Please ATS Members and Non-Members alike, STOP Blocking Ads- Or there may be NO ATS at ALL

Been a lurker for a very long time(I think I used WEBTV to visit this site)and I love it.So when I saw the donation sign at the top of the page,I did.My 2 cents.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

We receive some donations from our users, but our main source of revenue comes as part of the Acceptable Ads initiative. Larger entities pay a licensing fee for the whitelisting services requested and provided to them (90% of the licences are granted for free, to smaller entities). It should be noted that the Acceptable Ads criteria must be met independent of the consideration for payments. If the criteria are not met, whitelisting is impossible.

Here are some details regarding the fees:
Only large entities have to pay. We qualify an entity as large when it gains more than 10 million additional ad impressions per month due to participation in the Acceptable Ads initiative.
For these entities, our licensing fee normally represents 30 percent of the additional revenue created by whitelisting its acceptable ads.

Managing the Acceptable Ads initiative requires significant effort on our side including, but not limited to, ongoing review and monitoring of the individual whitelisted ads, counseling participants and technical support. These services cannot be completely taken over by volunteers nor be sponsored through donations, as may be the case with commonly used filter lists. Therefore, a few very large entities who take part in the Acceptable Ads initiative compensate Eyeo for its services. Eyeo's services are provided free of charge to all other participants (roughly 90%).

It seems they, like you, want to be paid for the work they do.

30% does seem a rather high percentage though just for saying "yeah, you're clean"

The adblock project itself though is opensource just not this whitelist

I'm curious, are you refusing to pay the 30% out of profits that being on a whitelist would bring out of principle or because you honestly cannot afford it ?

In my opinion and clearly in the opinion of other users this thread has not in any way helped the situation, rather it stirred more an already boiling pot.

It is sad though, because being at each others throats isn't what the majority want. SO has stated what he thinks of adblocking and after reading the facts I agree, these adblock companies are, or seem to be holding websites to ransom.

Sadly, by not being clear enough about the culpability he feels WE the users have, some people, myself included feel somehow guilty by association, as if we were knowingly trying to take money from the site.

I know I for one would not want to do that, not only because I actually love this site, but also because personally I simply am not like that.

I am sure many others feel the same way and the frustration builds and builds.

I turned off adblock a long time ago, if all it takes to get this place back to how it was is turning off adblock then SO should promise to make the ads safe (I personally have never encountered malware but some apparently have) and back to where we were.

The rest, private forums and such are irrelevant really.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

I have always viewed Ats on my phone or my tablet. And up until reading this particular post I have never seen an ad.

But now that the ads have been ramped up all of a sudden I have trouble even seeing a single topic. Seriously just now I was redirected off of Ats through three different as generating sites, just received 11 email ads, and it took me a great number of hits on my return button just to get back to this page.

Honestly try looking at Ats on your cell phone right now. I have no ad blocker installed on my phone. None.

It directed me to two different ad generating sites. It redirected my phones browser 4 times.

I seriously wish I could record how hard it really is to view this on my phone right now. This is super ridiculous.

I had no trouble with the ads before where it would display them in the forum posts. But now it makes it a real hard chore just to view this site.

I dare you to view this on your phone for at least a half hour. I can't even read halfway through the op before I suddenly get redirected to 3 different as generating hyperlinks. They also do not open in New tabs which is super annoying!

Please fix the site for us mobile users....

I was in the middle of trying to post up in another forum answering someone's question about the wonder bubble kits and suddenly the damn ad generating links popped on, redirecting my phone whilst deleting everything I wrote.

That is my biggest complaint about this site for today. It just happened.

a reply to: GiulXainx

I view ATS 95% of the time from my phone and have never had any issues that you mentioned?

I'm logged in though, that might make a difference?

originally posted by: elysiumfire
Maybe, the site has run its course. Its first five years were probably its best, but now, it is nothing more than a caricature of a cartoon, inhabited by lots of loony tunes.

Actually there is more intelligence on here than most other places
i visit..

Speak for your self SNIP

a reply to: KawRider9

Yes, logging in makes a big difference. I don't understand why every member doesn't log in???

originally posted by: GiulXainx
a reply to: TrueAmerican

I have always viewed Ats on my phone or my tablet. And up until reading this particular post I have never seen an ad.

But now that the ads have been ramped up all of a sudden I have trouble even seeing a single topic. Seriously just now I was redirected off of Ats through three different as generating sites, just received 11 email ads, and it took me a great number of hits on my return button just to get back to this page.

Honestly try looking at Ats on your cell phone right now. I have no ad blocker installed on my phone. None.

It directed me to two different ad generating sites. It redirected my phones browser 4 times.


I seriously wish I could record how hard it really is to view this on my phone right now. This is super ridiculous.

I had no trouble with the ads before where it would display them in the forum posts. But now it makes it a real hard chore just to view this site.

I dare you to view this on your phone for at least a half hour. I can't even read halfway through the op before I suddenly get redirected to 3 different as generating hyperlinks. They also do not open in New tabs which is super annoying!

Please fix the site for us mobile users....

I was in the middle of trying to post up in another forum answering someone's question about the wonder bubble kits and suddenly the damn ad generating links popped on, redirecting my phone whilst deleting everything I wrote.

That is my biggest complaint about this site for today. It just happened.

That is your ISP. I have tested this every time someone has noted a crazy amount of ads or any redirects while viewing ATS on mobile.

I just picked up my phone, and went on ATS logged in and logged out on both WiFi (Verizon) and 4g (AT&T). I got some embedded static ads and one at the bottom that could be closed via tapping the X, it nwas for Uber. No redirects. I have no blocker on my phone of any kind.

Previous posts have shown that ISPs in certain markets are heavy on the mobile ads at times.

I'm not disabling my ad blocker. Having occasionally lurked here now and then for years, I can say with full confidence that this is not a site which I hold in high enough esteem to feel inclined to want to support or to care about the future of. ATS is, at best, a mildly entertaining way to waste a few minutes of time here and there just to amuse one's self with the laughable ridiculousness that is common place here. At worst, it's an obnoxious little corner of the web where laughable ideas like 'Jesus was the Anti-Christ' are actually seriously discussed... a place where the demand for 'Civility and Decorum' has perpetually been shoved down people's throats to such an obnoxious extent that it would be an injustice not to have those words engraved on the owners' headstones -- "He Was a Champion of Civility and Decorum!" Truthfully, if the site were to ultimately close, there is no question that I would find it not only hilarious but also just desserts for all of the people that this site has unabashedly shamed and degraded over the years.

I just wanted to add or reiterate that most don't have an issue with the ads, it's what's in those ads that's the potential problem. A huge problem is created when your have 3rd parties that have access to your website with the ability to serve whatever ad up to the users browser.

There have been issues with ads in the past, and to give credit to S.O., they've been dealt with in a timely manner. With that being said it's still really easy to serve up a sketchy ad when a third party is controlling the content and the means in which to deliver it.

No one wants a huge computer issue created from merely viewing/clicking an ad. ATS is far from alone in this regard, but the concern still remains about what is actually being "delivered" in the ads.

i dont block ads- i try to be always logged in and this site is very much worth it.
i post little but visit this site every day...every few hours and read as much as possible.

originally posted by: Discotech
It seems they, like you, want to be paid for the work they do.

30% does seem a rather high percentage though just for saying "yeah, you're clean"

The adblock project itself though is opensource just not this whitelist

I'm curious, are you refusing to pay the 30% out of profits that being on a whitelist would bring out of principle or because you honestly cannot afford it ?

I find those numbers interesting because it so closely resembles PC game manufacturers which I know a little bit about. PC games face very high piracy rates, always above 90%, usually closer to 98%, and then for the ones that do pay for the game the marketplaces that offer the games like Steam take a 30% cut. I'm not quite sure what lessons for success can be transferred but I find it interesting that the numbers are so similar.

originally posted by: caterpillage
Good god, with all the reaction around here about this you'd think SO asked everybody to sign their house over to him, all over please turn Adblock off while using the site so they get ad money.

It's a well put together site that is easy to navigate. Glance at a dam add now and then people, he even said clicking on them isn't even necessary.

I can't help but laugh at them. Bunch of Drama Queens!

P.S. I think it was nice of you to make this thread, True.

originally posted by: PublicOpinion
a reply to: DupontDeux

Nobody called you a criminal, you just shot the messenger.

But the good thing is, they won't call you a criminal for frequently surfin this site, you're probably already labled a terrorist. We climb the latter faster on ATS, wanna bet?

That really offends me.

Yeah. Let's blaim the 3 ATS amigos for this debacle and SO in particular for friendly explaining the context and starting a discussion about donations yesterday.

Whooray, bombs away!

I can totally see why you respond this way, because you can't see it from the quote, but the not-too-harsh-part was about it not being too harsh to call adblock users criminals. Also you cannot see it from the post you reply to, but I do not blame SO & CO for raising the issue - if anything I defend it. And I support a subscription model.

Cheers.

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: KawRider9

Yes, logging in makes a big difference. I don't understand why every member doesn't log in???

I tried not logging in once. Once.

originally posted by: angeldoll

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: KawRider9

Yes, logging in makes a big difference. I don't understand why every member doesn't log in???

I tried not logging in once. Once.

No kidding - I stay logged in, and occasionally I'll get kicked out for some reason. I can really tell a difference.

I'm glad that it's not a comercial break, can you imagine that you're writing a thread and a fifteen minute comercial break popped in...

I don't really think a forum is a good business model. I work my ass off running a real business, and I couldn't even dream of making 20k - 50k a month... especially from a website that sits here and does nothing. This is if they plan to go with their subscription based model.

Sorry to seem rude, but I highly doubt once the code is created that this website is very labor intensive. Its a forum.. there are thousands that operate freely.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

lol how would be blocking an ad and not actually buying anything from the ad make any difference?

1 - I will never buy anything, ever, from a web based ad I see online. I don't even look at them. Once my brain recognizes it as an ad, it's instantly ignored.

2 - Not blocking an ad will not make money for this website just like blocking an ad will not take away money from this website.

Do you even know how web based ads work? They require clicks.

originally posted by: StallionDuck
a reply to: TrueAmerican

lol how would be blocking an ad and not actually buying anything from the ad make any difference?

1 - I will never buy anything, ever, from a web based ad I see online. I don't even look at them. Once my brain recognizes it as an ad, it's instantly ignored.

2 - Not blocking an ad will not make money for this website just like blocking an ad will not take away money from this website.

Do you even know how web based ads work? They require clicks.

Ad's aren't really about creating impulse purchases they're about getting you to identify a brand and being more likely to buy that brand because it's something you recognize when you do go to purchase something. That said, an ad pays about 0.015 cents per view these days so they're only expecting a 1 in ~667,000 hit rate between viewing and purchasing.

Also, ad's these days are viewership based, they pay if the ad is loaded not if a click is generated. Some generate more for the click, but most are simply view based.