Subscribers - competitions & giveaways

[Mike E]

32 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I've contributed to the site in the past as an admin and through content and, as I acknowledged in my original post, I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to a messageboard.

If we were talking about a standard CMS, reducing hosting costs, dealing with normal website issues then I could be of some use, but I'm sure that everyone involved knows far more than I do when it comes to the platform that they currently use and other options that might be available. 

And yet you think they’ve not chosen well.

[Eddie]

28 minutes ago, Mike E said:

And yet you think they’ve not chosen well.

I think the ad experience is awful. That's separate from the platform used to run the messageboard or their hosting choices.

Those tech stack decisions may impact cost and then allow them to implement a less aggressive ad policy, but the fact that we're dealing with full-page popups and banner/footer ads that you have to click out of every few pages is just an awful experience.

 

[Mike E]

29 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I think the ad experience is awful. That's separate from the platform used to run the messageboard or their hosting choices.

Those tech stack decisions may impact cost and then allow them to implement a less aggressive ad policy, but the fact that we're dealing with full-page popups and banner/footer ads that you have to click out of every few pages is just an awful experience.

 

So what would you suggest?

[StubbsUK]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

I find it hard to believe that such an unappealing ad experience is the best course of action.

This is why we offer a subscription ...

[Eddie]

22 minutes ago, StubbsUK said:

This is why we offer a subscription ...

Which is great, if I only ever accessed the messageboard from a device where I'm logged in (which is maybe 20% of the time).

As I also said earlier, the aggressive nature of the ads actually makes me far less inclined to pay the subscription. The logic of 'we'll make this experience so unpleasant that you will have to pay to get rid of the ads' doesn't compel me to do so.

It's just my bit of feedback. I may well be in the minority. 

[Mike E]

4 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Which is great, if I only ever accessed the messageboard from a device where I'm logged in (which is maybe 20% of the time).

As I also said earlier, the aggressive nature of the ads actually makes me far less inclined to pay the subscription. The logic of 'we'll make this experience so unpleasant that you will have to pay to get rid of the ads' doesn't compel me to do so.

It's just my bit of feedback. I may well be in the minority. 

Why are you being so nasty about this? The nature of the ads is not a decision our team can make, aside from restricting such ads if they are reported to the relevant admin. Without them being reported, we don’t know what ads you’re seeing, as they’re based on YOUR browsing.

Insinuating the team has done this deliberately is really quite shitty of you.

Edited June 26, 2023 by Mike E

[Eddie]

46 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Why are you being so nasty about this? The nature of the ads is not a decision our team can make, aside from restricting such ads if they are reported to the relevant admin. Without them being reported, we don’t know what ads you’re seeing, as they’re based on YOUR browsing.

Insinuating the team has done this deliberately is really quite shitty of you.

Why are you taking such a strong interest in this?

The ads themselves are targeted, but their nature is not. I'm not complaining about the fact that I'm seeing ads for BMWs, cigarettes, or alcohol, I'm saying that the popup ads (which, at times, include full-page ads) negatively impact the visitor experience. 

I just gave my feedback. After 20+ years on the messageboard, I've not exactly made a habit of being critical of admins and policies.

But I think I've explained myself well enough for them to understand the context and everyone involved is undoubtedly tremendously bored by the topic. 

Edited June 26, 2023 by Eddie

[Mike E]

41 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Why are you taking such a strong interest in this?

The ads themselves are targeted, but their nature is not. I'm not complaining about the fact that I'm seeing ads for BMWs, cigarettes, or alcohol, I'm saying that the popup ads (which, at times, include full-page ads) negatively impact the visitor experience. 

I just gave my feedback. After 20+ years on the messageboard, I've not exactly made a habit of being critical of admins and policies.

But I think I've explained myself well enough for them to understand the context and everyone involved is undoubtedly tremendously bored by the topic. 

Just as a point of order, could you screenshot these ads for alcohol and cigarettes? They shouldn’t be appearing as far as I’m aware.

I’m taking a strong interest as a mod who gives an unhealthy amount of time to help this site run smoothly.

I don’t think it’s right that you are dying on this particular hill of slagging off an exceptionally hard-working admin team (I couldn’t physically be arsed to do the work that J*B, Stubbs, and the other techies do) for keeping the site alive in the most cost-efficient (not cheapest), morally sound way possible.

I also don’t understand why you think the site has ‘chosen’ to offer subscription for any nefarious purpose, as intimated by the context of your posts.

The crux of the matter is:

We need to run these ads to survive.

If you don’t like them, this is the revenue they generate, so if you can pay for it instead of the ads, you won’t see them.

If you can offer a better solution, offer it instead of being high and mighty.

[Mattyblue]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

 

If you can offer a better solution, offer it instead of being high and mighty.

Take it you’ve not come across our Edward before? 😁

[Mike E]

4 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Take it you’ve not come across our Edward before? 😁

Disgusting!

[wilsdenrover]

I get annoyed by the ads sometimes (and I get some weird ones - I refuse to believe that’s because of my browsing history 🧐) 

It’s never crossed my mind that the people running this site are trying to ‘force me by frustration’ into giving them money.

I appreciate all of your hard work, it’s not something I’d want to do (not that I have the skills for it anyways 😁)

[Eddie]

23 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Just as a point of order, could you screenshot these ads for alcohol and cigarettes? They shouldn’t be appearing as far as I’m aware.

I also don’t understand why you think the site has ‘chosen’ to offer subscription for any nefarious purpose, as intimated by the context of your posts.

If you don’t like them, this is the revenue they generate, so if you can pay for it instead of the ads, you won’t see them.

 

On your first point, you've sort of missed the fact that the examples were not real.

Second, I don't think the site or anyone involved is doing anything 'nefarious', but everyone must surely be aware of the nature and frequency of the ads and I doubt anyone would describe them as being a good thing. A necessary evil, perhaps. But this website runs more ads than any other that I visit. I am not in a position to really assess how they could be made more efficient or how the cost of running the site could be reduced, but JB and others certainly know how to get in touch with me if they ever want to talk about it.

As for the last, you miss out on a third solution: an adblocker. The unfortunate thing is that this type of website experience would drive someone to install an adblocker: therefore negating the main benefit of the subscription whilst also depriving the website of any revenue.

As I said, I'm done on the topic. I gave my feedback, that was all.

If you, or any other admin would like to speak about it then I'm sure we can find a more effective means of communication. 

21 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Take it you’ve not come across our Edward before? 😁

Who'd have thought, the only thing more ever-present than the ads has made an appearance. 

[Mattyblue]

… and he doesn’t disappoint  😁

Edited June 27, 2023 by Mattyblue

[StubbsUK]

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

The logic of 'we'll make this experience so unpleasant that you will have to pay to get rid of the ads' doesn't compel me to do so.

I think it was @J*B who already said we push back on a lot of ads that the suppliers want us to run, we make less money than we could by purposely not cramming the site with ads, the one concession we did make to the suppliers was a full page ad sometimes on page transition.

If anyone sees any ads that are obtructing content too much or are outsude their area then send us a screenshot and we'll report them to our supplier.

At least we're not as bad as Lancashire Live!

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, StubbsUK said:

I think it was @J*B who already said we push back on a lot of ads that the suppliers want us to run, we make less money than we could by purposely not cramming the site with ads, the one concession we did make to the suppliers was a full page ad sometimes on page transition.

If anyone sees any ads that are obtructing content too much or are outsude their area then send us a screenshot and we'll report them to our supplier.

At least we're not as bad as Lancashire Live!

It's alright, far too much time has been taken discussing the topic and my thoughts on it.

I've put an adblocker in place for BRFCS and put mattyblue on ignore. 

[StubbsUK]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I've put an adblocker in place

I'm glad the effort we all put in for free so you can enjoy the site for free is worth installing an ad-blocker for. Please tell me it's a paid for version, that'll make my day.

[wilsdenrover]

Perhaps you need an ed-blocker 😁

[StubbsUK]

1 minute ago, wilsdenrover said:

Perhaps you need an ed-blocker 😁

I'm just amazed someone can be quite so brazen and entitled about it.

[Eddie]

4 hours ago, StubbsUK said:

I'm glad the effort we all put in for free so you can enjoy the site for free is worth installing an ad-blocker for. Please tell me it's a paid for version, that'll make my day.

It's a free version.

I'm tremendously appreciative of the effort that everyone puts in to keep this website civil and running. In my brief moments of contributing, I was able to witness just how big of a task that is on a consistent basis.

I saw this thread as an opportunity to give a little feedback on how I felt the popup ads - in particular the full-page popups - negatively impact the experience on the website. I didn't really want to get into a long discussion about it, but others have continued to push me on the feedback.

It's clear from the reaction that I got that I'm either wrong, in the minority, or simply pissing into the wind. Simplest solution? Shut up and solve my own problem.

I know that I'm not particularly popular with many of the posters on here, particularly more modern spammers, but some might remember that I've certainly put in effort when it comes to this website.

I don't think I deserve the type of backlash that I've received from just saying that I think this is the worst ad experience of any website that I regularly visit. That's it. Not a personal attack.

The topic is done for me. The sad thing is that I've sought out a solution that many others probably have as well. 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Eddie

[Mattyblue]

He's a precious bugger, ain't he 😀

[SuperBrfc]

The ease with which you seem to get put on ignore these days, Matty.

Without there even being anything to get upset about. It's a talent 😁.

[Mike E]

You haven’t ‘given feedback’, you’ve used a minor quibble to actively have a go at people doing what you used to do.

That’s what grinds. The facade of ‘it’s just feedback’ doesn’t match the snidey judgement that permeates what you say.

IF you don’t believe you’re being snidey, then it’s clear you haven’t actually read any of the initial or subsequent posts on the topic since the ads were first introduced, or you wouldn’t have bothered to start what you did.

[Mattyblue]

It's been coming with Our Eddy ever since I had the chutzpah to disagree with him a few months back and he flounced off for a month or two, and then after he put his toys back in the pram and returned, when I didn't doff my cap sufficiently after he told us about his glittering legal career. 😁

Edited June 27, 2023 by Mattyblue

[wilsdenrover]

Monetise the ignore feature.

Edited June 27, 2023 by wilsdenrover

[Mike E]

7 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

It's been coming with Our Eddy ever since I had the chutzpah to disagree with him a few months back and he flounced off for a month or two, and then after he put his toys back in the pram and returned, when I didn't doff my cap sufficiently after he told us about his glittering legal career. 😁

Not a lawyer I’d want, without any care for detail or nuance. A state prosecutor in the US, per chance?