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View Full Version : Um...Oops. Banner Ads Gone Wild!


Jason Dunn
11-05-2003, 11:26 PM
As many of you noticed, something a little...funny was going on with the site today. :roll: First off, I want to thank the number of you who emailed us to warn us about what was going on, the people who send me instant messages, and for the people who even contacted Westtek to find out what was going on. The fine people at Westtek are coming on board as site sponsors for both Smartphone Thoughts and Pocket PC Thoughts - they have a very cool series of <a href="http://www.westtek.com/ppc.htm">ClearVue products</a>, which no doubt more than a few of you saw today. :mrgreen: Here's what happened: they're using a Flash banner for their campaign, and our ad server requires the link to be embedded in a certain way. The latest ad they sent me had an auto-forwarding URL. I loaded it into the ad server, saw what it did (forwarded the browser session to the Westtek site), but didn't think it was activated on the site - guess what? It was! So every time the banner ad loaded, the person visiting the site was taken to the Westtek Web site. Oops! :oops: <br /><br />So there you have it - a banner bug compounded by a human error, and you get what happened this morning. A big thanks to Westtek to having a sense of humour about this, and to all of you for looking out for the best interests on Pocket PC Thoughts. You're a wonderful community!

Jonathon Watkins
11-05-2003, 11:48 PM
A big thanks to Westtek to having a sense of humour about this, and to all of you for looking out for the best interests on Pocket PC Thoughts. You're a wonderful community!

I'm sure Westtek didn't mind the extra traffic. It's quite a funny bug though. :lol: These thing happen.

You just KNOW we would be all over you if something bad happened to PPCT! :mrgreen:

Jason Dunn
11-05-2003, 11:52 PM
I'm sure Westtek didn't mind the extra traffic. It's quite a funny bug though. :lol: These thing happen.

Yeah, I'm waiting for an advertiser to ask me for the special "send all your visitors to our site" campaign. :lol:

GoldKey
11-05-2003, 11:56 PM
Don't call it a bug, call it a new advertiser feature! :wink:

Jonathon Watkins
11-06-2003, 12:00 AM
You saw it here first! 8O

(Or rather you didn't see it as you were quickly redirected! :lol:)

Quick, patent it before Amazon! :wink:

(All your sites are belong to us!) :mrgreen:

JustinGTP
11-06-2003, 12:18 AM
Ha, I wondered what that was about.

Anyways, things happen, and Its great that you can laugh about it. LOL. :lol:

-Justin.

BevHoward
11-06-2003, 12:24 AM
It's actually very nice... havn't had a single seizure since the flashing disappeared

Jason Dunn
11-06-2003, 12:41 AM
It's actually very nice... havn't had a single seizure since the flashing disappeared

It's not nice for those of us who have bills to pay Bev and rely on them as a source of income. However, you can become a subscriber and turn off all the ads if you wish. :wink:

David Prahl
11-06-2003, 12:46 AM
Don't call it a bug, call it a new advertiser feature! :wink:

Like Microsoft! :lol:

maximus
11-06-2003, 01:57 AM
However, you can become a subscriber and turn off all the ads if you wish. :wink:

How do you turn off the ad in desktop mode ?

bdeli
11-06-2003, 02:01 AM
However, you can become a subscriber and turn off all the ads if you wish. :wink:

How do you turn off the ad in desktop mode ?

Just click on Preferences, Scroll down the page until you get "Customize Site", click on that button and than click on Ads on the left hand side of the page.

timwells
11-06-2003, 02:17 AM
Jason, if you ever need any testimonials about the increased traffic that advertising with PPCT or SPT brings to the advertiser's site, you just let me know...you made real believers out of us this morning... :lol:

To All: Thanks for your patience with us this morning, and thanks for the gentle notifications that something was amiss.

Janak Parekh
11-06-2003, 02:23 AM
Just click on Preferences, Scroll down the page until you get "Customize Site", click on that button and than click on Ads on the left hand side of the page.
Or even simpler, hit Customize Site right below the Login status box on the frontpage in the upper-right-hand corner.

--janak

dh
11-06-2003, 02:41 AM
Jason, if you ever need any testimonials about the increased traffic that advertising with PPCT or SPT brings to the advertiser's site, you just let me know...you made real believers out of us this morning... :lol:

To All: Thanks for your patience with us this morning, and thanks for the gentle notifications that something was amiss.
I must say Tim, I was not aware of Westtek until this morning, so your new ad is a success already.

Are you planning to enhance your products so that files can be edited as well as viewed? If you did that, I think you would get a lot of interest from people here.

bikeman
11-06-2003, 03:18 AM
I guess you have to be a full subscriber to customize the desktop. I do not have access to the desktop setup, only the mobile one, even though I don't use the mobile version of the site. :( And I'm a "lite" subscriber.

Newsboy
11-06-2003, 03:58 AM
Wow, talk about getting your money's worth! :D

BevHoward
11-06-2003, 05:29 AM
Actually don't mind the ads... they often provide good information... just the flashing... guess I am borderline epileptic, will cut back anyway.

Beverly

timwells
11-06-2003, 06:38 AM
Jason, if you ever need any testimonials about the increased traffic that advertising with PPCT or SPT brings to the advertiser's site, you just let me know...you made real believers out of us this morning... :lol:

To All: Thanks for your patience with us this morning, and thanks for the gentle notifications that something was amiss.
I must say Tim, I was not aware of Westtek until this morning, so your new ad is a success already.

Are you planning to enhance your products so that files can be edited as well as viewed? If you did that, I think you would get a lot of interest from people here.

Stay tuned David...its on the roadmap!

Jason Dunn
11-06-2003, 11:36 PM
I guess you have to be a full subscriber to customize the desktop.

Correct. Each level has certain benefits, and the full subscription gives you customization - the Lite gives you the mobile site and a couple of other things.