Ad Banners - About & Problem Reports

[DwarvenFood]

Pff how could I miss that. Thanks.

 

[Taluntain]

Np, you can access it by mousing over your username to the left of Alerts, under "Account Upgrades".

 

[Clockwork Knight]

This ad is triggering me.

It's actually a 2 seconds gif, not a 9 minutes video. Problem is that it repeats a sound file ("HERE WE GO! TOUCHDOWN, SEATTLE") nonstop as long as you're on the page, and it would have caused me to shit my pants if I had the headphones on. And it shows up very frequently (it popped up on the page where I took the screenshot, the forum list and this one, all in a row).

 

[Bubbles]

That ad is fine as long as it only shows up in the sports forum.

 

[Taluntain]

2. See where the ad points to (target url), and copy the url. If you can't get the target url by right-clicking on the ad and Copying Link Location, click on the ad and copy the url that you land on.

3. Describe what the ad is doing that is problematic.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

right-click's URL: https://cdn.adk2.co/adsrvmedia/resources/images/s.gif

(I considered linking it in the above post, but it's apparently a blank image so I thought it wouldn't be useful)

clicking on it: http://dinheirolivre-blog.com/mrmdb/?token=t16803057&autoplay=0

(the "token" number changes everytime. Since it's a BR poker bets site, I imagine it depends on where you live)

That ad is fine as long as it only shows up in the sports forum.

Autoplay is never fine and autoplay with sound is worse than Hitler

edit: Is anyone else seeing this? I cannot into HTML and I'm doing a terrible job of helping Taluntain.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Visited the politics forum for the first time in months.

Now my ads feature muslim women.

Well played Codex

 

[Nikaido]

That ad is fine as long as it only shows up in the sports forum.

Yeah, people who go to that kind of subforum get what they deserve.

 

[Hatred]

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[Blaine]

The ads have become completely obnoxious at this point. Aside from some of them being scam bait and sleazy as Hell, when I try to visit the Codex on my mobile (which is mercifully rare), I get pop-ups that sometimes even interfere with logging in properly.

Still withholding Patron payment in hopes that Taluntain and DarkUnderlord will, at some point, experience a modicum of shame in administrating a site that has ads comparable to a fly-by-nite Chinese free forum advertising Thai toddlers for rent to European businessmen.

 

[Lord Carlos Wafflebum]

The ads have become completely obnoxious at this point. Aside from some of them being scam bait and sleazy as Hell, when I try to visit the Codex on my mobile (which is mercifully rare), I get pop-ups that sometimes even interfere with logging in properly.

Still withholding Patron payment in hopes that Taluntain and DarkUnderlord will, at some point, experience a modicum of shame in administrating a site that has ads comparable to a fly-by-nite Chinese free forum advertising Thai toddlers for rent to European businessmen.

Realistically, what self-respecting business would post ads here? They take what they can get.

 

[Taluntain]

Pretty much, yea. Of course the ads also depend largely on an individual user's geo-location and exposure levels (best come first in a day), so any kind of blanket statements about them aren't necessarily reflected in everyone else's experience. Hence the instructions in the first post about what constitutes a bad ad and how to report them. General descriptions don't really help anyone when there are thousands of different ads served by multiple providers in rotation.

 

[tuluse]

There are ads that cover up the login boxes and submit button sometimes. P annoying when I'm a card carrying codexer.

 

[Blaine]

It's difficult to provide feedback more specific than "they suck" without actually viewing the ads, which pretty much everyone is disinclined to do in the first place, let alone noting particular details.

My preferences are pretty straightforward: no popups, no inline ads, no huge ads. Actually, my preference is to run no ads at all, but few administrators will take this route because they themselves needn't see the ads, and as far as they're concerned, that would mean more money out of their pocket for no reason. Well, there is a good reason known as "principles," which unfortunately are the first things to go when there's money on the line.

Since Patron status clearly isn't enough to do away with ads across the board, we should have an annual fundraiser instead. 90%+ of Codexers use AdBlock anyway, so, on balance, that would probably be a better choice.

Then again, 90%+ of Codexers also balk at the notion of paying more than $10 for a computer game....

 

[Taluntain]

There are ads that cover up the login boxes and submit button sometimes. P annoying when I'm a card carrying codexer.

What card is that, exactly?

It's difficult to provide feedback more specific than "they suck" without actually viewing the ads, which pretty much everyone is disinclined to do in the first place, let alone noting particular details.

My preferences are pretty straightforward: no popups, no inline ads, no huge ads. Actually, my preference is to run no ads at all, but few administrators will take this route because they themselves needn't see the ads, and as far as they're concerned, that would mean more money out of their pocket for no reason. Well, there is a good reason known as "principles," which unfortunately are the first things to go when there's money on the line.

Since Patron status clearly isn't enough to do away with ads across the board, we should have an annual fundraiser instead. 90%+ of Codexers use AdBlock anyway, so, on balance, that would probably be a better choice.

Then again, 90%+ of Codexers also balk at the notion of paying more than $10 for a computer game....

Oddly enough, the last couple years the ads do bring in enough to cover the running costs most of the time, even if it takes some uh, creative redistribution among all our sites. So 90% of people aren't blocking the ads just yet I expect. But yea, at the risk of repeating myself, the ads will never please everyone no matter what they're like and the patronage system is in place for everyone who hates ads for whatever reason and still wants to support the site. Everyone else is happy to AdBlock their way to a free ride but maybe still chips in at least when it comes to larger donation drives when we need to buy more expensive upgrades. Or not.

Overall, it works (for now, anyway). From the few posts on this subject from you it seems like you're intentionally subjecting yourself to considerable suffering due to our ads, so I've got to wonder if that's due to your masochistic streak or some other reason unknown to me. If you don't want to report bad ads for removal or pay for ad-free, just do what everyone else does with whichever justification suits you. You'll solve the problem at hand either way.

 

[tuluse]

What card is that, exactly?

I mean I've paid for ad free, but when I go on another computer, I have to deal with annoyances before signing it to receive said benefit.

It's not a huge deal, obviously, but I'd thought I'd bring it up.

 

[EG]

Still withholding Patron payment in hopes that Taluntain and DarkUnderlord will, at some point, experience a modicum of shame in administrating a site that has ads comparable to a fly-by-nite Chinese free forum advertising Thai toddlers for rent to European businessmen.

You fool. They're selling the content you provide them, for free!

The only way to spare yourself is to leave.

 

[Blaine]

I'm using Ad-Block, of course. I don't know why any of you would assume I wouldn't.

I'd happily pay for Patron status, as I have before (and for other users, too), but not while I'm aware that the ad implementation—whether I personally see it or not—is obnoxious. Pop-ups that interfere with clicking a damn hyperlink are indefensible.

I'm not going to give money—that is, patronage—to administrators who allow crap like that, because I don't and will not support it. It doesn't make sense to give money to people for doing things that you actively dislike.

 

[Taluntain]

What card is that, exactly?

I mean I've paid for ad free, but when I go on another computer, I have to deal with annoyances before signing it to receive said benefit.

It's not a huge deal, obviously, but I'd thought I'd bring it up.

At the risk that I'm being trolled here... since patronage is tied to user accounts, having to log in to said accounts to receive their benefits is really the only way that it could work. How else exactly could you receive any perks without identifying yourself (=logging in) in any way?

I'm using Ad-Block, of course. I don't know why any of you would assume I wouldn't.

I'd happily pay for Patron status, as I have before (and for other users, too), but not while I'm aware that the ad implementation—whether I personally see it or not—is obnoxious. Pop-ups that interfere with clicking a damn hyperlink are indefensible.

I'm not going to give money—that is, patronage—to administrators who allow crap like that, because I don't and will not support it. It doesn't make sense to give money to people for doing things that you actively dislike.

Wait, you're using AdBlock and yet still bitch and moan about the ads here... wha? Who is defending any popups "that interfere with clicking a damn hyperlink" (whatever that means) exactly? There's so little space on mobile screens that ANY popups will block most of the screen anyway so it's not like you can work around them without closing them if that's what you're talking about. And those pops only show for guests/logged out users in some countries ONCE per 24 hours AFAIK.

But yea, whatever, seriously...

 

[SoupNazi]

I dunno, I keep them on and other than that popup that sometimes appears when clicking from homepage to forums, I don't even notice any ads. You guys seem to have been doing a better job of avoiding ads that play music/videos without user prompt lately.

 

[Blaine]

Taluntain
What's not to get here?

I use AdBlock, yet will also pay for Patron status anyway. Clearly, I do so solely to support the Codex and not just to get rid of the ads, since currently AdBlock is more than up to the task.

However, since first purchasing Patron status, I have had opportunities to see your ad implementation, and I don't like it. For that reason, I have chosen not to renew my Patron status. Every once in a great while, I bitch about the ads in threads like this one, and typically you're here defending them as "not that bad" or some equivalent. I absolutely detest ads of any kind, for any reason, though I am willing to make some allowances since DarkUnderlord lives with his mum.

The pop-up that "only" shows for guests/logged-out users "only" every 24 hours and is "only" an issue on mobiles, which users can dismiss by pressing X (if the ad even has a proper X, and if they can manage to press a tiny X on their phone) prevents me from ever wanting to browse the Codex on my phone, because I only try to browse the Codex on mobile about once a week, so I get it EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME. And for whatever reason, I don't stay permanently logged in on the shitty mobile browser (are any of them not shitty?), so even if I had Patron status I'd still get the fucking thing.

 

[Taluntain]

I get what you're saying, the ads annoy you and you're taking the advertising implementation here as a personal slight to yourself and because I don't change everything to suit your idea of what the ads should be like, you're choosing to remain offended and continue using AdBlock. Which is fine by me, really -- nobody loves advertising, there are only varying levels of tolerance and understanding when it comes to it. I just hope that you don't visit any mainstream gaming sites or wikis which average somewhere between 5-10 banners per page because I imagine you must be experiencing routine heart attacks every time you turn AdBlock off there. In your extreme case, I truly & wholeheartedly recommend simply having AdBlock on at all times. And I'm not trying be cynical or sarcastic here, I really mean it.

 

[Kz3r0]

This is totally safe and honest right?

 

[Taluntain]

You mean totally safe and honest like all the other advertising you encounter everywhere else? Sadly, there's no such thing. Most advertising providers serve crap ads like that at the bottom tier. Where I've got the option to do it I weed them out directly, but in that particular case, I don't. Again - all the advertising providers have hundreds of ads in rotation and occasionally a bad one pops up pretty much everywhere. However, since we're in 2015 where I hope everyone is aware that you don't click such ads as a rule, it doesn't really make much difference if it's trying to sell you a download manager or a miracle weight loss cure, does it? Anyone with the least bit of common sense won't click an ad like that. But digging out the worst kind of ads and trying to somehow make a point that if you find a bad ad that ergo, all advertising is bad by default... well, let's call that a stretch.

 

[Kz3r0]

You mean totally safe and honest like all the other advertising you encounter everywhere else? Sadly, there's no such thing. Most advertising providers serve crap ads like that at the bottom tier. Where I've got the option to do it I weed them out directly, but in that particular case, I don't. Again - all the advertising providers have hundreds of ads in rotation and occasionally a bad one pops up pretty much everywhere. However, since we're in 2015 where I hope everyone is aware that you don't click such ads as a rule, it doesn't really make much difference if it's trying to sell you a download manager or a miracle weight loss cure, does it? Anyone with the least bit of common sense won't click an ad like that. But digging out the worst kind of ads and trying to somehow make a point that if you find a bad ad that ergo, all advertising is bad by default... well, let's call that a stretch.

I only signaled it because is the most plausible malware candidate.
I didn't complain about all the F2P games banners, did I?