'Ads' on XboxEra - Community Discussion

[BRiT]

Is there any particular category of Ads that will be used or is it anything that can be served up? Like will it be confined to Gaming and Technology and Streaming? Or broader range like even for shopping items from other sites based on Amazon browsing history that I’ve seen at other places?

[TheScarecrow101]

I am fine with ads if I was not contributing to patreon. Considering the 30 quid a month, I would like to have the option that it is not shown to me or that they are disabled by checkbox.

I can understand needing to pay for the site but I prefer to support directly and if no ads are part of that, then I am totally happy with paying

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

@BRiT

Is there any particular category of Ads that will be used or is it anything that can be served up? Like will it be confined to Gaming and Technology and Streaming? Or broader range like even for shopping items from other sites based on Amazon browsing history that I’ve seen at other places?

While I’d love it to be all Xbox/Gaming all the time, I doubt it. We’ll likely be utilising adsense via Google. But we’ll see!

@TheScarecrow101

I am fine with ads if I was not contributing to patreon. Considering the 30 quid a month, I would like to have the option that it is not shown to me or that they are disabled by checkbox.

I can understand needing to pay for the site but I prefer to support directly and if no ads are part of that, then I am totally happy with paying

You can be assured, Patrons will never see ads by default.

[Hypernova474]

I would be fine with ads. Have to keep the lights on somehow.

[nrXic]

@Khalid117x

For me personally I would rather pay a small user fee (1$ a month would be fine for me) then having ads on the site.

There is a brand new tier of $1 at the Patreon. And if a Patreon sub removes ads, this would be exactly what you’re looking for.

OP: I am also ok with ads in the YouTube content. I listen to the podcast while doing chores and ads interspersed within the 2 hours wouldn’t be a problem for me. Let’s see what others think.

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

@nrXic

There is a brand new tier of $1 at the Patreon. And if a Patreon sub removes ads, this would be exactly what you’re looking for.

OP: I am also ok with ads in the YouTube content. I listen to the podcast while doing chores and ads interspersed within the 2 hours wouldn’t be a problem for me. Let’s see what others think.

We do have ads on YouTube now, but I’ve turned the mid-vid ads off, because, well, if I hate them, I can’t expect our community to stomach them either.

[Opatschi]

Im curious how much of a difference does adds make?

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

@Opatschi

Im curious how much of a difference does adds make?

No idea yet to be honest! The site averages around 500,000 page views a month (which is NUTS by the way) and we’d assume that’s only going to grow, so we’re just as intrigued to see what it does for us.

(If you see us all driving around in Ferraris, you can assume it did okay)

[Opatschi]

@Sikamikanico

No idea yet to be honest! The site averages around 500,000 page views a month (which is NUTS by the way) and we’d assume that’s only going to grow, so we’re just as intrigued to see what it does for us.

(If you see us all driving around in Ferraris, you can assume it did okay)

I am responsible for for the half of it

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

@Opatschi

I am responsible for for the half of it

FYI - we’re currently experimenting with what we can do, so if anyone sees anything weird - don’t panic, it’s all being tweaked in the back-end.

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

We have activated ads on the forum.

Please bear in mind, we are watching this closely and are just as aware as you guys as to what is gross and what is not.

I’ve already seen some stuff I’m not super happy with, but please post any awful examples so we can adjust accordingly.

[BRiT]

@Sikamikanico

We have activated ads on the forum.

Please bear in mind, we are watching this closely and are just as aware as you guys as to what is gross and what is not.

I’ve already seen some stuff I’m not super happy with, but please post any awful examples so we can adjust accordingly.

Really? I haven’t seen a single ad yet. I even white-listed this site in uBlock Origin and EFF Privacy Badger within my Microsoft Edge browser. I don’t think my DNS is blocking any ads either, only Malware –

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

@BRiT

Really? I haven’t seen a single ad yet. I even white-listed this site in uBlock Origin and EFF Privacy Badger within my Microsoft Edge browser. I don’t think my DNS is blocking any ads either, only Malware –

It takes a little while to propogate as I understand it, do keep an eye on it! (I’m getting them!)

[Vinnie13]

@Shadowgasm

I don’t mind ads in general, but I get incredibly annoyed by top down ads that load after the page, thus altering it right as you’re about to click on something. It’s infuriating. I also hate ads with sound and/or video ads because the audio will just randomly play even when it’s not supposed to.

So yeah, as long as the ads don’t cover a portion of what I’m trying to read/look at, and as long as there’s no media content, I’m good. I would much rather the site be stable and help you guys financially than not.

Was going to write my opinion but this post covers my position!

[TavishHill]

@Khalid117x

…of all, I think it’s a great idea to talk with us about this. So thank you for taking in our opinions about this. This is great management! For me personally I would rather pay a small user fee (1$ a month would be fine for me) then having ads on the site. When I look at other forums I think it makes the whole thing look cheap, confusing and of course it is annoying. Of course I have no Idea about the business model behind a forum like this and do not know if a $ would be enough or if this could even work. I won’t abandon this forum if you use ads. But please don’t use ads you have to manually click away. Thats the worst part, or when you want to click sonething and out of nowhere the ad appears and you accidentally click the ad, horror! Again, thank you for taking us into the conversation.

Yeah genuinely super thoughtful and very community-centered. And when things are run this way it’s hard to complain about ads or other revenue generating functions tbh. Community is great, forum features are great…what more can we ask for?!

[Whistler]

Here’s the problem I have with ads: Malware

I don’t have a problem with ads that are controlled by the site themselves, as in the site owners sell space directly and control what is put on the site. What happens in most cases is a third party ad seller like Google is allowed to run on their site and even with Google bad ads slip through.

[BRiT]

@Sikamikanico

It takes a little while to propogate as I understand it, do keep an eye on it! (I’m getting them!)

Using Chrome on Android Tablet, I see them on the top level forum list, in Off-Topic, Announcements, and User Guides forums, but NOT in Gaming forum. Does it have a special template or something different than the other forums where it might not be enabled?

I assume that’s where the majority of users spend their time, so thought it might be helpful to share my current experiences.

[BRiT]

Now I see the Ads in Gaming.

[Sikamikanico (Jon Clarke)]

@BRiT

Now I see the Ads in Gaming.

We did it so everyone can blame you instead of us

[Mesiac]

I’m just going to put it out there. I’m disappointed in the use of the ads currently…because all I’m seeing are ads for the patreon or the podcast . Come on guys, sprinkle in some actual ads so you can make money off us!