Re-introduction of Banner Ads

Dav

Hello all,

As of tomorrow (20/09), we're going to be enabling 2 more ad slots on our thread view page for logged in members. This is how the page currently works for logged out members with ad slots after posts number 1 and 9 on a thread (and is similar to how touch.boards.ie works).

This is, unfortunately, one of those difficult but "absolutely essential to our business" sorts of decisions we've had to take. Since we replaced the top banner with the Search box on our older skins and carried that forward to the new theme, we have shown 36 million less ads than before which is a huge chunk of revenue we're missing out on.

We're working on huge changes to the site at the moment, starting with the Talk To forums which we hope will be our main source of revenue for the site in the future. After that we'll be rebuilding the site from the ground up, completely severing our ties with VBulletin's software which has simply been too much of a hindrance for us for too long. All these changes cost a lot of money and so we need to re-introduce these banners to help pay for them.

Finally, I would add that if all people are going to do is say "go get Ad-Block and it won't matter" or something similar, I would point out that those ads are quite literally paying the wages of 12 people and that we're not Google with tons of money in the bank

I would also point out that Subscribers don't see banner ads at all, so if you'd like to support the site and not be bothered by the ads, you can see more information on that at the end of this thread.

MugMugs

Dav,.you've also said that Subscribers will see a better return for subscribing. I subscribe to support the site I use so much however, have you any update on your progress on this direct user orientated source of income?

Where To

Subscribers aren't immune from ads on the touch site.:mad:

Great big scary ones when you scroll to the bottom of the page.

*shudder*

minidazzler

*In before someone gets indignant about you daring to have ads on the site.*

Boards.ie: Danny

Where To wrote: »

Subscribers aren't immune from ads on the touch site.:mad:

Great big scary ones when you scroll to the bottom of the page.

*shudder*

Can I assume you'll be filing a bug report over in Site Development for this one?

Danny

Where To

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

Can I assume you'll be filing a bug report over in Site Development for this one?

Danny

I will if it is a bug. I thought they were meant to be there.

Boards.ie: Danny

Where To wrote: »

I will if it is a bug. I thought they were meant to be there.

Subscribers aren't mean to see ads if they have their option set to Remove 'em

Danny

Where To

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

Subscribers aren't mean to see ads if they have their option set to Remove 'em

Danny

My bad:o

Running adblock, never realised I had ads enabled.

Cheers Danny

Boards.ie: Danny

Where To wrote: »

My bad:o

Running adblock, never realised I had ads enabled.

Cheers Danny

No problem, I browsed the touch site with ads removed and found none myself

Danny

anncoates

Re: the gigantic ads at the bottom.of the touch screen: it's more accurate to say you've added a small browsing area to the advert.

Sarky

Well if it has to be done, then grand. I *think* the site will manage with a few more ads.

But if ads with sound ever become the norm then that's it, I'm out.

Micky Dolenz

It's a free service, the least people can do is expect some sort of revenue making aspect . Advertising is the most obvious way to do so.

RUCKING FETARD

Sarky wrote: »

Well if it has to be done, then grand. I *think* the site will manage with a few more ads.

But if ads with sound ever become the norm then that's it, I'm out.

Turn your sound off.:pac::pac::pac::p

Nodin

Dav wrote: »

Hello all,

As of tomorrow (20/09), we're going to be enabling 2 more ad slots on our thread view page for logged in members. This is how the page currently works for logged out members with ad slots after posts number 1 and 9 on a thread (and is similar to how touch.boards.ie works).

This is, unfortunately, one of those difficult but "absolutely essential to our business" sorts of decisions we've had to take. Since we replaced the top banner with the Search box on our older skins and carried that forward to the new theme, we have shown 36 million less ads than before which is a huge chunk of revenue we're missing out on.

We're working on huge changes to the site at the moment, starting with the Talk To forums which we hope will be our main source of revenue for the site in the future. After that we'll be rebuilding the site from the ground up, completely severing our ties with VBulletin's software which has simply been too much of a hindrance for us for too long. All these changes cost a lot of money and so we need to re-introduce these banners to help pay for them.

Finally, I would add that if all people are going to do is say "go get Ad-Block and it won't matter" or something similar, I would point out that those ads are quite literally paying the wages of 12 people and that we're not Google with tons of money in the bank

I would also point out that Subscribers don't see banner ads at all, so if you'd like to support the site and not be bothered by the ads, you can see more information on that at the end of this thread.

Could yez not stick the ad over the first post and under the last on the page?

As long as none are animated and/or have sound, then absolutely no problem.

minidazzler

Sarky wrote: »

Well if it has to be done, then grand. I *think* the site will manage with a few more ads.

But if ads with sound ever become the norm then that's it, I'm out.

I'm not just out if that happens, I'm coming to burn the servers :pac: It's a crime against my ears to hear a website speaking when not requested to do so.

RUCKING FETARD wrote: »

Turn your sound off.:pac::pac::pac::p

NEVAR, Ads with noise attached make me want to punch children.

Nodin wrote: »

Could yez not stick the ad over the first post and under the last on the page?

That sounds like a terrible place to have it, I want the first thing my eyes to hit to be the first line of the post, in line ads make more sense if it's just views of the ads they are going for rather than clicks. Easier to tune out the noise.

Deleted User wrote: »

As long as none are animated and/or have sound, then absolutely no problem.

Animated is grand as long as it's well done, flashing and being annoying leads to me burning servers...:pac:


Can you guys tell us if it's pay per click or just pay per x number of views for the ads here? I'll definitely click 20 ads a day if it's pay per click.

Faith

Suddenly today there's HUGE ads at the end of the screen. Like, full screen size if you scroll down. Is this a mistake or a new feature? I hate it if it's a new feature! I took a screenshot but uploading a picture on mobile is hard so let me know if you need the screenshot or not.

/edit: This was moved from the thread about touch.boards, so just to clarify, I am talking about the mobile site.

Dav

Thanks everyone for the comments, I was really hoping people would be as understanding as this - consider my faith in humanity somewhat restored

First things first, ads with sound are in fact the work of the Devil and Loki and we will have no part of them. Occasionally one will slip through when it's something that's using our "spare" inventory, but our sales team would never willingly take one. Ads that make sound when you do something with them (click/mouse over) are a different matter of course, I'm specifically thinking of the ads that play film trailers and so on. Standard rules of "if you see/hear one with sound, please let us know and we'll nuke it" still apply.

We're looking at a small change in the layout which may mean that we take the ads from after post 1 and 9 and put them at the top and bottom of all posts as suggested above. I like this idea myself as it means that you have an uninterrupted flow of all the actual page content and whilst you'll see an ad at the top, you won't see another till the bottom of the page.

Subscribers:
This has unfortunately gone on the long finger for quite a while as we've had other essential work that needed taking care of. It is something that's always bubbling away in the back of everyone's mind here in the office and we will on occasion think of ideas and add them to our mental list. I'm hoping to have something in place before the end of the year as a revamp of the subscribers package.

We don't operate on pay per click, it's pay for views (CPM is the business term for it - Wiki Article). Clicks improve the Clickthrough Rate obviously which is useful to us, but isn't the basis of how we sell ads.

Dravokivich

Dav wrote: »

Ads that make sound when you do something with them (click/mouse over) are a different matter of course,

To be honest, this catches me out a lot. Sometimes I scroll through a page quickly and end up with the mouse going over the ad, unaware it's going to trigger a sound until I'm thinking, "wait... I don't remember this part in the song"

Also, the way those kind of adds can be on either side of the page.

- Browsing through the thread list it's on the left.
- Browsing through a thread it's on the right.

Toto Wolfcastle

The ads on the touch site really are very very intrusive. I mainly browse Boards on my phone these days but the ads are putting me off. Is there a reason why they have to be so big?

Rev Hellfire

I guess people need to remember; if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

quarryman

FFS. :mad::mad::mad:

I'll have been a registered user of boards.ie 10 years next year. In that time the site has grown exponentially. However there was always a culture of not ruining what we had by adding advertisements. But they've slowly crept in. It's understandable. With extra page hits, servers need to be upgraded extra.

But these banner ads are in the middle of the thread-list in the forums and in the threads themselves. This is over the top and I think my use of the site may drop as a result.

I could understand it for guests but why are logged in users subjected to it? There are no other forums I use regularly that embed adds in the middle of the page like this. Talk about a kick in the face to the loyal users.

TouchingVirus

Loyal users are the reason Boards needs advertisements. Site growth means more servers, more costs and therefore the requirement for more revenue. For being on the site 10 years, you've never once thought to put your hand in your pocket and give them some money. Neither have I, but I'm prepared to take these ad changes and just go with it. It's not like many, many other websites with popups/popunders/lightboxes over the content.

Sure if it gets annoying I'll just pony up for a subscription; job done. But audio ads, or video adds even with "mouseovers" are a no, just don't do it. When you put a mouseover ad in the middle of page content you're going to mouseover it on mousewheel scroll and set the ad off, terrible idea.

_blank_

Couple of questions.

1. I'm a subscriber, have been for years. It costs €50 per year to subscribe - if I stopped subscribing and continued to use Boards at my current level, with ads turned back on, would Boards break even on me, be down money on me, or be up money?

2. Does Boards get paid for every ad shown, or does a user have to click on the ads? (if that's a stupid question, then sorry).

Boards.ie: Danny

Des wrote: »

2. Does Boards get paid for every ad shown, or does a user have to click on the ads? (if that's a stupid question, then sorry).

Been answered already by Dav, and me a few days ago on another thread. The advertising term is CPM (Cost per 1000 impressions). And impression is an ad that is shown. Users do not have to click on ads or interact with them in any way.

Danny

_blank_

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

Been answered already by Dav, and me a few days ago on another thread. The advertising term is CPM (Cost per 1000 impressions). And impression is an ad that is shown. Users do not have to click on ads or interact with them in any way.

Danny

Cool.

Thanks.

I'm going to turn ads back on, and see if my browsing is affected by them.

Hopefully it isn't, and I can keep them on.

_blank_

um...where do I do that?:o

Boards.ie: Danny

Des wrote: »

um...where do I do that?:o

If you go to your Edit Options page, at the bottom there should be an option to Leave Ads alone or Remove them

_blank_

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

If you go to your Edit Options page, at the bottom there should be an option to Leave Ads alone or Remove them

I see it, thanks.

_blank_

Des wrote: »

I see it, thanks.

What I'm not seeing though, are ads.

Checking my CP, this is how it looks

Otacon

Des wrote: »

What I'm not seeing though, are ads.

Does your browser have an ad-blocker installed?

_blank_

Otacon wrote: »

Does your browser have an ad-blocker installed?

I use an unadulterated version of IE8 in work, and Google Chrome with no add-ons at home.

Corruptedmorals

There are no ads mobile browsing on a windows phone, just big blank gaps at the bottom of every page. Will this be permanent, or will there be ads very soon? I don't mind, just curious.

Nodin

Dav wrote: »

.....

We're looking at a small change in the layout which may mean that we take the ads from after post 1 and 9 and put them at the top and bottom of all posts as suggested above. I like this idea myself as it means that you have an uninterrupted flow of all the actual page content and whilst you'll see an ad at the top, you won't see another till the bottom of the page.

........

Excellent. The ads between posts have a very discordant effect.

Tombi!

Is it me or did the quick reply box change?
It used to be in the middle of the page at the bottom of a thread. Even with adblock on or off the banner ad area at the bottom is still there so it shoves the box to the left.

Is this supposed to be like that?
Just to add, I checked it with cosy mode of/off and the same with full width mode. This is on chrome, BTW with no extensions/addson enabled.

Des

Des wrote: »

I use an unadulterated version of IE8 in work, and Google Chrome with no add-ons at home.

Might be worth asking in Site Development to see if there's anything they can do.

Dravokivich

It appears quick reply is told to be on the left, so an ad can be on the right. Danny had mentioned elswhere (can't seem to find it) that he's gonna see if it can be centred again.

Boards.ie: Danny

Dravokivich wrote: »

It appears quick reply is told to be on the left, so an ad can be on the right. Danny had mentioned elswhere (can't seem to find it) that he's gonna see if it can be centred again.

You rang?

Yes, I'll be looking at this again this afternoon. If you are subscriber with ads turned off we'll try make it so your QR box is not shoved off to the left If you're using Adblock then you're on your own - also please re-read Dav's post again

Danny

28064212

If you're subscribed and have ads turned off, they still show up on search pages, e.g. http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?query=Re-introduction+of+Banner+Ads

Boards.ie: Danny

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

You rang?

Yes, I'll be looking at this again this afternoon. If you are subscriber with ads turned off we'll try make it so your QR box is not shoved off to the left If you're using Adblock then you're on your own - also please re-read Dav's post again

Danny

This should be resolved now

Danny

Boards.ie: Rónán

28064212 wrote: »

If you're subscribed and have ads turned off, they still show up on search pages, e.g. http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?query=Re-introduction+of+Banner+Ads

We'll get this sorted, thanks for the heads up.

Bloodwing

Des wrote: »

What I'm not seeing though, are ads.

Did you get sorted Des? I'm in the same boat. I had Ad block running which I've now disabled and cleared my cache just in case but I'm still not seeing Ads. My setting in "edit options" are set to leave 'em.

_blank_

Neilos wrote: »

Did you get sorted Des?

nope

Boards.ie: Danny

Boards.ie: Ronan wrote: »

We'll get this sorted, thanks for the heads up.

Should be sorted now, no ads in search results for subscribers

Boards.ie: Danny

Neilos wrote: »

Did you get sorted Des? I'm in the same boat. I had Ad block running which I've now disabled and cleared my cache just in case but I'm still not seeing Ads. My setting in "edit options" are set to leave 'em.

You can tell if you're supposed to be getting ads because the QR message box will be shoved off to the left of the Quick Reply box with an empty space to the right where the ad is supposed to be.

If this isn't happening then the fault is ours but I've checked your settings and everything seems to be fine.

_blank_

Here's my QR box

_blank_

I can definitively tell you that I do not now, nor ever have, run any kind of ad-block softrware

Boards.ie: Danny

Yeah, the gap on the right means we are detecting that you have ads enabled, so I'm not sure why the ad isn't being displayed for you.

Can you try another browser?

_blank_

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

Yeah, the gap on the right means we are detecting that you have ads enabled, so I'm not sure why the ad isn't being displayed for you.

Can you try another browser?

not right now, sorry, work computers are locked down.

Will try later.

It could be work doing that^^ But earlier this morning when I was at home, I was seeing no ads either - that was on Chrome, that screenshot is IE8 in work. I can see ads on other websites, here in work.

El Weirdo

Dav wrote: »

...think of ideas and add them to our mental list.

Anyone else picturing Danny with a load of post-it notes stuck to him?

xtradel

Wheres the "top" button gone which was usually on the bottom of a tread on the right hand side? Also the forum list (EG: Home Sys >Feedback >Re-introduction of Banner Ads) is gone from the bottom left. I'm lazy and dont like having to scroll to the top!