Changes to Advertising on the site

Hotblack Desiato · 12-05-2022 4:32pm

We are the beta testers. Wish I was joking but I'm not.

12-05-2022 10:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052430#Comment_119052430

They still haven't fixed the time. This a relatively simple thing to adjust in Vanilla and I can only surmise that fixing the time has broken something on the dev environment if they haven't fixed it yet. Though I guess it will sort it self out next daylight savings so why commit resources to it right?

Tork · 13-05-2022 1:26pm

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it already but the scrolling ad that appears near the bottom of the page is far more intrusive than any of the others. When I read down through a page, my finger catches the ad and I end up having to scroll through that.

JayRoc · 13-05-2022 2:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119057085#Comment_119057085

That's the point of the ad, unfortunately

Tork · 13-05-2022 2:16pm

As if it was hard to miss in the first place.

RobertFoster · 13-05-2022 3:30pm

Based on Tork's screenshot 😬

Hotblack Desiato · 13-05-2022 4:36pm

Is it any wonder people block ads? I don't use Boards on mobile but that screenshot is shocking.

Hodors Applecart · 14-05-2022 7:02am

Yet another shocking implementation of something by the jokers who run this dying platform.

boards practically impossible to read on mobile due to the ads jumping the text every few moments.

hinestly guys just kill the site. It’s a sad and pale shadow of its former self.

dulpit · 14-05-2022 7:39am

I'm not mad about the double gambling ads either... This is on a browser with no cookies stored (other than from me signing in), so this is default behaviour. I get you need to make money, but gambling is a poison on so much of society...

sam t smith · 14-05-2022 9:44am

Ahh yea, the gambling adverts are a strange one. nothing against gambling sensibly, but I don’t gamble and I have never knowingly visited a gambling website in my life but all the adverts I am seeing on here are gambling adverts.

Leo vegas or some similar muck.

Not cool.

Hotblack Desiato · 14-05-2022 11:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119059628#Comment_119059628

What they should do and I really hope they do is just hand the site over to the community, who would make a much better job of it tbh. Certainly couldn't do any worse.

handlemaster · 15-05-2022 8:08am

Ad blocker check

dulpit · 15-05-2022 3:04pm

Site is particularly bouncy today, threads and my bookmarks can't decide where I should be viewing and jump up and down like mad.

Irritating isn't the word...

handlemaster · 15-05-2022 8:00pm

Same ad keeps popping up. Even though I flag as not interested. Annoying. One thing to try and something its just bad business to keep showing the same ad when its been highlighted as not interesting for the viewer.

_Kaiser_ · 16-05-2022 8:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119057950#Comment_119057950

AdGuard if on Android. Blocks everything. I never see ads. Get it from their site rather than the Store

I wouldn't have as much of an issue if the ads were less disruptive but it seems that the focus from the owners is to increase their ad revenue rather than fix the product (the site), so.... and yes I know the argument of 'no revenue, no site' but that - like everything else it seems - should have been considered BEFORE they threw the switch on the 'upgrade'!

blue5000 · 18-05-2022 7:54am

Our regulars are pissed off with the way ads are interfering with their user experience. Have a look on farming and forestry chit chat thread. Is there anything that can be done to improve this?

Hodors Applecart · 19-05-2022 7:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119079135#Comment_119079135

No. The losers in The Pear Tree house are fiddling while Rome burns. They have destroyed this platform since the absolute joke of an “upgrade”. The entire site is a barely useable mess.

22-05-2022 3:39pm

It's become apparent to me. More so recently that boards has a demographic problem. The site appears to be populated by people who are predominantly middle-aged and there seems to be a very obvious right wing bias in discussions, especially when it comes to those on social welfare or for example those renting or in council housing.

Reddit for all this flaws does tend to trend with a younger audience. So although you do get some right-wing views, especially in the Ireland subreddit it's not nearly as pronounced as here.

And I guess the poor layout doesn't really help either. Sadly, I feel by this stage boards is beyond saving in its current format.

23-05-2022 4:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119097981#Comment_119097981

If the board represents its users, why is that a problem?

But as usual, this is posters not being able to actually guage what's happening on the site. I've seen people ranting about right-wing posts saying X, Y, and Z, and when I went through the first 160 posts in the thread mentioned, only two were right-wing.

Those threads are dominated by a couple of posters on one side arguing against the masses on the other. Because you are stuck reading pages of the same argument over and over, you're left with the incorrect impression that the whole site is right-wing.

jem · 31-05-2022 9:23am

Sorry had to download adblocker today. The adverts on the bottom of the page on desktop was so big that when I went to my bookmarks I could only see 1. I know you want revenue but there is a time that doing this sort of thing is actually counter productive

Boards.ie: Niamh · 31-05-2022 2:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119138522#Comment_119138522

Could you re-enable just to send me a screenshot of that please @jem ? Just so we can see if there is anything out of place or that needs to be moved or resized. I'd really apprecaite it, thanks.

Seve OB · 31-05-2022 4:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119140325#Comment_119140325

Any chance you can take a look at the bouncing while you are at it?

Inviere · 31-05-2022 6:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119140946#Comment_119140946

Any time I pasted text into a new discussion post today, the page zipped hack to the top. Incredibly annoying.

Boards.ie: Niamh · 01-06-2022 9:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119140946#Comment_119140946

It is being looked at (not by me!)

dulpit · 02-06-2022 2:18am

Lads, the advert to content ratio is getting ridiculous now...

Boards.ie: Niamh · 02-06-2022 9:49am

Oh that size ad should not be coming up on mobile @dulpit - can you let me know what browser and OS you are using ( not sure if it will be relevant but I will be passing this on) thanks.

thesandeman · 02-06-2022 11:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119148244#Comment_119148244

Really??

Screenshot_2022-06-02-12-26-17-890_com.android.chrome.jpg

Screenshot_2022-06-02-12-25-47-323_com.android.chrome.jpg

Chrome Android 11 here.

dulpit · 02-06-2022 3:15pm

Chrome on android 13 beta here.

rliston · 02-06-2022 3:26pm

Getting the same size ads here, Chrome Android 10

JayRoc · 02-06-2022 5:30pm

Chrome on android

DoctorEdgeWild · 02-06-2022 6:25pm

Same for me, full page ad, Chrome, Android.

tabby aspreme · 02-06-2022 9:30pm

Getting this too, Android 11, Chrome

thesandeman · 02-06-2022 9:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119151440#Comment_119151440

At least you're getting language lessons 🙄

Esel · 02-06-2022 9:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119151503#Comment_119151503

¿Qué? Is from Barcelona!

Shield · 03-06-2022 10:33am

These ads have to be random. Lucy, 23, from Essex found my profile online and spent last night lonely without me.

Poor Lucy.

OU812 · 03-06-2022 12:43pm

Safari. iOS 15.5

absolutely unusable

Notmything · 03-06-2022 3:26pm

Screenshot_20220603_162341_com.android.chrome.jpg

Same ad, full screen showing twice on every page.

Using Chrome on Android 11.

04-06-2022 2:30am

I don't know why people are posting their browsers as if there is a technical issue. The ads are displaying as intended.

thesandeman · 04-06-2022 4:19am

Are you sure?

Maybe you should explain to @Boards.ie: Niamh how Boards works.

Screenshot_2022-06-04-04-40-44-008_com.android.chrome.jpg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156417#Comment_119156417

04-06-2022 9:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156441#Comment_119156441

There are only minimum heights of 250 pixels set for the large ads on mobile. If they added maximum heights, maybe it would fix it. While it might be a mistake, it isn't a rendering issue in browsers that needs to be narrowed down. That's all I meant. With the current implementation, the ads are working as they should.

As for the unnecessary comment, I have actually been doing that. I found a major bug with ads earlier in this thread, and I discovered how to use Search properly which Niamh linked to in the user guide. I will continue to post things I find in these threads.

Timdar527 · 04-06-2022 12:46pm

All I can say is thanks to the Boards staff for making a site unusable, takes skill to be this useless

Dempo1 · 04-06-2022 3:18pm

I'm not one to complain generally about the new platform, actually like it but my god, adverts are becoming unbearable. Whilst a separate issue, Betting Adverts, not something I want to be confronted with my face and whatever is going on, these enormous adverts designed to click bait, almost impossible to avoid clicking on them when scrolling on mobile site (Android 11)

Screenshot_20220604_161404_com.android.chrome.jpg

05-06-2022 5:00am

boards.ie are paying Vanilla for the site and another company, Snigel, to deliver ads. These ads have only gotten bigger since using Snigel, and I doubt it's a mistake. It could be a mistake, but really, if you're paying a dedicated ads company to serve Google ads more effectively, there shouldn't be mistakes.

HBC08 · 06-06-2022 8:01am

Full page ads for me aswell using chrome on Android.

I never used an ad blocker before but will have to see what it is and what it involves as I want to continue to use boards,not a runner with this ad situation.

06-06-2022 8:19am

This is a great free ad blocker been working well for me, it's also available on the Google play but this version direct from the website has more features.

https://blokada.org/