ADs in the post themselves???

[chimpmunk]

We're being overrun by ads or what?

This is pretty annoying...

 

[Neutrino]

I know, I posted about it here: http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1008726#post1008726

I'd much rather have the old ads back than this. :x

 

[chimpmunk]

Ok, yeah, it sucks.

 

[Chris D]

All of the ads will be returning.

With regards to the text links, is it because they stand out so much?

 

[chimpmunk]

it's because when you pass your cursor on it, it pops out a little window, and they are too distracting IMHO.

 

[diluted]

I dunno, it's just kind of lame that people's posts unwillingly turn into advertisements. I've never noticed that on these forums but I have on other ones. At first I thought I had some spyware or something.

 

[Neutrino]

All of the ads will be returning.

With regards to the text links, is it because they stand out so much?

It's more the principle of the thing. I don't want what I personally write turning into a commercial ad. Those are my own thoughts and opinions. To turn my own words into an ad is a whole new level to the invasiveness of internet advertising.

 

[Chris D]

They've been pulled for now.

 

[Neutrino]

They've been pulled for now.

Phew

Oh and please don't take what I said the wrong way. I fully understand that this site costs money and that you need advertising to fund it. I can certainly respect that. This just really rubbed me the wrong way I guess.

 

[Maxi]

Imo they would be less annoying, but not yet ok, if they wouldn't be underlined, and if they wouldn't be green, of all colors.

 

[chimpmunk]

True...

 

[Wraithen]

It'll only end in bad spelling to stop the damn adds.

 

[Baal]

Thank god they're gone, and thank god it wasn't me, it was the site....it scared me because I thought I had spyware.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Make huge popups, surround the forum border with ads, redirect to a 10-second ad page before you reach the forums, but please let the posts themselves stay intact, like Neutrino said I don't think anyone here would like their posts to become tools of commercialism.

 

[f|uke]

With regards to the text links, is it because they stand out so much?

They dont stand out as much as they blend in with the old blue forums theme. dark green on dark grey is very hard to read. The links need to be nearly the same color as the rest of the text.

 

[Neutrino]

Argh, it's back. :angry:

 

[Dedalus]

yeah, what's with this new capitalist trickery?

the top and side banners were acceptable, but this just seems a bit too far. they're not even useful.

 

[Neutrino]

It's also lagging the site. There's a distinct pause when it goes from loading halflife2.net to loading vibrantmedia.com. Then after everything is loaded it still says, "Transferring data from www.vibrantmedia.com

 

[oldagerocker]

Now they are grey... sure they dont stand out, but i keep thinking that its an actual link... i go to click and its an ad. it hurts ;(
bring back the google adds and side-bar ones... please no text links.

 

[theGreenBunny]

Yup, they're annoying. I'm not allowed to tell people how to get rid of them though, apparently (post was deleted).

Why post this then you ask? Well, I guess I just enjoy whining.

 

[Wraithen]

They just plain suck, sorry, I know you have to make money somehow, but can't you just go out and pimp your relatives? At least then you'd be able to sleep at night.

Also... no one's going to intentionally click on them so what's the point?

 

[Munro]

It's 5 subtle links per forum page, is it really that bad?

 

[joule]

It's 5 subtle links per forum page, is it really that bad?

No it isn't.

I much prefer this over those damn banner ads.

 

[Neutrino]

It's 5 subtle links per forum page, is it really that bad?

Honestly, yes. I'd rather have 10 popups on the site than this.

 

[Wraithen]

Honestly, yes. I'd rather have 10 popups on the site than this.

me too popups can be easily blocked.

PS: they're about as subtle as brick meets face.

 

[OCybrManO]

I heart Firefox...

... and, especially, that Adblock extension. Just adding a filter of *vibrantmedia* (don't forget the wildcard characters) gets rid of them. It can do those and pretty much everything else I've encountered (and without messing up the look of the page). Seriously, I'd like to help you guys out... but I really hate those in-post ads.

 

[MiccyNarc]

I heart Firefox...

... and, especially, that Adblock extension. Just adding a filter of *vibrantmedia* (don't forget the wildcard characters) gets rid of them. It can do those and pretty much everything else I've encountered (and without messing up the look of the page). Seriously, I'd like to help you guys out... but I really hate those in-post ads.

Thanks

 

[Sui]

damnit this is REALLY getting on my nerves, i just posted two sentences in a previous post, and in those two sentences were 3 links!! i might not mind if they werent higlighted gray, but the annoying thing is i cant tell which are adverts and which are links people have put into words. its SO DAMN ANNOYING!!! i preffered it when they were bright green, honestly!

on a side note, consoles are really cool. my favorites are the Gamecube and the great PS2. and of course the Xbox. soon im going to go out and nuy GTA, followed by Halo.

^^^look at the links!!!

 

[CrazyHarij]

It's 5 subtle links per forum page, is it really that bad?

Yes.. Please, use the website and forum for commercial gain, fill it up with banners and popups, just don't do this to our own personal texts and posts. It just feels like I'm a tool of companies to advertise with when writing..

 

[Dougy]

That is one of the gayest ploys for money ive ever seen.

plenty other sites get enough money through less annoying methods...

why go out of your way to slap your forum goers in the face with pointless crap that nobody clicks anyway.

 

[blahblahblah]

Yes.. Please, use the website and forum for commercial gain, fill it up with banners and posters, just don't do this to our own personal texts and posts. It just feels like I'm a tool of companies to advertise with when writing..

Devil's Advocate.

Suggestions on how to pay for this site and other maintenance costs? People complained about the banner ads. And pop-up ads float as well as a lead ballon.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Devil's Advocate.

Suggestions on how to pay for this site and other maintenance costs? People complained about the banner ads. And pop-up ads float as well as a lead ballon.

Perhaps ask for donations, put up a small paypal donation service?

Banners are perfectly okay since there's been banners for quite a while and people haven't complained except when they've taken over half the page through some placement bug, they just need to keep it not to the extreme.

Yes, I am aware of that running this site must be a very expensive business, but you can come up with good advertisement ideas without having to take advantage of people's posts.

I'd say having an advertisement like the Gamespy network and IGN has, with being redirected to a page before you can access some of the sites pages. Perhaps do that when one is trying to reach the forums? It would probably be benificial.

All types of advertisement are and will always be invasion of privacy, it's just a matter of choosing between the lesser evils or the more beneficial ones.. And don't spend the money you recieve on "free stuff for the staff", christ, you're running a fansite, not a vast gaming network..

Perhaps you should look for sponsors or affiliates which will pay you, and you could link to them in the link section to the left?

I don't know really, I don't work at an advertisement agency, just try to figure something out instead of this..

 

[Letters]

I heart Firefox...

... and, especially, that Adblock extension. Just adding a filter of *vibrantmedia* (don't forget the wildcard characters) gets rid of them. It can do those and pretty much everything else I've encountered (and without messing up the look of the page). Seriously, I'd like to help you guys out... but I really hate those in-post ads.

THANK YOU for mentioning that! Those were so incredibly dumb... now I'm just going to block everything on this site that isn't from hl2.net itself!

 

[Moto]

Playstation 2

Half-Life

Pepsi

:E

Lol my signature advertises Ha-lo! Cool, I'm unwillingly advertising a game that I hate.

 

[Parasite]

It's 5 subtle links per forum page, is it really that bad?

Yes they are....and probably worse. Its like taking my words, twisting thier meaning to fit someone elses agenda and forcing me to endorse thier product (Obviously exaggerated a little, but you see the point). It will just lead to intentional mis-spellings and blocked ads wich means they wont even end up serving the purpose they were intended. I can deal with banners, theres no way to make ads un-obtrusive. But these things are a violation of principle.

 

[Letters]

Well, after blocking all that shit, I'm happy to say I have my quick loading times back... that's pretty bad... get some places that can actually host their own advertisements on here... wow...

 

[Wraithen]

If you're gonna use my post to make money, then I should get some too!

 

[-=jt=-]

If you're gonna use my post to make money, then I should get some too!

:cheers: gimmie some money!

 

[Sui]

yay, they are gone! after much complaining we finally deprived munro of a secure way of getting money!

...hmmm... now i put it that way...

*edit* WHAT THE HELL? now theyre back? or are they... have they just been disabled in this forum or something? im very confused.

*note: to get money you could always make a subscriber mode. pay £5 or something, and get all ads disabled, and you are allowed to have a 100X100 avatar, as well as having your name shown in gold with a HL symbol next to it. sounds sad, but i would actually pay £5 to have that

 

[CrazyHarij]

These advertisements are gay, we should all just stop posting and munro will see how well it is working..