's problem.

As a teacher, I feel your pain. Students never appreciate how hard we work to prepare and deliver lessons.

The point of this Forum in BirdForum is to gripe about things we don't like. I love BirdForum and I love things that I love to be how I like them. Nevertheless, I will adjust to change. I don't like change, but I accept it grudgingly, especially if the new tool/product can still do everything for which I used the old one. But I also hope that BirdForum endeavors to improve to meet my and other user's needs. I am not a big user of social media because a lot of it doesn't serve my needs. I am not much interested in much of the mass market or what the "average person" likes, but I understand that serving that audience is your first priority. I am more interested in what are sometimes called niche products. I mostly visit the optics forums on BirdForum where all we do is bitch about how our favorite binoculars, which are already 1000x better than what the average consumer needs, can be better. That's what I'm doing now--bitching about how my beloved BirdForum could be better.

--AP

 

[Alexis Powell]

...you could, technically, load the ad but just don't show it, but I am not aware of any widespread tool that would do that, because most people care more about conserving their own bandwidth.)

I think this must be how some customized blockers, like Webmail Ad Blocker work. Doesn't save bandwidth, but when one is on a high-speed connection, who cares? Saving screen space and removing distracting irrelevant ads is much more valuable.

--AP

 

[Steve Lister]

I have added AdBlocker to my usual browser (Microsoft Edge) and it does the job. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Lisa W]

The point of this Forum in BirdForum is to gripe about things we don't like.

Actually it is to let Steve and Ollie know the problems and or functions that are not working. It is not a “give them grief” forum.

 

[Alexis Powell]

Actually it is to let Steve and Ollie know the problems and or functions that are not working. It is not a “give them grief” forum.

Is that what I've done? I apologize. But I do hope the interface can be improved for those of us who use computers rather than smart phones for internet browsing.

--AP

 

[Steve]

Ok added this evening, members viewing threads, so if your viewing this you should see your name below.

 

[delia todd]

Brilliant. Thanks Steve.