I remember that conversation but would have put the discussion before Covid (but my time perception is wonky).
I think moving the ad to the right was somewhat helpful, but the videos aren’t staying closed out for me, and now they are blocking my ability to scroll.
Having more than one ad at a time on the screen is a major hinderance to navigating the forum.
And especially on the phone, it’s so small, trying to hit the x to close it end up opening it . And yesterday ifninignored the videos they spontaneously opened and started playing sound. Spooked me!
Yes - auto-playing videos with sounds is a huge no-no!
I think this discussion in May
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/limited-programatic-ad-plan/3638008/4
Just popping in to say that I’m still using Edge for the sole purpose of viewing CC and it has been ad-free. I use Chrome for everything else. Maybe I shouldn’t point this out because the ads will come to Edge as well?
I personally configure an ad-blocker on one of my browsers (Firefox) for sites I find have too many ads. I use my non-ad-blocker browser (Chrome) for CC because I need to monitor the ads here. I think it’s a valid choice to use technology to block ads.
Agreed. We can encourage members to use ad-blockers, but it won’t solve the bigger problem of ads being a turn-off to visitors who won’t be using an ad-blocker. In the past we’ve turned down ads for long-term members, which is still a possibility. But that has the same potential problem.
I don’t have an update just yet, but we are working through some potential solutions.
I fear that video ads (particularly to the obnoxious extent that currently exists) is not a sustainable option for the site.
I am not home but pretty sure they were popping up on edge for me. I use edge or chrome.
I’m going to guess a very low click-through rate on the ads. They usually have NOTHING to do with things I buy, search for, read, am interested in. At least Politico and the like seem to have an understanding of my buying patterns/demographic! (but they are strictly popups, no video).
It’s been pretty much constant on my phone. Every time I click on a different thread, another video ad pops up. Sometimes it happens if I just scroll down a thread!
@Hippobirdy no that’s not the one. The discussion I recall happened…maybe even precovid. It was well over a year ago anyway.
@Hippobirdy this is the thread I remember. It was a couple of years ago. If you read, you can see they said it was because I wasn’t logged in. Lots of screen shots.
So…this isn’t the first rodeo with these ad problems.
And here are more. Clearly…not a new issue…:
No - that‘s just kicking the bucket down the road.
The solution cannot be to impose on end-users the responsibility/risk of downloading and installing third party software to fix an unacceptably intrusive ad placement.
The problem has to be solved at the source (= the site design/layout).
Besides, you do NOT want everyone to be able to block all ads, because that would rob the site of the needed/deserved revenue stream. No, the answer is to incorporate ads in margins, so that don‘t require THREE actions on every page switch (one action to bring up the page, then two clicks to close all the ad overlays.)
I am running ad blockers but they don’t work in this site.
I’m not having any problems on my laptop or iPad. I never use my phone.
Me either. I have zero ads. And I don’t use an adblocker. I wish I knew why…because others could benefit.
I’m troubled by this ad issue for those having it…because as noted above…this has happened a few times (at least) before. The screen shots on the threads I linked look quite a bit like the current ones.
And most important…what made this change recently again for the worse?
What percentage of users does CC expect will install adblockers to read the CC site?
As pointed out above, this ad issue isn’t new. CC has had a problem with ads on the site for quite a while. The problem might go away for a while, but then it appears again. There seems to be an ongoing problem with whatever company is doing the ads for CC. The users are the ones who don’t seem to matter.
And, whatever CC thinks, they have to realize that the only people who post on these Community Forum Issues threads are the adults. The students don’t know about this part of the site, and quite frankly don’t care. They use CC for what they need from it, for when they need anything from it. And then they move on. If CC is difficult/annoying to use, they will desert CC.
The more things change, the more they same. I figure CC doesn’t really care.
