New Advertising methods on Boards

Dav · 15-05-2015 5:49pm #1

Hello all,

Starting next week, we've got 2 new advertising services that we're looking to trial for 3 months. They're called Skimlinks and Adroll.

Skimlinks is software can turn certain standard web-links on Boards (typically links to online retailers with whom Skimlinks has a relationship) with into affiliate links, also known as tracked links. These tracked links are then marked as coming from Boards. If a member or reader ends up purchasing something then the retailer pays an affiliate fee which is shared between Skimlinks and Boards. It is important to note that the following always applies: posts on Boards remain as they were originally written, no content is altered; there is *NO* personally identifying information in the tracking code that the Skimlinks software uses, the only thing Skimlinks and the retailer knows is that the link came from Boards; the price on the retailers website stays exactly the same, no customer gets charged one cent extra because of Skimlinks.

Adroll is software that places anonymous re-targeting cookies on your device when you visit Boards. These cookies track the topics that members of Boards are interested in (by way of reporting what forums you visit) and this information can then be used to serve similar/relevant ads to you when you visit other websites and services such as Facebook and Twitter. Using Adroll will not mean extra ads for our members either on Boards or on other websites, everyone will see exactly the same number of ads but the contents will hopefully be more relevant to you. As with Skimlinks, there is *NO* personally identifying information in the cookies that the Adroll software uses; this is a pretty standard technology that most of us will have come across already (as an example, Amazon has used this approach for years for populating the "You May Also Like" part of their pages).

I've answered some of the most obvious questions for you below.

Will this mean more ads?
No. It will mean that some of the links to products on a retailer's website posted to the site by our members will generate some revenue for us.

Are you giving them my details?
There is no sharing of any member's information from Boards to either Skimlinks or Adroll.

Are you changing my or other people's content?
The software for Skimlinks *only* activates when an outbound link to one of their affiliate companies is clicked. Otherwise, member's content remains unchanged in any way.

Don't your rules prohibit Affiliate Links?
Barring some notable exceptions, we do indeed ban affiliate links from being posted by members. The reasons for this are reasonably straight forward - when someone's earning something out of a link, you can't be sure you can trust that the advice given is genuine. We recently had a Chinese online retailer sending our members free products in exchange for favourable reviews posted on Boards (commonly referred to as Shilling) and allowing affiliate links in people's posts or signatures can create some more of that mistrust which is far more damaging to our communities in the long term and being blunt, our policy has always been if any company wants to advertise here, they can pay for it like everyone else.

So what's different about us using a technology like Skimlinks to suddenly insert these affiliate links? When a single affiliation is appended on to all outbound links, then no one can accuse members posting recommendations or reviews of any product of bias or of attempting to make a few quid on the side. The other up side is that this is a means to pay our bills without asking our members to do anything different or without subjecting them to any more banners or the likes.

What are the exact details of these cookies?
We're waiting for the technical specifics of the cookies so we can update our Cookies Page to include them - we should have that on Monday (18th).

Can I opt out?
Yes, you can do so with these 2 links (also on our Cookies Page).
Opt out for Adroll is accessed here: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices
Opt out for Skimlinks is here: http://optout.skimlinks.com/?tested=1

If you have any further questions folks, please feel free to post them here and I'll do my best to get you an answer.

16-05-2015 8:21pm

Please excuse my ignorance on the "tech savvy speech" but will you be sorting out the problems with the touch site? Will these new ads be in the same place as the current ads?

I seem to click on an ad and the page loads up at least a few times a day. All I have been trying to do is scroll to the next post. Is it my phone causing this problem or are the settings on boards programmed for this to happen?

I've also noticed that my junk folder is full of crappy emails since this started.

Red Alert · 18-05-2015 12:25am

Do they not already know it's come from Boards.ie with the HTTP referrer header???

RomanKnows · 18-05-2015 1:11am

I've been reading and posting on boards for the guts of 15 years now. It's a great website. There have been disagreements about many changes over the years. The sky didn't fall in. This middle ad on the touch site really is a disaster though.

I realise wages have to be paid; you have to remain relevant; you have competitors. That middle ad is a really bad idea though. It destroys the readability of the site. Without readers there are no posters.

dulpit · 20-05-2015 5:03pm

One quick query - re. the skimlinks, are these only going to apply when someone links to a product themselves (e.g. in a bargain alert thread to something on amazon or similar), or will it appear even if the thread author did not specify a link, but mentioned a product.

If the former, that's cool (could be a goldmine with BA threads!). If the latter, please say no!

Boards.ie: Sean · 20-05-2015 5:21pm

Hi dulpit, it's the former, not the latter. The flavour of Skimlinks we are intending to rollout will only generate affiliate links if someone posts an actual link to a product, _not_ if the product is mentioned but there is no link. Hope this helps

Boards.ie: Sean · 20-05-2015 6:25pm

Red Alert wrote: »

Do they not already know it's come from Boards.ie with the HTTP referrer header???

The retailer can see if its comes from Boards.ie if they care, but they don't

- from their perspective they're just interested in somebody landing on their page and hopefully making a purchase. Without an affiliate agreement between us and the retailer, they don't care if the link came from Boards we wouldn't receive any affiliate or referral fee.

There's two ways to solve this. One is that Boards ties to setup affiliate agreements with the retailers - that's long, without guaranteed success and there's a lot of potential retailers out there.

Second way is to partner with someone who has already gone through the process of setting up affiliate agreements with lots of retailers so takes all that pain and hassle away from us.

We thought the second option was the more sensible, hence the proposed partnership with Skimlinks

salamanca22 · 21-05-2015 5:00am

So, members find links and share them with the community in forums such as bargain alerts and then Boards hijacks the link and places their affiliate link in there? Seems realllyyy shady to me. Especially since boards will be making money from others contributions.

Dades · 21-05-2015 2:29pm

salamanca22 wrote: »

So, members find links and share them with the community in forums such as bargain alerts and then Boards hijacks the link and places their affiliate link in there? Seems realllyyy shady to me. Especially since boards will be making money from others contributions.

How is it shady if you've been informed of exactly how it works?

And why would you have an issue with Boards making money at no cost to either the poster who shares the link or the poster who makes a purchase via that link? The referral fee is not passed on to the purchaser, it's paid by the retailer.

Lovely Bloke · 21-05-2015 4:31pm

Dades wrote: »

The referral fee is not passed on to the purchaser, it's paid by the retailer.

If anyone believes this, then they need their head examined.

All costs are passed on to the consumer one way or another.

NeVeR · 21-05-2015 4:49pm

So we can't post affiliate links but it's ok for Boards.ie to hi-jack all links and change them to affiliate links ... is Boards.ie then not breaking it's own rules and get a ban ?

Oneunited · 21-05-2015 4:59pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

If anyone believes this, then they need their head examined.

All costs are passed on to the consumer one way or another.

Do you really think a retailer would pass this specific cost onto the consumer? Of course they would not. It's simply another overhead of business and no different from any other costs of promoting their goods. Ultimately it's the consumer's choice as to whether they want to pay the retailer's price

salamanca22 · 21-05-2015 5:18pm

Dades wrote: »

How is it shady if you've been informed of exactly how it works?

And why would you have an issue with Boards making money at no cost to either the poster who shares the link or the poster who makes a purchase via that link? The referral fee is not passed on to the purchaser, it's paid by the retailer.

It is shady because it should be the person who posts the link that gets the cut, not boards.

Dades · 21-05-2015 5:55pm

salamanca22 wrote: »

It is shady because it should be the person who posts the link that gets the cut, not boards.

I think you're missing a point here. Boards needs to get money in so that that they can pay the large monthly bills that ensure this website remains live - so that you can post on it for free. They'd also rather keep any revenue-generation non-intrusive to maintain a good user experience.

Dav · 21-05-2015 6:13pm

I'd also remind everyone that if they read through the post again they'll see the links where they can opt out of these companies services not just for us, but for all across the web.

Lovely Bloke · 21-05-2015 9:08pm

Dav wrote: »

I'd also remind everyone that if they read through the post again they'll see the links where they can opt out of these companies services not just for us, but for all across the web.

FYI, just to be nosey I clicked on the Skimlinks one just now, and was already opted out.

I've never visited that site before, so is being opted out the default position?

Dav · 22-05-2015 11:02am

I'm making a total guess here, so bear with me

It could be that you've never visited a site that uses their service and therefore you don't have one of their cookies on your device, which might mean you've never been "opted-in" so to speak, but I'm not 100% sure so I'll send them off an email and find out.

clairek6 · 22-05-2015 11:06am

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Please excuse my ignorance on the "tech savvy speech" but will you be sorting out the problems with the touch site? Will these new ads be in the same place as the current ads?

I seem to click on an ad and the page loads up at least a few times a day. All I have been trying to do is scroll to the next post. Is it my phone causing this problem or are the settings on boards programmed for this to happen?

I've also noticed that my junk folder is full of crappy emails since this started.

Keeps happening to me too my browsing history consists of daily visits to 'boldchat' Ammmm!!

Gaspode · 22-05-2015 3:00pm

So when I click the links on the Boards.ie weekly digest email I keep getting brought to this topic. Boo!

Edit: not happening any more, presumably the cookies have had confirmation I've been here.

Boards.ie: Niamh · 22-05-2015 3:24pm

Gaspode wrote: »

So when I click the links on the Boards.ie weekly digest email I keep getting brought to this topic. Boo!

Edit: not happening any more, presumably the cookies have had confirmation I've been here.

Oh dear. I put the wrong link on the 'Eurovision Contest 2015' thread header

Gaspode · 22-05-2015 3:47pm

So now you've outed me as a Eurovision fan!

dulpit · 22-05-2015 4:50pm

Gaspode wrote: »

So when I click the links on the Boards.ie weekly digest email I keep getting brought to this topic. Boo!

Edit: not happening any more, presumably the cookies have had confirmation I've been here.

There's a weekly email digest?

Gaspode · 22-05-2015 5:14pm

Yep, go to your control panel and click 'Edit options' on the left hand side and then you should see the option then on the right in the 'Messaging & Notification' section.

omicron · 23-05-2015 4:13pm

Is altering to the trending algorithm part of your new advertising regime? The top trending tread at the moment is ''Guide - Getting the most out of your high speed UPC 240mb/s service'' posted in the broadband forum (not the UPC one), and not marked as an ad or posted by a UPC rep. It's trending at the top despite being a 5 month old thread that hasn't had a new post in 19 days.

Dav · 25-05-2015 11:58am

We've not touched that code in months, so I'm not sure why it's picked that. Are you seeing that on the Home Page under the trending tab?

Lovely Bloke · 25-05-2015 2:14pm

Dav wrote: »

I'm making a total guess here, so bear with me It could be that you've never visited a site that uses their service and therefore you don't have one of their cookies on your device, which might mean you've never been "opted-in" so to speak, but I'm not 100% sure so I'll send them off an email and find out.

Was away for the weekend, so only seeing this now.

Just checked back at the link, and I'm still "opted out", having never been opted in.

KevIRL · 25-05-2015 3:20pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Was away for the weekend, so only seeing this now.

Just checked back at the link, and I'm still "opted out", having never been opted in.

They must know you are a contrary fukker and decided not to bother with ya...

Lovely Bloke · 25-05-2015 3:31pm

KevIRL wrote: »

They must know you are a contrary fukker and decided not to bother with ya...

Probably.

Dav · 25-05-2015 4:13pm

The best we can figure is that you've not been to a Skimlinks site before and so you don't have a Cookie for them set on your machine. So when we roll ours out, one will be set and that "Opt Out" link above will become live.

omicron · 25-05-2015 7:48pm

Dav wrote: »

We've not touched that code in months, so I'm not sure why it's picked that. Are you seeing that on the Home Page under the trending tab?

Yeah it was on the home page, I have a screen shot on my laptop if you want?

Star Lord · 27-05-2015 12:49pm

Any idea when you're planning to roll it out?

New Advertising methods on Boards

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