The Valparaiso Beacons Fan Zone Forum

Information => Forum Information => Topic started by: agibson on July 07, 2016, 10:24:26 PM

Title: Advertisements?
Post by: agibson on July 07, 2016, 10:24:26 PM
Mostly curious - have I just forgotten about the commercial advertisements on the board, or are they new?

If they're new, I don't begrudge them - we've enjoyed a free message board for many years. Even if I don't precisely enjoy them (who does?).
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: valpo04 on July 08, 2016, 09:17:20 AM
Quote from: agibson on July 07, 2016, 10:24:26 PM
Mostly curious - have I just forgotten about the commercial advertisements on the board, or are they new?

If they're new, I don't begrudge them - we've enjoyed a free message board for many years. Even if I don't precisely enjoy them (who does?).

They are indeed new but they should remain relatively unobtrusive and painless. I thank you for not running an adblocker on this site  ;)

I have willingly self funded this site from day one and have no intentions to ever paywall or charge for access. I installed the ads as a test to see if the revenue generated is worth the annoyance as a way to try to recoup some of the out of pocket expense involved in running the site.

Luckily, page loads and impressions count, even if no one actually clicks on the ad. So please keep that ad blocker disabled  :thumbsup:



Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: VULB#62 on July 08, 2016, 09:50:44 AM
No problem here. Whatever it takes to keep the boat afloat  :)
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: agibson on July 08, 2016, 11:22:32 AM
Quote from: valpo04 on July 08, 2016, 09:17:20 AMI installed the ads as a test to see if the revenue generated is worth the annoyance as a way to try to recoup some of the out of pocket expense involved in running the site.

I'd be willing to chip in a certain sum, and have contributed to other such "recreational" sites in the past.

I think the ads are a reasonable approach. And, having some mechanism for making contributions would come with its own headaches and complications. But, for my part, I'd suggest you could keep some kind of voluntary fundraiser as an option in your back pocket, particularly if you don't like how the ad stuff goes.

Thanks, certainly, for keeping us afloat for so many years! Financially, technically, with the occasional artful moderation effort, etc, etc.
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: NCVUfan on December 09, 2017, 06:44:06 AM
What has changed with the advertisements?  I now frequently have trouble getting to a new comment page because an advertisement pops up, most often about some strange company called Academy Sports that I have never heard of and don't want to hear about.  I passed reading several posts today and the last week or so because of this annoying occurrence.

I do not believe that just because I have now heard of Academy Sports that the ad is a success.  If I ever see that company in person or on the internet I will make sure to not patronize them.

Is it time for a different Valpo fan forum or just an ad blocker?
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: FieldGoodie05 on December 09, 2017, 10:17:32 AM
Quote from: NCVUfan on December 09, 2017, 06:44:06 AM
What has changed with the advertisements?  I now frequently have trouble getting to a new comment page because an advertisement pops up, most often about some strange company called Academy Sports that I have never heard of and don't want to hear about.  I passed reading several posts today and the last week or so because of this annoying occurrence.

I do not believe that just because I have now heard of Academy Sports that the ad is a success.  If I ever see that company in person or on the internet I will make sure to not patronize them.

Is it time for a different Valpo fan forum or just an ad blocker?

I believe the admin is a VALPO grad who pays out of his own pocket to keep this site up and running.  Does that change your thought process?
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: VULB#62 on December 09, 2017, 10:28:44 AM
Quote from: NCVUfan on December 09, 2017, 06:44:06 AM
What has changed with the advertisements?  I now frequently have trouble getting to a new comment page because an advertisement pops up, most often about some strange company called Academy Sports that I have never heard of and don't want to hear about.  I passed reading several posts today and the last week or so because of this annoying occurrence.

I do not believe that just because I have now heard of Academy Sports that the ad is a success.  If I ever see that company in person or on the internet I will make sure to not patronize them.

Is it time for a different Valpo fan forum or just an ad blocker?

It may not be the forum that is at fault. I never get pop-ups associated with the forum. It could be something on your devise that has latched itself to this site. Message Valpo04 and see what he has to say about this.
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: valpotx on December 09, 2017, 11:07:32 AM
Perfectly fine with the ads.  Academy Sports + Outdoors is a pretty large company, but must not have a presence in NC.  It is all over TX.  Their wiki page says that they have 17,000 employees and 290+ stores.
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: valpo04 on December 11, 2017, 07:37:30 AM
Quote from: NCVUfan on December 09, 2017, 06:44:06 AM
What has changed with the advertisements?  I now frequently have trouble getting to a new comment page because an advertisement pops up, most often about some strange company called Academy Sports that I have never heard of and don't want to hear about.  I passed reading several posts today and the last week or so because of this annoying occurrence.

I do not believe that just because I have now heard of Academy Sports that the ad is a success.  If I ever see that company in person or on the internet I will make sure to not patronize them.

Is it time for a different Valpo fan forum or just an ad blocker?

Sorry to hear that a particular ad is causing problems. I will look into it.

If anyone else has noticed this behavior, please message me. There should not be any pop up ads here.

Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: valpo04 on December 11, 2017, 07:48:30 AM
I just double checked everything and there should not be any pop up ads, in fact, it isn't even an option.

Have you by chance, seen this behavior on other sites? Perhaps VULB#62 is onto something, especially if no one else is seeing them.

Nonetheless, I will continue to investigate.
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: VULB#62 on December 11, 2017, 09:52:36 AM
NCVUFan, try running an anti-virus scan of your device that includes Malware/Adware. It sounds like an Adware issue to me.
Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: agibson on December 17, 2017, 09:13:02 PM
Quote from: NCVUfan on December 09, 2017, 06:44:06 AMWhat has changed with the advertisements?  I now frequently have trouble getting to a new comment page because an advertisement pops up, most often about some strange company called Academy Sports that I have never heard of and don't want to hear about.  I passed reading several posts today and the last week or so because of this annoying occurrence.

This is on a computer with a traditional web browser?

Or is it a chance it's on the mobile platform? I don't have any experience with the forum's mobile app, but I do sometimes get hijacked by ads in other mobile environments.

The ads on the board have been pretty benign for me lately. I've pretty much learned to ignore them. I'm still not opposed to passing the hat instead of using advertisers, but they've been pretty minimally painful to me lately.

Title: Re: Advertisements?
Post by: historyman on December 18, 2017, 05:16:56 AM
Quote from: agibson on December 17, 2017, 09:13:02 PMI'm still not opposed to passing the hat instead of using advertisers,

"I am"