Ads in posts? UPDATE: Ad system reverted back to original

[Kaphias]

I am not disagreeing when you say that the quality of the site may be better with a subscription. But, most users won't pay when there's other sites out there that are totally free. Some people will still be loyal to tip.it and pay the cash, and a heck of a lot of more people will just switch to a free site that is out there. (There is a lot of them!) It just wouldn't be a smart move for Tip.It!

 

 

 

Exactly why a donator benefit would be great. Perhaps no ads, a donator only board (which would likely be more comprised of a more mature userbase,) larger inbox, lowered (although not abolished) flood control (since you have something to lose if do something stupid,) just a couple things that might motivate people to fork out a little.

 

sounds like a good idea. We could start with just a few forums (Runescape General, and Off Topic) and expand from there.

[The Dark Lord]

On certain forum skins, the in-text ads can make it harder to see a word. I've also noticed that top of these forums (Says Tip.It Forums) seems to have all of the words turning green (which is harder to see against a black background).

 

 

 

It's also happening in posts. So yes, they can be intrusive.

 

 

 

At least no more National Lampoon ads.

[Lionheart_0]

=; :shame: :-X

 

 

 

Ok this is getting way too out of hand. Ever since two days ago, the adds have been growing, and im getting them at the top of my screen, and in almost every topic i go into. Its slowing down my browser now so i am forced to wait about 10 seconds to load each page, where as before it was instant.

 

 

 

I'm not exactly a happy camper right now.

[Scars]

Yeah, since yesterday there's been a sudden increase in the underlined ads. It was alright after changing the ad company, but now it seems to have accelerated.

[Guest]

=; :shame: :-X

 

 

 

Ok this is getting way too out of hand. Ever since two days ago, the adds have been growing, and im getting them at the top of my screen, and in almost every topic i go into. Its slowing down my browser now so i am forced to wait about 10 seconds to load each page, where as before it was instant.

 

 

 

I'm not exactly a happy camper right now.

 

 

 

Yeah I've noticed that as well. What's with the sudden increase in these adds? I could bare the others now its just starting to annoy me! Not to mention my spyware and antivirus program finds it spyware. An explanation please?

[Zargo_VI]

I'm all for subscriptions, but only if they are optional. I wouldn't want to force someone to subscribe to use the forums at all.

[n64jive]

I have seen posts where it seems like it is every other word. It drives me nuts, and I wish they would get rid of them.

 

 

 

Here, in 2007, I should be able to post a subject without having green underline words in the body of my message. I wish that the forums would disable these options. At times, i'm constantly lagging due to the advertisements jumping up.

[brave]

These new ads are REALLY irritating and they drive my anti-virus and anti-spyware software mad. I am seriously thinkung about dumping Tip-It for a forum that does not have these ads.

[happybappy]

The ads have definitely increased in number and I can barely move my mouse without them popping up. Please find another way to raise money.

[The Dark Lord]

ÃÆýÃâùf ÃÆââ¬ËÃâ Ã¢â¬â¢ÃÆÃ

[Guest]

ÃÆýÃâùf ÃÆââ¬ËÃâ Ã¢â¬â¢ÃÆÃ

[Phil]

These adverts are a real pain for me also. I'm having trouble browsing the forum at all with them.

 

 

 

I am pretty sure the admins are looking at this situation. Don't fret too much while this is worked out. :P

[InkofDeath]

These adverts are a real pain for me also. I'm having trouble browsing the forum at all with them.

 

 

 

I am pretty sure the admins are looking at this situation. Don't fret too much while this is worked out. :P

 

 

 

For 6-8 days I wasn't on the internet at all, except for posting on a topic in here, and another, but I didn't screen the forums I usually do.

 

 

 

I screened the forums, and as many have pointed out, its a lot worse, probably 10x as worse as I last saw it. I was contempt with 2 or 3 posts being infected with one ad word link pop-up thing...but I'm finding sometimes up to 20-30 words are infected.

 

 

 

This is way too much, and either scale down the amount of words being infected, or take it away.

 

 

 

Gl.

[dwarfie76]

Running Firefox with adblock, so I'm not seeing the green underlined ads at all. I'm not sure which company it is, but I'd be happy to share my adblock killfile with people if they wanted it.

[The_Sith]

After all the commentary gathered from both users and staff, the forum advertisements have been reverted back to the old Burstnet "system."

[Errdoth]

After all the commentary gathered from both users and staff, the forum advertisements have been reverted back to the old Burstnet "system."

 

 

 

Amen.

[Kaphias]

After all the commentary gathered from both users and staff, the forum advertisements have been reverted back to the old Burstnet "system."

 

Darnit.

[misterxman]

W00ts :thumbsup:

[Errdoth]

After all the commentary gathered from both users and staff, the forum advertisements have been reverted back to the old Burstnet "system."

 

Darnit.

 

 

 

:-s

[Silverion]

We are sorry for problems that this created to anyone, we tried to test this new advertiser ADBRIGHT that was suggested from community but final results was horrible from financial point and very disturbing to many users too so final decision is that this advertiser is removed.

 

 

 

We was trying to find some solution to problem where because too many users lately use some AD blocking software we are getting in very problematic situation that adds are not viewed by anyone and in this mode are not generating any revenue :( there is very low understanding that if you like some web site it is great help to look for any advertising that is not intrusive and at last somehow interesting to visit it this will generate some return to that site and they will be able to cover its expenses. Running Web site of any quality is one BIG effort and it cost a lot to keep it up what most people think is "free" in reality is thousands of dollars a month :(

 

 

 

Our effort to keep advertising clean, is very hard on us, people unfortunatly tend to click MUCH more on disturbing advertising then on less "fleshing, provocative" that we try to eliminate as fast as possible what in end result in drastic cuts on our income in same time our expenses only grow and never go down :(

[dwarfie76]

The thing you'll find with advertising Silverion is that it's blocked at the advertiser level, not the site level.

 

 

 

My ad-block killfile already had an entry for http://*.adbrite.com/* so I wasn't even aware that tip.it was using it. It also has entries to automatically block anything from burstnet, akami, adsense, intellitext and pretty much any other advertising company out there.

 

 

 

You can't ask users to "not block" your advertising, unless of course you are serving up the advertising from your own servers. It amounts to asking people not to run ad-blocking software at all.

 

 

 

Advertising is a very poor method of funding a web site at the best of times. I truly believe that a subscription model would be far better suited to alleviating your hosting costs.

 

 

 

I guess the question remains... if your site cannot pay for itself, why run it? There are plenty of runescape fan sites out there... why not let them cope with the hosting and bandwidth costs and you can keep your hard earned cash in your pocket and not have the stress either. Unless of course you are simply running the site for the prestige of running a website, in which case, why shouldn't you pay for it?

[Mercifull]

There is nothing wrong with AdBrite when its set up properly (turning off text links/intersitals etc) which is a shame. At least AdBrite dont try to foist adware onto peoples computers.

[pokemama]

I guess the question remains... if your site cannot pay for itself, why run it? There are plenty of runescape fan sites out there... why not let them cope with the hosting and bandwidth costs and you can keep your hard earned cash in your pocket and not have the stress either. Unless of course you are simply running the site for the prestige of running a website, in which case, why shouldn't you pay for it?

 

Obviously you are a long time user of these boards, but your statement seems unfair and disrespectful. :shame:

 

 

 

All of the major RS fansites have had revenue difficulties. Runescape is an inexpensive (or free) game, and most players are kids without credit cards. Even if users were *willing* to subscribe, finding a way to do it would be difficult. Tip.It is the only site I've used that hasn't threatened to shut down or beseeched me for a handout in all the time I've been here.

 

 

 

Lots of real world companies with highly paid CEOs and business advisors have had difficulty establishing a financially solvent web presence. The internet is still an unfamiliar environment for business. And most companies (which already generate real world revenue) don't have thousands of kids hitting up their bandwidth to the tune of 50,000 hits per day (just guessing) without ever making a "purchase".

 

 

 

I think a "successful fansite" may be an oxymoron. Something starts out small, with a handful of devoted players sharing information with each other, simply out of love for the game. A small venture costs almost nothing, one could do it on a "free" website, lol. As more people find out about this trove of knowledge, they visit the site, bringing more devotees who also contribute their knowledge and drink at the fountain. But more visitors require more bandwidth (that means MONEY, you aren't allowed to have that kind of traffic on a "free" website), as well as server equipment. And then more people flock to the site. It snowballs. Somehow it reminds me of watching an (American) football quarterback get tackled by the ENTIRE opposing team, in one big pile.

 

 

 

There are tons of small private fansites out there. Ask yourself why you don't use one of them? Well, one reason is usually the content here - guides, calculators, databases, etc. All of them took the effort of a LOT of people, and you aren't going to find that many volunteers at a small fansite. There also won't be as many people to trade with, to discuss things, to exchange ideas. I hear your logic, but if that really worked, why aren't you using a "private" fansite already, lol?

 

 

 

Ironically, I quite enjoyed the Adbrite service. I found the little underlined words with popups trivial and easily ignored/avoided (since they were always on dumb words that were unrelated to anything interesting). And the banner ads at the top seemed more relevant - I actually clicked on several intriguing ones. In contrast, our previous run of the mill Google ads often made me ask "why on EARTH is this ad even HERE where nobody could POSSIBLY be interested?" (Things like "Install SQL on your Servers to satisfy your customers". Lol.)

 

 

 

It's easy to sit on the sidelines and make commentary, but it's a lot harder when the expenses come out of your own pocket and you are chewing nails wondering if this month's income will even cover them. I for one appreciate the effort that the owners have spent to provide a useful site from the early days of Runescape when there was absolutely ZERO information available. They have done a great job, and sweated the responsibilities, and I'm grateful.

[dwarfie76]

Obviously you are a long time user of these boards, but your statement seems unfair and disrespectful. :shame:

 

Terribly sorry for not toeing the line appropriately... perhaps you could point out exactly how my question (not statement) was unreasonable or disrespectful?

 

 

 

All of the major RS fansites have had revenue difficulties. Runescape is an inexpensive (or free) game, and most players are kids without credit cards. Even if users were *willing* to subscribe, finding a way to do it would be difficult.

 

Right... so running a Runescape fansite is not a break-even proposition financially. Which begs the question I asked above. What is the motivation for running one - of the many that are out there - when it is only going to cause stress and cost money? The noble and philanthropic aim of providing information is well and truly covered by the dozen or so other fansites... which leaves only one other that I can see.

 

 

 

There are tons of small private fansites out there.

 

There are also several large ones... There isn't any content here that can't be found elsewhere.

 

 

 

They have done a great job, and sweated the responsibilities, and I'm grateful.

 

I'm not saying they don't do a great job, or that tip.it isn't a worthwhile site to visit. I'm merely questioning whether it is appropriate to suggest that the userbase fund it.

[Errdoth]

And yet you are still here...makes you wonder...