Geekzone ads are out of control

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1101

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#208646 21-Feb-2017 10:17

Hi There
I know you have to make some money out of this but....

the ads on this site are now out of control. Its up there with the absolute worst
Honestly, its at the stage where it would put off any new forum signups.

Having ads start at the bottom of the page then creep up to take 1/2 the screen , thats the sort of stuff that would scare anyone away
I couldnt beleive it so I tried another laptop with a new clean chrome install, yep just as bad . (FF & adblocker, perfectly OK)

I usually use an adblocker & FF, with chrome & no adblocker, its really getting quite bad. Just an oversaturation of adverts
I would now never never recommend this site without an adblocker. Thats unfortunate

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MikeB4
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#1723555 21-Feb-2017 10:19

If you really like GZ you can subscribe and the Ads can disappear.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

freitasm

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#1723559 21-Feb-2017 10:21

If you feel very strongly about this I can suggest a Geekzone subscription.

We try different ad configurations all the time and work towards making the site faster - even with ads. You may not have noticed but all images are loaded over HTTPS (taking advantage of HTTP/2 and single connections) to reduce latency when loading other elements. We recently moved our news pages to HTTPS and started using HTTPS for all ads. Slowly we are moving things to a faster site.

We don't have popups, we have ads out of the way of content (unlike sites where they're in the background, or between every reply) and when I count ads I see we still have LESS ads than other publications in New Zealand.

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1101

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#1723571 21-Feb-2017 10:50

Im just making an observation

The ads were so bad, on a clients laptop, I wondered if it was infected
So I tried a clean chrome on a workshop laptop : just as bad

Really, having an ad that creeps up and takes over at least 1/3 the browser , thats enough to scare anyone

personally, not bothered (adblocker)
But, What impression is this site going to give to 1st time users when it looks like something is taking over their browser

as I said, just an observation. This sites ads, up there with some of the worst.

freitasm

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#1723573 21-Feb-2017 10:53

Thanks for the observation. Your post though would be a lot more helpful if it had a screenshot showing exactly what is bothering you.

I see you dismissed the subscription suggestion by not acknowledging it. I shall endeavor to ignore your ad blocking then.

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CYaBro

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#1723574 21-Feb-2017 10:54

And then there is users like me, that have Geekzone saying that you're running an ad blocker when Geekzone is white listed! (Happens in more than one browser/PC/location)

So we see all of the ads but lose a lot of extra features of the site!

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

freitasm

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#1723575 21-Feb-2017 10:55

I will remove the check for the adblocker as it's just a message and the feature disable but no change happening. Unfortunately more than 35% of people block ads.

I can go into a long discussion but this has been done before.

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chevrolux

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#1723576 21-Feb-2017 10:58

Far out.... it's $25.... just buy the subscription.

... $25 has paid for itself multiple times for me from the advice I have gained from the site.

gehenna

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#1723577 21-Feb-2017 11:02

I haven't seen any ads on Geekzone for years.

Dulouz

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#1723579 21-Feb-2017 11:09

1101:

Hi There
I know you have to make some money out of this but....

the ads on this site are now out of control. Its up there with the absolute worst
Honestly, its at the stage where it would put off any new forum signups.

Having ads start at the bottom of the page then creep up to take 1/2 the screen , thats the sort of stuff that would scare anyone away
I couldnt beleive it so I tried another laptop with a new clean chrome install, yep just as bad . (FF & adblocker, perfectly OK)

I usually use an adblocker & FF, with chrome & no adblocker, its really getting quite bad. Just an oversaturation of adverts
I would now never never recommend this site without an adblocker. Thats unfortunate

I think you make a valid point. If you want to grow the site (which I assume is a goal) you need to be careful with user experience especially for novice/first-time users.

I don't think the knee-jerk reaction from the GZ fanboys to instantly dismiss any criticism of the site is helpful. Mainly because if you do have a sub you have no idea of what the normal user experience may be.

Amanon

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#1723580 21-Feb-2017 11:12

I also find adverts like this to be on the wrong side of intrusive.

But then scroll down the page and it comes into focus without warning and becomes full audio and video.

Quick look at geekzone at work, and the rest of the office wonders what you're getting up to.

freitasm

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#1723583 21-Feb-2017 11:14

These ads expand when you hover the mouse over them - but it takes five seconds before they start and there's visual feedback that it's happening - just move the mouse away and they won't start.

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#1723586 21-Feb-2017 11:21

I'm a subscriber and I choose to keep ads on because they don't really bother me. It's awesome to generate additional revenue for Geekzone through no effort. It's my view that if you block ads on a website, then you shouldn't consume the content produced by the site.

These are probably the worst ads GZ has to offer (Seek, Air NZ etc - rollover ads), but I just click X and move on.

Edit: beaten to it

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#1723588 21-Feb-2017 11:26

I've found the ads to have improved from a few months ago. I had a subscription, not for the reason of removing the ads, but cancelled it and found the ads still aren't bad enough for me.

michaelmurfy

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#1723602 21-Feb-2017 11:42

Oh come on. It is @freitasm's birthday this week so subscribe so he can purchase us more booze for the party :)

I think it is unfair if you use an ad blocker. I have spent countless hours providing free assistance to others on here for networking issues, netflix etc and without a platform like Geekzone you wouldn't have people like me helping others out. Ads pay for the server(s), bandwidth, domain name, Cloudflare subscription etc creating an incredibly fast site for us to use and a subscription is only $25/yr if you don't like ads.

I don't want to see a site like this go just because others don't want to pay their fair share. @1101 you've had tonnes of free advice on this forum that would have saved you tonnes of money so what is $25?

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openmedia

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#1723606 21-Feb-2017 11:50

freitasm:

These ads expand when you hover the mouse over them - but it takes five seconds before they start and there's visual feedback that it's happening - just move the mouse away and they won't start.

Actually they start playing, albeit smaller, once the image is visible on the screen.

Even touching the add briefly due to a mouse over causes the video to expand and then it takes a number of seconds to shrink again.

I've seen similar issues with vertical ads along side the forum, and these are even easier to touch by accident with the mouse.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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