Running an Ad Blocker? Please Read This

[Jason Dunn]

<p>Hi there. The topic of ad blockers tends to generate some heated discussions around these parts, so I'm going to keep this really simple: if you're running an ad blocker, this is a polite request that you white-list this Web site and allow the ads to load.&nbsp;Here's why: I work hard to keep the ads on Thoughts Media sites non-intrusive; I say no to pop-ups, pop-unders, full-page ads, ads with sounds, etc. I know that those types of ads are irritating, and I value the readership of everyone who visits our sites. I don't want to irritate anyone with our ads.</p><p>What you may not realize about online ads is that, for the majority of them, when they simply load, that helps me pay the bills (Our server bill alone is almost $500/month.). Ad blockers stop the ads from loading, which hurts this site. You don't have to click on the ads - just letting them load helps us out a lot. If you do click on them, all the better - that helps us get better advertisers because they know you're interested in the ads.&nbsp;It will help us continue to provide you with the content that you come here for, and that benefits you in the end. So please white list this Web site in your ad blocker.</p><p>As a side note, I have a personal "1 visit, 1 click" policy in which, when I visit a site and read/watch some content on it, I find an ad that I'm interested in and click on it. It only takes a few seconds of my time to do, and it's my way of giving back to that site, thanking them for creating that thing I just read/watched. The Internet would be a very different place if everyone had a similar policy. Just a thought to ponder as you head into the weekend. :-)</p>

[mmidgley]

I never had a mental policy to '1 page, 1 ad click', but I have found myself doing just that because I know it supports a site. However, if everyone started doing this--where they click an ad out of policy/habit, not out of genuine interest--wouldn't the advertisers figure this out and quit paying out for it? or reduce what they pay?

m.

[txa1265]

I always try to remember to white-list sites that I add value to my life. And even though I sold off my Axim x51v and gave my kids my last two other WiMo PDA's (iPaq 4355 and Jornada 568), I have always loved the site and definitely like reading the stuff.

Will definitely think about the click-through stuff you mentioned.

[Fritzly]

It seems reasonable to me....
This site, and few others, are, in fact, already in my white list.

[Jon Westfall]

You mean they make a product that can block ads? Man, I gotta look into that... :D

[Chris Gohlke]

Your ads are good about being unobtrusive. The only ones I find marginally annoying are the Google Adwords (I think that is what they are called) - the words in the posts that when your cursor goes over them an ad pops up. I usually drag the cursor along as I read, so I inadvertently pass over these and the ad pops up which does interrupt the reading experience.

[Chris Gohlke]

Googles ads are funny though. The ads I was presented in this thread were for downloading a popup blocker. Way to go Google!

[jeffd]

The problem is I don't run an ad blocker, I run a javascript blocker. and while I can whitelist DMT, the ads that don't come from dmt will still be blocked, and I won't whitelist them.

[randalllewis]

Your sites are already white listed from my computers. And, I appreciate your avoidance of pop ups and unders. I have never understood the value of pop unders. You don't see them until you close your browser, which I do when I am done with a work session. If I am ready to leave the browser or even the computer, why would I even spend a second looking at some stray window? I wouldn't mind the wallpaper ads behind your content that are now popular, but my absolute A-Number One Most Hated Ad Format Ever award are those scrolling monsters that roll my screen down and then back up when I am trying to read. Those advertisers will never, ever get a click from me. They are the electronic equivalent of those awful sticky note ads on the front pages of newspapers.

[Joel Crane]

1 visit, 1 click is a great and easy-to-implement idea. Thanks for the amazing news resource Jason. You heard the man, let's make Thoughts worth his time!

[doogald]

I run NoScript and I do not block your site, but I block script from third-party sites. IIRC, your site is infested with intellitxt, and, so long as that junk pops up when I am not careful about where I put the mouse pointer, I will block it. Sorry about that, but having to be careful about where I place the cursor while scrolling through a post is too intrusive. Turn off itellitext on your site and I will see more ads, I guess. (I also block tacoda.net, btw. I tend to distrust tracking cookies.)

[dldnh]

fair enough, it seems reasonable to look around the page and see if there is something I might find interesting from one of your advertisers. I have to agree that there's no benefit to anyone in the long run if people are clicking on ads just to bump the numbers. having said that, though, I won't be clicking any flash ads, because I can't see them. I'm using ClickToFlash to block flash content I haven't asked for, because flash sucks. And yes, I've paid for ClickToFlash. what does that say about ways (ad revenue vs. donations) to cover hosting and development costs?

[freitasm]

Your ads are good about being unobtrusive. The only ones I find marginally annoying are the Google Adwords (I think that is what they are called) - the words in the posts that when your cursor goes over them an ad pops up. I usually drag the cursor along as I read, so I inadvertently pass over these and the ad pops up which does interrupt the reading experience.

Nope. Those ads are from another company. Google AdSense does not underline words in the text. They are mainly the same size and format of other ads - banner and towers. They are no intrusive.

You are thinking of Kontera and some other providers.

1 visit, 1 click is a great and easy-to-implement idea. Thanks for the amazing news resource Jason. You heard the man, let's make Thoughts worth his time!

As said before this will bring prices down. Only click if you really want/need more information.

Having said that (and running my own site) ad blocking is really bad for content providers. Those $19.99/mo hosting offers are not near enough to be a viable option to host high volume sites. Hosting costs money. Support costs money. Development costs money. Baby food costs money. The small site publishers/owners need to feed their families.

[Chris Gohlke]

Nope. Those ads are from another company. Google AdSense does not underline words in the text.

I looked them up, they are called Vibrant In-Text Advertising.

[Biso007]

I fully agree ... why don't you advice Apple to add this feature to their Safari 5 which I currently use and doesn't have a popup allower :)

[ibap]

I have no problem with MOST ads. However, there are some sites, that depending on which browser you're running, will take for freaking EVER to load, and I am sure it is the ads, or the way they are incorporated, because WITH an ad blocker, they can be fine.

Phonearena had some issues for a while (Java related, I believe), and now seems fixed, at least for Firefox, but in Chrome, every page needs an F5 refresh to display, and I'm fairly certain it is ad related.

So fine, run the ads, but if it is going to take as long as it takes me to go fetch a cup of coffee across the office to load, I'm not reading. And just trying it on your own machine is not a test.

[Civisi]

Did you see this deal I found on an ad on your site?

Buy headphones and get a free 16 GB Zune HD

http://promotions.newegg.com/Monster/072610/index.html?cm_mmc=GoogleContentNetwork-_-MonsterHeadphone-_-0726-_-0831&nm_mc=ExtBanner

[egads]

I run NoScript and I do not block your site, but I block script from third-party sites. IIRC, your site is infested with intellitxt, and, so long as that junk pops up when I am not careful about where I put the mouse pointer, I will block it. Sorry about that, but having to be careful about where I place the cursor while scrolling through a post is too intrusive. Turn off itellitext on your site and I will see more ads, I guess. (I also block tacoda.net, btw. I tend to distrust tracking cookies.)

I agree 100% about intellitxt, get rid of it and I'll turn that blocking off...

[Chris Gohlke]

For those that don't like the intellitxt ads and block everything as a result, here is an easy solution that will get rid of the intellitxt ads. Hover over an intellitxt ad, click on the "?", the page you go to will have an option for disabling the ads (requires a cookie). But then you should be good to go. I'm actually impressed that the advertiser is proactive in letting the user disable the ads.

[doogald]

For those that don't like the intellitxt ads and block everything as a result, here is an easy solution that will get rid of the intellitxt ads. Hover over an intellitxt ad, click on the "?", the page you go to will have an option for disabling the ads (requires a cookie). But then you should be good to go. I'm actually impressed that the advertiser is proactive in letting the user disable the ads.

That only disables intellitxt/vibrant on the thoughts media sites, unfortunately. It does not extend to everywhere that uses the technology - like an adblocker, or script blocker, will. Like I said, I don't block everything, but I will not unblock intellitxt, ever. I'm surprised that the revenue from it is worth the lost revenue from everyone who does just block everything.

[crimsonsky]

To block those super annoying Vibrant intelitext ads, I just block the domain on OpenDNS (I use them as my DNS servers). Problem solved on all my computers as long as I'm on my home network.

I'm using Safari ad blocker on my Macs, but have whitelisted Thoughts Media sites per request as these sites really are very valuable to me and I don't mind putting up with a few ads to help ensure their continued survival.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Oh yes, I hate Vibrant with a passion. In addition to being annoying, they are SO random. I think the idea behind it is nice, but goodness the implementation and execution is terrible.

[Steve Jordan]

Though I understand the idea behind picking an interesting ad and clicking, the fact is that the page I'm looking at is showing me 3 ads... all for the same blackberry product!

[Jason Dunn]

I never had a mental policy to '1 page, 1 ad click', but I have found myself doing just that because I know it supports a site. However, if everyone started doing this--where they click an ad out of policy/habit, not out of genuine interest--wouldn't the advertisers figure this out and quit paying out for it? or reduce what they pay?

Well, to be clear, I said "1 visit, 1 click", so it's not like I click on one ad on every page I see. Also I said "I find an ad that I'm interested in and click on it" - so I don't think of it as click fraud; I glance to find an ad that's interesting to me. And if there isn't one, well, I don't click. It's not a hard and fast rule, more like a simple guideline I try to follow. And the purpose of an ad is to get a visitor to the site; if once you're there, they can't keep you there or get you to engage, well, that's their problem. :)

[Jason Dunn]

I'm curious, do all of you people who hate Vibrant Media's IntelliTXT ads so much read with your mouse cursor? As in, you move your mouse along the line as you read? I never knew people did that until I heard someone complain about IntelliTXT and when I asked why he hovered over links that are distinctly marked as ads if he knew they were ads, and he said that's how he reads.

[freitasm]

And the purpose of an ad is to get a visitor to the site; if once you're there, they can't keep you there or get you to engage, well, that's their problem. :)

Don't you hate advertisers that pay you per click but in the ad they put in big letters their 0800 number (or 1-800 in US/Canada), making people think twice before clicking, therefore making you lose the "action?" but getting the brand exposure they want?

Also in "brand exposure" some even want to pay per action (sign up, purchase) make beautiful ads, but their page is terrible. So people end up with the "branding" but don't buy anything - you spread their brand but don't get paid.

Yes, advertisers complain of click fraud, but some of them are way over the "fraud" things...

[freitasm]

I'm curious, do all of you people who hate Vibrant Media's IntelliTXT ads so much read with your mouse cursor? As in, you move your mouse along the line as you read? I never knew people did that until I heard someone complain about IntelliTXT and when I asked why he hovered over links that are distinctly marked as ads if he knew they were ads, and he said that's how he reads.

I only use the cursor to highlight a bit of text, like a bookmark, if I have to move away from my computer... Then I know where to come back to continue reading ;)

[Jason Dunn]

Don't you have advertisers that pay you per click but in the ad they put in big letters their 0800 number (or 1-800 in US/Canada), making people think twice before clicking, therefore making you lose the "action?" but getting the brand exposure they want?...So people end up with the "branding" but don't buy anything - you spread their brand but don't get paid.

Yes, I find that particularly frustrating as a publisher - especially since, being in Canada, I see Google AdSense 90% of the time on my sites. I see brand after brand, getting imprinted on my brain, and yet that's all being given away for free unless someone clicks. Google is making loads of money regardless, and Coke, Pepsi, BMW, etc. are getting billions of dollars in free brand advertising - and the Web site owner gets nothing at all. It's a badly broken system.

[freitasm]

Yes, I find that particularly frustrating as a publisher - especially since, being in Canada, I see Google AdSense 90% of the time on my sites. I see brand after brand, getting imprinted on my brain, and yet that's all being given away for free unless someone clicks. Google is making loads of money regardless, and Coke, Pepsi, BMW, etc. are getting billions of dollars in free brand advertising - and the Web site owner gets nothing at all. It's a badly broken system.

Well, Google won't make money out of the AdSense text ads - they only charge if there's a click, and pay more than other networks (they published their % last month). They do charge for image ads though, like CPM but those are paid out.

In essence CPC ads are a branding thing, and the "action" (click) not always happen. But still better than CPA.

However... Google is now paying 10x less to me than three years ago.

My theory is that there are more publishers competing, so revenue is spread thin between all. Also advertisers are paying less now. And Google changed the clickable area in the text adverts, making CTR fall about 15%.

The best tihng is "local" ads, but you need to have a sales person to drive this...

And, not sure about you, but I have tried offering "subscriptions" for ad free experience - people simply prefer to install an ad block (and completely dry out any revenue we could possibly have) than pay, for example $5 a month for a very fast site with no ads or scripts at all.

[Jason Dunn]

Well, Google won't make money out of the AdSense text ads - they only charge if there's a click, and pay more than other networks (they published their % last month). They do charge for image ads though, like CPM but those are paid out.

Right, but you've got to know that Coke, Pepsi, and the other big brands know that if they invest $10 million into AdSense, they're probably getting $100+ million in free branding. Their dollars last longer in a CPC system, because they don't really care if people click or don't click - they just want the brand name in front of people. Because of that, they spend their money with Google versus other branding options (such as CPM ads).

And, not sure about you, but I have tried offering "subscriptions" for ad free experience - people simply prefer to install an ad block (and completely dry out any revenue we could possibly have) than pay, for example $5 a month for a very fast site with no ads or scripts at all.

We tried it a few years back, and had some decent success from people who cared about the sites and wanted to support them, but when we made our transition from phpBB to vBulletin, it was cost-prohibitive to replicate all the features we created...it was a huge amount of development work, and it wasn't going to pay for itself.

[doogald]

I'm curious, do all of you people who hate Vibrant Media's IntelliTXT ads so much read with your mouse cursor? As in, you move your mouse along the line as you read? I never knew people did that until I heard someone complain about IntelliTXT and when I asked why he hovered over links that are distinctly marked as ads if he knew they were ads, and he said that's how he reads.

No, the mouse cursor sits on the middle of the screen, and I scroll. However, that is not the issue.

If I move my mouse to, say, head up to the top of the browser window to open a bookmark, or switch to a different tab, or down to the dock to open a different app, and accidentally pass over one of the crap links, it pops up. I can be moving the mouse pointer rapidly - if it happens to hover over one of the links, it pops up. It is INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING. It has nothing to do with reading the material - it's usually what happens after I read and want to do something else, or if I am interrupted and need to switch to something else quickly.

I am glad that you brought this subject up. As owner of this site, you should know how frustrating it can be for people who do not block these crap ads. I remember when I used to use some really badly designed apps when I would ask the question, do the people who make this app actually use it? They cannot be happy when they do. I cannot believe that you are happy that this is such a pain in the neck that I need to block the ads. It would be similar to every time I watched a program on TV and somebody in the room happened to do something, such as scratch their nose, the TV program was immediately interrupted by a five second, very loud and annoying ad.

[Chris Gohlke]

I'm curious, do all of you people who hate Vibrant Media's IntelliTXT ads so much read with your mouse cursor? As in, you move your mouse along the line as you read? I never knew people did that until I heard someone complain about IntelliTXT and when I asked why he hovered over links that are distinctly marked as ads if he knew they were ads, and he said that's how he reads.

Yes, I will sometimes drag my mouse back and forth as I read a long block of text. Helps keep overworked eyes from jumping around as much. I'll often use a ruler or a finger on printed text for the same reason.

Also, if I'm not specifically using the pointer, and I leave it parked on the middle of the screen and use the scroll wheel to move down the page, the cursor can inadvertently activate one of these ads.

If the ad pops up it is often blocking exactly where I am reading, so, it totally interrupts the experience.

So in both of these cases, I would have to actually modify my natural behavior to be sure the cursor avoided these areas of the page so I didn't get the popup. So, in that way, I find these ads more intrusive since they do interrupt the normal user experience with the content of the sites.

Just my 2 cents. And like I said, I'm actually impressed that Vibrant has built in a way for users to shut these off.

[Jason Dunn]

I am glad that you brought this subject up. As owner of this site, you should know how frustrating it can be for people who do not block these crap ads...I cannot believe that you are happy that this is such a pain in the neck that I need to block the ads.

The reality? You're the first, and only, person I've ever seen react so strongly to them - and the only person who is unsatisfied with being able to turn them off on all Thoughts Media sites. You seem to expect me to turn back time and stop myself from using them in the first place. Honestly, it seems nothing will make you happy, so what's the point of me trying?

[Jason Dunn]

Just my 2 cents. And like I said, I'm actually impressed that Vibrant has built in a way for users to shut these off.

I'm not sure if Vibrant offers it to all publishing partners; it was part of my contract when I signed up with them. If they irritate people, and you certainly raised some valid reasons why they irritate you, people can turn them off. Seems like a win-win to me. :)

[Wuss912]

The reality? You're the first, and only, person I've ever seen react so strongly to them - and the only person who is unsatisfied with being able to turn them off on all Thoughts Media sites. You seem to expect me to turn back time and stop myself from using them in the first place. Honestly, it seems nothing will make you happy, so what's the point of me trying?

I hate them too the rest of your adds arent so bad but the inline ones SUCK!!!

[Jason Dunn]

I hate them too the rest of your adds arent so bad but the inline ones SUCK!!!

Well, as has been explained, you can turn them off - please feel free to do so. :)

[photopix]

A very reasonable request Jason. I just reset Ad Blocker so that Thought Media can pay it's bills. As I see it, you guys perform a public service. Thanks for the effort.

[Jason Dunn]

A very reasonable request Jason. I just reset Ad Blocker so that Thought Media can pay it's bills. As I see it, you guys perform a public service. Thanks for the effort.

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

[freitasm]

I don't run an ad block. But you should really check the ad networks you are using outside the US/CA for your spare inventory. Popups are not nice!

[Jason Dunn]

I don't run an ad block. But you should really check the ad networks you are using outside the US/CA for your spare inventory. Popups are not nice!

Yes Mauricio, I saw your Tweet about this - I'll look into it, but without some details, it's 100% impossible for me to do anything about it. I certainly don't allow pop-ups, but it seems NetShelter is working with a third-party for unsold inventory and it must include pop-ups... :mad:

[freitasm]

It's a Zwinky ad, served from TribalFusion. If you have a TribalFusion account then you can go to the site profile and change it to block popups/popunders.

[Jason Dunn]

It's a Zwinky ad, served from TribalFusion. If you have a TribalFusion account then you can go to the site profile and change it to block popups/popunders.

I no longer work with Tribal Fusion - it seems NetShelter is working with them, so now that I know what campaign is was, I can ask NetShelter to ensure pop-ups are blocked. They informed me that pop-ups are supposed to be blocked - along with pop-unders, etc. - but it looks like this one slipped through. Thanks for the detail so I can try to stop this.