Advertising - now with SOUND !

[Zanshin]

Much to my surprise, I now get advertisements on CF with sound; in my case today it was a news report about the Lufthansa Strike in Germany, from where I'm currently logging in. Not one pane, but two non-synchronous runs were going while I tried to figure out who was voicing over the music I was playing in the background.

While I've resigned myself to avoiding the blinking and flashing adverts that help keep sites like this going, I do draw the line at audio. I hope that this is a one-time glitch and not a sign of things to come.

[SaucySailoress]

Zanshin,

I can assure you that this is not coming from our Marketing Dept. We have a maximum file size of 50kb for the large ads which show below the first post on a page, other ads are smaller. We are very aware that cruisers are often on a small or slow data package, and can't be doing with large downloads.

However, it is possible that the Google ads you see might now be incorporating sound. I have come across such annoying ads on some news sites which I access. I immediately close those pages, and would hate to think of this happening here.

I will report the issue, and see if it is coming from our side.

Meantime, I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me how to switch those pesky auto play ads off.....

[Normanby]

I discovered that these types of ads only come up on the computer, and only when I'm logged in to my gmail on another tab at the same time.
When I sign out of gmail they stop.
That's how they 'tailor' the ads to you, by reading your mail, albeit algorithmically.

[Zanshin]

I'm still getting them - two at a time, while reading this page. I can click on the two ads in question and put them on "pause", but each time I switch to another page they start again!

[Mike OReilly]

Install Adblock and you can ban all these obnoxious intrusions from your viewing pleasure.

[Dustymc]

Get AdBlock and NoScript. Simply enable them for any sites you want to support and which don't serve obnoxious ads.

I just allowed everything from this site, which takes this page from 145K to 693K (!). Much of the 145K "base" page is ad-related, inefficient coding, and improper server setup. There is inline javascript (which cannot be cached, and so costs bandwidth and performance for no reason), inline style rules (which also cannot be cached), and server-side injected advertising, all uncompressed and full of comments. The cleaned-up compressed HTML file is 25K for precisely the same functionality, including the built-in inefficiencies. With proper architecture, it would be about that size ONCE, and then perhaps 1/2 that for subsequent visits (to the site, not the page).

And when I tried to submit this, I got a "The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 5 characters." message - I had to use a different browser to post. Inefficient AND buggy....

[giant]

I am also getting adds playing with video and sound which is very annoying, chews up my limited broadband and slows my laptop down so that I can only open one tab at a time.

I can live with all the other crap and adds that pop and flash all over the place but these videos in my case in Sydney are of some cheesy American "celebrity" being "interviewed" by some cheesy Hollywood "reporter". I never listen to the adds and I don't have a clue what they are on about but do know what ***** smells like.

Another constant annoyance is the repeating request for my email address by cruiser forum so they can send me more crap I don't need. This is most annoying on my tablet because it is difficult to close so I can read the actual forum and see all the other pop ups and adds.

I am now searching for another forum to visit which doesn't annoy me sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.

Any suggestions for other forums without all the ***** would be appreciated.

Sorry sauceysailoress I just don't believe you when you say these adds are not your fault as no other sites I visit do this.

[jannw]

solve all your advertising issues by following the simple 3 step procedure found here (post 106, by me):

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-123162-8.html

[europaflyer]

CruisersForum is one of the few sites where my AdBlock is turned off, because CF provides me with a great service and I don't want to lose it advertising revenue. As I am totally impervious to internet advertising anyway it only means that the advertisers are losing out instead, but hey ho.

I have noticed a huge spike in video (including with sound) advertising on CF over the last few weeks, which seem to sit at the bottom of posts (mainly Quantcast ads). I can see my CPU load now increasing significantly when I load CF, and the data usage must be increased as well. Not all that great for people trying to access the site from their boats...

Many of the new adverts are for totally non-boaty things like the latest moron-fodder shoot-em-up action movie or some mind-dulling online wargame. Things which are not just of no particular interest to sailors but which I would say many of us find pretty repellent and are exactly the sort of thing we go to sea to get away from... so definitely pitching to the wrong audience.

I don't know how the CF revenue stream breaks down between advertising from marine companies and from generalised Google/Quantcast-type adverts, but it would be very interesting to know. It would be nice to see CF concentrating on getting adverts only boaty-specific adverts... and who knows, the advertisers might finally make some money from me! Perhaps if we had a bit more information on this we could make some mutually helpful suggestions...?

[europaflyer]

Just as a test, I logged out and reloaded the page, and there were SIX flash-video adverts running on the page, which sometimes chose to make noise. CPU usage pushed to a steady 50% (and this isn't an old computer at all)...!. Logging in cut this down to three adverts and maybe 10-20% CPU load. This is still pretty high, but I appreciate CF is a commercial entity and has to make money. If I pay to become a supporting member does this come with a guarantee that the advertising will disappear?

[jannw]

This is nuts ... I just counted and I had no ads. Zero, Nada, None!

Installing and configuring adblock and adding the single line CF exclusion must take less time than posting a complaint to this or another thread.

It boggles the mind.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

Much to my surprise...

FWIW I saw your boat yesterday, on the hard, and she looks good....

[Mike OReilly]

Seriously folks, get adblock, identify the ad structures you want blocked, and you're done. No more annoyances.

And for fun install Ghostery so you can see, and block, all the snoopers and trackers websites like CF have running in the background, surreptitiously collecting data about you and your browsing. I see five being blocked right now.

I have no real problem with a business trying to make money. CF's business model uses free labour (our contributions) to generate eyes and visits. But it also sells information about us, the users. I did not give permission to do this, so I have no qualms about blocking this activity.

As I say, I appreciate those commercial entities which actually contribute to the community. I try and spend my boat dollars there when I can. The other ads, I chose to ignore.

[europaflyer]

Jannw, mike... neither of you are contributing members, so how would you finance CF if not through advertising? Bear in mind that online advertising is mostly quite 'clever' - CF only gets paid by the advertisers for a 'view' (or more for a click-through), and if you have adblock enabled then you're not counting as a view and CF gets no money for your visit to the site. As CF is providing me with a service I enjoy, I want to make sure I am providing them with revenue by visiting rather than just 'sponging', even if it means that I am just sponging off the advertiser instead (which I don't care about nearly as much). I just think it works better for everyone if we have more relevant, sailing-orientated advertising, rather than intrusive and annoying adverts for things I (and others here) either don't care about or actually dislike.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by europaflyer

Jannw, mike... neither of you are contributing members, so how would you finance CF if not through advertising?

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I have no real problem with a business trying to make money. CF's business model uses free labour (our contributions) to generate eyes and visits. But it also sells information about us, the users. I did not give permission to do this, so I have no qualms about blocking this activity.

Need I explain further, or have you got it?