Changes to Advertising on the site

Boards.ie: Niamh

Hi guys, we are in a position of needing to improve the revenue of Boards in order to keep things running. It has been an ever changing problem over the years with advertising methods and other income streams constantly evolving and we sometimes struggle to keep up. 

For a while now we have not been seeing the results we should be based on how many people are seeing the ads/ad slots on the site. For this reason, we have engaged the services of an expert team at Snigel to help us to improve our revenue stream via Google Ads. 

In order to do this they will be implementing some changes to the ads on the site. 

One of their recommendations is to increase the different sizes of ads appearing in any given slot. The ad slots won’t change in size but the addition of some new sizes that fit within that same slot will open us up to some more advertisers and ads. 

Another recommendation was to add some new slots. The only one we will add at this time is a top ad on the mobile site which will be the same size as the current footer (bottom) ad and mirrors the fact that we have a top ad on desktop above the content. It will not be sticky like the footer ad is and it will disappear as you move down the page. 

On the desktop site the side ad will be sticky, i.e. it will stay in place as you move down the page. This will mirror (in a way) the sticky footer that we already have on mobile.

I know no one likes ads but unfortunately they are a necessary tool to keep the site alive and to cover costs which we are not doing at the moment. I’d ask all of you reaching for the ad blocker to pause and give it some time after the changes have been implemented before taking that step :)

These new changes will take effect over the coming days. 

Thanks guys!

Niamh.  

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058236731/changes-to-advertising-on-the-site

So, how many ad clicks do we need to do each day? :) I've no intention to sell my car or register with Quinnbet, but was happy to see their proposition - maybe it will have changed tomorrow.

Invasive ads just lead to people blocking them completely.

Riesen_Meal

Was getting a lot of Russian ads yesterday on board's, obviously I am googling and keeping up with the news currently, I did report the adverts to Google just because they were irrelevant as entirely in Russian...

TheChrisD

You'd be far better off starting a Patreon or something and allowing us to chip in a quid a month towards covering the costs; than to plaster even more invasive advertising over the place.

Like you've basically now just made it to where I will never browse the site on my phone again, and I will save my viewing for desktop where I have the ad blocker and site style fixer set up 🤷‍♂️

Seve OB

I don’t know what’s going on with ads on my phone but a lot of the time I’m typing in comment box and I can’t even see what I’m writing because of the bloody ad across the bottom

Shield

The problem isn’t ads, it’s a combination of ad blockers, misleading ads, and nonsensical clickbait like “7 things your sandwich says about your driving habits”. If we’re going to be spending money on a third party company, can they at least guarantee relevant ads?

Might also be worth asking users to whitelist the site so we can get ad impressions in the first place.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118764771#Comment_118764771

I like the patreon idea to be fair.

JRant

So for the mobile site there will be the Boards banner on top, an ad banner at the top also that presumably will reappear every time you scroll up, and a permanent ad banner at the bottom.

Am I reading this correctly?

If that's the case it will make the mobile site pretty much unusable. Especially when trying to type a reply which is already bad enough with the bottom ad blocking out the bottom of the text box.

Best of luck keeping users engaged with that carry-on.

You'd be better served trying some alternative revenue streams like Patreon (as already mentioned).

Atlantic Dawn

Might be better to look at an ad free version for a set annual amount that runs alongside the ad version.

mondeoman72

I flagged stupid ads previously covering the screen and was told to use the mobile version. I went with ad blockers to keep the experience.

I would pay a subscription to avoid the fecking things.

massdebater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118764771#Comment_118764771

Brave browser on your phone blocks all ads as default.

Ghost Train

I think my brain just ignores the ads at this stage, I guess at least the ad styling isnt such that the ads look like posts or threads to click on like other sites. Not really a fan of the ads that change or that are animated, they just don't look great

There are ads?

You're leaving money on the table by choosing to serve no ads if users disagree on this prompt when first visiting. Like you don't need an ad blocker on boards.ie. The block ads button is in the bottom right corner.

Why not work out how to serve ads based on the page's content if users choose Disagree? That would still protect their privacy. I have no idea how many people would choose Disagree on this site but 96% of iPhone users choose to not let apps share tracking when prompted.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766489#Comment_118766489

If you choose disagree there, does it not just show you random ads rather than targeted ones? I don't think it stops ads altogether....

Ljmscooter

Who doesn't use an adocker these days ? On desk and on phone ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766644#Comment_118766644

It never reaches the command to create the ads.

And it seems for me, most pages on the site don't have any ads because they don't fill. Like this page of the Russia thread never shows an ad for me.

Despite my name, I know feck all about ads, so I'm not sure what's causing it, but Google does show some stuff for "ad unit did not fill".

Sleeper12

There was a time when searching on boards for information on a Triton Shower or Sony tv that the ads that popped up were related to what i'm looking for. Ads I'm seeing now today are for an online cake builder & an outdoor store. I'm not going to click on either of these because I have no interest in them. Basing ads on keywords in a thread will deliver much more clicks compared to random ads

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766757#Comment_118766757

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766811#Comment_118766811

These are two of the issues that should be addressed by the guys we have engaged to look at the ads situation on the site.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Ads blocking your keyboard was an issue that was resolved some time ago, if you are still experienving it please try clearing cookies & cache and/or logging out and back in and if it is still an issue please report to the appropriate thread in Feedback, thanks.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Much as we appreciate the idea of throwing €1 a month into a Patreon or similar, it is not a guaranteed income nor is it likley to be big enough to keep things afloat. Subscribing to the site will a) help support us and b) result in a no ads experience. However subscribing is not as straight forward as it was before the move so less people are doing it (understandably).

If you do want to subscribe, you can make a payment to boards.ie.pp@gmail.com on Paypal and send your transaction ID to me on hello@boards.ie or by PM. I'll add you as a subscriber then. We do plan to clean up the subbing process as soon as we can. Thanks guys.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766852#Comment_118766852

The keyboard on replies to threads seems to be resolved ok, but the text box for reporting posts is still an almighty mess - if you have to correct anything you're typing completely blind unless you collapse the whole thing, move your cursor, then backspace blindfolded - and if you click on the wrong place it's rinse and repeat. It's a complete pain.

ETA - sorry, apologies, just realised I shouldn't have posted that here as this thread is about advertising!

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766489#Comment_118766489

Also we'll look into this, thanks!

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766887#Comment_118766887

How much?

Can this be set up as a recurring transaction in PayPal?

Are there any subscriber benefits (apart from the possibility of a warm feeling inside 😊 ) ?

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767408#Comment_118767408

Oops I meant to include the amounts and forgot, sorry!

• One month subscription €5
• Three month (quarterly) subscription €13
• One year subscription €50

Aside from the warm feeling inside (lol) you will also have no ads on the site and access to the First Class Lounge. I'll be honest, I don't know how active that is or isn't at the moment. You can also request a username change when you are a subscriber.

Hotblack Desiato

I was a subscriber before and the FCL was pretty quiet, but like anything else it is what people make of it I suppose. Remember when access to the SEX FORUM was the big incentive to subscribe?? 😁

Thanks Niamh!

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767919#Comment_118767919

The Sex & Sexuality forum was 'subscriber only' because of its content. It was a way to try and keep adult discussions in places that only adults could access. Times have obviously changed, but that was the idea behind it being a 'subscriber only' forum.

Hotblack Desiato

Oh I know but making it subscriber only did cause some people to raise their expectations a bit too much 🤣

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766887#Comment_118766887

I thought the site was already at the point where you can't be a begging chooser and specifically say no to setting up a tip jar for people to contribute small amounts; and instead continue to push the full subscription. Sorry, but boards doesn't offer anywhere near enough to justify fifty quid a year compared to the likes of a year's worth of reddit premium, which is also fifty quid annually.