Geekzone ads are out of control

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2487 posts

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#1724179 21-Feb-2017 22:46

I'm with @1101 on this one.
You can ignore the criticism, but the fact is, these ads are costing you money.

I am forced to enable adblock on my tablet (main browsing device) because ads expand by themselves and cover significant portions of the screen (mentioned by others and ignored). I am also more inclined to use adblock on my desktop recently because the ads are far too easy to accidentally mouse over.

@freitasm, your attitude seems to be "go to hell, this site has to pay its bills".
I agree that bills need to be paid, I want to help, but you are forcing users to use adblock.

And for all those lining up to harp on about buying a sub, I am in no position to do so at this point in time.

CYaBro

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#1724192 21-Feb-2017 22:58

Aside from being 'forced' to pay for a sub isn't this site about the users?

It's generally the long term users who contribute and provide the answers and help the newer users to the site.

If it wasn't for us then no one would come to this site.

I've helped users of geekzone many times remotely, and providing info over PM etc, with no form of payment.

Maybe long term users should get an ad free experience at no cost?

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

michaelmurfy

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#1724193 21-Feb-2017 23:04

Just a tip - there is always https://webpass.io/ just in case you guys have forgotten about it.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

freitasm

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#1724194 21-Feb-2017 23:08

UHD: Until I see website operators willing to take responsibility for malware delivered via their advertisers' networks or demand that those advertising networks compensate those affected by malware then I will opt out of the risk. Malware delivered via advertising is the largest threat to a regular PC user and no one is willing to take responsibility for it. If everyone else up the creek washes their hands of responsibility then I'm sure going to take three seconds and install uBlock Origin on everything I can.

And what is that website operators should do in this specific case you mention?

In our case I already do it by screening ads, removing advertisers that seem dubious and plainly rejecting "offers". We have been running the same three networks for years - Geekzone was the first Google AdSense site in New Zealand, back in 2003 and we have been running with TribalFusion for almost 12 years now. A few years back we started with Amazon. These are the top three ad networks in the world. I receive lots of "Please join our networks" every week and I could if I wanted to force you to see low quality ads (like those "You have been selected to win an iPad" that appear on Herald and other sites). I could run those just to make sure I could squeeze every cent possible but I don't. I don't because I do exactly what you are asking: I take responsibility to run only ads that I personally would be ok with.

So, please don't come with this comment because it's not a solution. Not on this site.

andrewNZ: @freitasm, your attitude seems to be "go to hell, this site has to pay its bills".

No, this is what you'd say, your attitude. I never said this. If I had this "go to hell" attitude then I cold simply deny access to anyone running AdBlockers, which I don't do.

What I am seeing is what I have seen before: people who complain about ads, say the site is valuable, but refuse to admit that the ads are a necessary part of the ecosystem.

andrewNZ

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#1724197 21-Feb-2017 23:45

I agree ads are necessary, BUT, the key is achieving the required balance. I believe your balance is off.

These particular ads have been drawing criticism for a wee while, and so far the only response has been "if you don't like it, subscribe".

Keep in mind the only people complaining, are the ones without adblockers enabled (even if temporally), the people you can actually gain revenue from.

For me, I'll be sticking to reduced functionality adblocking until these ads are gone, because the alternative is a site that is genuinely unusable.

benokobi

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#1724198 22-Feb-2017 00:13

The rollover ads are fine until you roll over them??????? So don't roll over....

jonb

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#1724206 22-Feb-2017 00:25

It rolls over by itself when using the cursor keys to scroll down the forum post, unless remember to move the mouse pointer to one side of the screen before scrolling.

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loceff13

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#1724208 22-Feb-2017 00:33

They are a hell of alot better now content wise than the google ones that were previously on the site, that being said rollover with audio/expanding size...

AidanS

458 posts

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#1724214 22-Feb-2017 01:56

I think the ads that really bother me now are the auto-hyperlinks in forum posts to ebay products.

It's misleading because you might think someone's actually made an in-line link to something relevant but it's actually just an ad-link.

I'm completely happy to view a few reasonable ads across pages but Geekzone has now become so ad heavy I feel forced to use an ad block.

An increase in ads (= increase in revenue?) should equal an increase in features and improvements to the forums. A fairly self-run site like this shouldn't be costing you much at all to run and by squeezing more money out, you'd expect more features and constant UX improvements. Other than the odd feature here and there, it seems to have changed very little in the past 3-5+ years.

Just my thoughts...

DarthKermit

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#1724215 22-Feb-2017 02:07

Believe you me, Mauricio ain't gettin' rich from those pesky ads (nor from the subscribers).

As for changes to the site; he works full time in a day job so any changes are done on his own time. He must have about three thousand suggestions from users for site improvements.

I for one commend him for what he does with his limited resources.

kiwirock

685 posts

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#1724216 22-Feb-2017 02:58

I just don't log in. If I log in I get these things hanging on the side. Although lately I just get blank white space where the picture of the ad is sopose to be. They make trying to reply somewhat, ummm, errrr, challenging.

kiwirock

685 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1724217 22-Feb-2017 03:05

I spoke to soon. They just take longer to load it appears when I'm logged in. If I want to log in, I've gotta be bl*&dy quick before the ad wipes the left side log in link out. For that reason, I don't visit Geekzone much anymore, only the odd RSS feed that really grabs my attention.

rugrat

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#1724218 22-Feb-2017 04:39

I roll over them heaps by mistake on laptop, doesn't seem to take much and since it's roll over and not click on the add, It looks like to me it's set up for people to unintentionally blow up add over screen.

The adds are getting intrusive in my opinion, and I know they can be removed by subscribing. When the adds were still images I would click on one if it interested me, but I'm not going to have anything to do with an add that gets in my face.

At least for now iphone, and ipad seem free of them so I use them 95% time for site.

andrewNZ

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#1724223 22-Feb-2017 07:07

benokobi:
The rollover ads are fine until you roll over them??????? So don't roll over....

Oh FFS, what part of "happens by itself" do people not get?

On my tablet (Surface Pro 3, win 10, chrome), you do not have to roll over them. I get exactly what is shown in kiwirock's image a few posts up.
It loads there by itself, it cannot be closed, it stays on screen when scrolling.

MikeB4

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#1724227 22-Feb-2017 08:11

Are the folks having issues with bad ads using older OS's and or browsers? The reason I asked is I have tried to experience what others are describing and I have been unable to replicate. I have turned off any Adblockers, cleared cookies and surfed GZ not logged in and all I get is few descrete Ads.

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