[NSC] Advertising on NSC

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

With apologies to @Bozza I was finding NSC barely usable on my iPad using Chrome. I switched to Duck Duck Go and not only found the performance improved significantly but it also stopped a lot of the adverts coming through.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Pay your £5 and avoid them completely - second best initiative after the 'ignore thread' button.

£5? Did you get a massive discount?

 

[Rookie]

It’s the reloading of pages that annoys me. Happily scrolling away and the page suddenly reloads itself without warning. Guess the ad changes

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Correct - NSC patrons don't (or shouldn't) get any ads.

If you do, please tell me and I'll check it out. I view the site with full ads, so I'm unlikely to notice if I configured an ad incorrectly and you're seeing it.

Nobody raised this issue at the last patron meet up at Thorpe Park, I’ll ask again at the El Prez movie night and report back

 

[Pretty Plnk Fairy]

Does tagetted adverts based on site history explane why I keep getting offers to sell me the Pegatron 4000?


Regards
DF

 

[American Seagle]

Ads are highly targeted.

Most, but not all, of the ads you see will be related to sites you've visited, some sort of socio-economic profile derived from you or simply where you live.

@American Seagle has what looks to be a Hulu ad, presumably due to his US location and Hulu wanting his custom. 90% of NSC visitors are based in the UK so won't get a Hulu ad.

In most cases, for logged in users, the ads should be banners and I have them set to there shouldn't ever be more than one on screen at one time, although that can go slightly awry on a page with just a single post.

Very occasionally an ad does seem to have the ability to expand and be something you need to scroll all the way by. I've personally not had one of those for some months now. They are more annoying/intrusive, certainly, but due to the lack of frequency I see them, I've not pursued the issue. I appreciate I am a sample size of one though, and what I see may not be typical.

Ads are highly targeted.

Most, but not all, of the ads you see will be related to sites you've visited, some sort of socio-economic profile derived from you or simply where you live.

@American Seagle has what looks to be a Hulu ad, presumably due to his US location and Hulu wanting his custom. 90% of NSC visitors are based in the UK so won't get a Hulu ad.

In most cases, for logged in users, the ads should be banners and I have them set to there shouldn't ever be more than one on screen at one time, although that can go slightly awry on a page with just a single post.

Very occasionally an ad does seem to have the ability to expand and be something you need to scroll all the way by. I've personally not had one of those for some months now. They are more annoying/intrusive, certainly, but due to the lack of frequency I see them, I've not pursued the issue. I appreciate I am a sample size of one though, and what I see may not be typical.

Oh I am not complaining about adds here in general don't get me wrong.
The Hulu one that keeps popping up after removing it is particularly annoying though.

 

[tstanbur]

Ads are highly targeted.

Most, but not all, of the ads you see will be related to sites you've visited, some sort of socio-economic profile derived from you or simply where you live.

@American Seagle has what looks to be a Hulu ad, presumably due to his US location and Hulu wanting his custom. 90% of NSC visitors are based in the UK so won't get a Hulu ad.

In most cases, for logged in users, the ads should be banners and I have them set to there shouldn't ever be more than one on screen at one time, although that can go slightly awry on a page with just a single post.

Very occasionally an ad does seem to have the ability to expand and be something you need to scroll all the way by. I've personally not had one of those for some months now. They are more annoying/intrusive, certainly, but due to the lack of frequency I see them, I've not pursued the issue. I appreciate I am a sample size of one though, and what I see may not be typical.

I use Chrome on an iPhone and for several weeks I get constant page refreshes and/or ads jumping around which is killing the UX.

E.g. I’m half way down a page and it just refreshes with a white flash. Have to then scroll all the way back down to

It’s the reloading of pages that annoys me. Happily scrolling away and the page suddenly reloads itself without warning. Guess the ad changes

I was in the middle of typing my initial reply (above) and guess what, this happened right on cue! Then I saw your message as was beginning to think it’s only happening to me.

I get that refreshing individual ads can maximise revenue but surely the ad network you use can do this in a way not to impact the user experience as much - complete page refreshes is not a good look. Not even sure the Argus does that!

 

[StonehamPark]

As ive said many times - consider stopping using Chrome, both on phone and on pc.

It used to be the best browser in town, but things change quickly in tech.

Try out some other alternatives, I personally use Opera Browser without any issue, as NSC was unusable for me on Chrome (iPhone) with near-constant page crashes, intrusive ads and involuntary page refreshes.

Tl;dr - Stop using Google Chrome.

 

[tstanbur]

As ive said many times - consider stopping using Chrome, both on phone and on pc.

It used to be the best browser in town, but things change quickly in tech.

Try out some other alternatives, I personally use Opera Browser without any issue, as NSC was unusable for me on Chrome (iPhone) with near-constant page crashes, intrusive ads and involuntary page refreshes.

Tl;dr - Stop using Google Chrome.

With over 60% market share I expect @Bozza will want to ensure NSC works well on Chrome over all other browsers.

Understanding Browser Market Share: Which browsers to test on in 2024 | BrowserStack

Browsers are fundamental for website market. Let’s understand Browser Market Share, and choose which browsers to test on in 2023

www.browserstack.com

Out of interest, what are your credentials for strongly advising moving away from Chrome?

 

[Bozza]

Use of Safari on NSC significantly exceeds its worldwide market share of c18%...

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I use Chrome on an iPhone and for several weeks I get constant page refreshes and/or ads jumping around which is killing the UX.

E.g. I’m half way down a page and it just refreshes with a white flash. Have to then scroll all the way back down to

I was in the middle of typing my initial reply (above) and guess what, this happened right on cue! Then I saw your message as was beginning to think it’s only happening to me.

I get that refreshing individual ads can maximise revenue but surely the ad network you use can do this in a way not to impact the user experience as much - complete page refreshes is not a good look. Not even sure the Argus does that!

These issues were why I stopped using Chrome and switched to Duck Duck Go, that and the ads stopping you scrolling down the page as they loaded.

 

[tstanbur]

Use of Safari on NSC significantly exceeds its worldwide market share of c18%...


View attachment 186310

I hope that it’s not the (seemingly) Chrome-only ad issues that are impacting those stats.

I.e. people using NSC less than they would usually.

Have those percentages roughly stayed the same for a long time?

 

[Whitechapel]

It’s the reloading of pages that annoys me. Happily scrolling away and the page suddenly reloads itself without warning. Guess the ad changes

“This web page was reloaded because a problem occurred.”? That’s what I keep getting anyway.

This is the only site I get it on. Been a couple of times I’ve entirely given up and just stopped trying to post/read a thread. Certainly seems to be (perhaps unintentionally) straying in to unusable unless you pay.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Before you all start: I know they are important for revenue etc etc.

My question is have they always been this intrusive and has it got worse recently? The constant reappearing pop-up one is particularly annoying. Often you can only see a couple of threads per screen.

You get massive value from NSC. It needs supporting. You do that by seeing ads or coughing up a few pence a day. Your choice.

 

[Bozza]

“This web page was reloaded because a problem occurred.”? That’s what I keep getting anyway.

This is the only site I get it on. Been a couple of times I’ve entirely given up and just stopped trying to post/read a thread. Certainly seems to be (perhaps unintentionally) straying in to unusable unless you pay.

"Perhaps unintentionally" feels a little bit mean-spirited.

There is absolutely no intention to make site so painful to use that people either give up or become a patron. That would be stupid.

Whilst I'm massively appreciative to the group of people who directly financially support the site, the vast majority either can't or don't want to which, of course, ia absolutely fine.

I can't remember the last time I made a change to any of the ad setup on here - I'd guess at six months or more. But it's quite possible that NSC's ad partner has made changes which impact certain user setups.

I use the site with ads on 100% of the time, both on mobile and desktop - I think it's important that I have the same experience as the 99% of NSCers. However, whilst I occasionally use Chrome on desktop, and I've not noticed any issues, I exclusively use Safari on my phone, and I never pick up the iPad.

Given the issues raised, I'll use Chrome more now, particularly on my phone, to see if I experience the same and then seek to remedy it.

It's really not in anyone's interest for NSC to be difficult to use.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

@Bozza - from my experience, the desktop experience of NSC on chrome is fine, it is the iPad version that is unusable. Hope that helps.

 

[tstanbur]

@Bozza - from my experience, the desktop experience of NSC on chrome is fine, it is the iPad version that is unusable. Hope that helps.

Same here. I use Chrome on desktop and mobile and only have the issues on mobile.

Going to try and get a screen recording of the page refreshing but it seems to come in waves.

 

[The Clamp]

Bozza has a regular column in our Patrons newsletter mocking those who don’t pay and laughing at all their ad related woes. His “Whinger Of The Week” award always raises a chortle.

 

[tstanbur]

Bozza has a regular column in our Patrons newsletter mocking those who don’t pay and laughing at all their ad related woes. His “Whinger Of The Week” award always raises a chortle.

Sounds very similar to the “Nause of the week” award in the non-patrons newsletter!

 

[Goldstone1976]

... I view the site with full ads…

Tight git. Pay the £5 and you won’t have them.