The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

Discussion in 'Frontpage news' started by Hilbert Hagedoorn, Oct 29, 2015.

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  1. SoloCreep

    SoloCreep Guest

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    Not a problem for me and I apologize about that Hilbert. I never really gave it any thought. It's just one of those things you install and forget about. Your domain is now unblocked.
     
  2. KissSh0t

    KissSh0t Ancient Guru

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    I disabled for guru3d... the only difference I see is buttons for facebook now.
     
  3. Foxydfc

    Foxydfc Guest

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    Done - No question. Love this site its the first site i visit every night.
     
  4. deets75

    deets75 Guest

    done as well :) just dont trust many sites so have it turned on by default.
     

  5. kado

    kado Member

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    White listed!
     
  6. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Everyone should white list the legit sites they regularly visit. Ads are important for sites like these (heck, any site). It's basically the only way they get revenue.
     
  7. Solfaur

    Solfaur Ancient Guru

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    I disabled AdBlock for guru3d as well, never knew it would hurt you so bad Hilbert, I would have done it sooner otherwise.
     
  8. StewieTech

    StewieTech Chuck Norris

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    I stoped using adblock maybe a year ago and its not that bad. The only things that annoy me are popups mainly on shady websites and porn, some ****y sites that start playing a video with sound when i enter the page, and wainting 5 seconds to skip an add before a youtube video; other than that it´s not so bad so we should really start thinking of choosing the lesser poison. I´m also all in for a subscription system for us regulars.
     
  9. Twiddles

    Twiddles Maha Guru

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    Aye, not the only one. I'm sure a lot of people won't mind. Something like Tweakers.net does, basic subscription meaning a banner/ad free site. And some kind of plus subscription where you get some small advantages like custom CSS and other stuff. Did I mention the monthly chick pic that comes with the plus subscription? :D
     
  10. Ufozile

    Ufozile New Member

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    The first thing I read on this site, was an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro review, which convinced me to buy that card. That was about half my life ago, and I've been a regular reader of the site ever since!

    I've never used adblock on this site, and I feel the ads on this site is less annoying than on other sites (except for the linked words ones, but luckily they are few).

    Thanks for all the awesome work Hilbert :)
     

  11. StewieTech

    StewieTech Chuck Norris

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    Monthly chick - 10/10 would subscribe! :nerd:
     
  12. bigfutus

    bigfutus Master Guru

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    I know many people who don't even bother whitelist Youtube channels to which they are subscribed to. It's just sad.
     
  13. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    Last time I ran without an adblocker, I got hit with malware while browsing a "legit site". Not risking it again.... No site can guarantee the safety of the ads they're displaying.
     
  14. 91LudeSiT

    91LudeSiT Master Guru

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    I've whitelisted you guys, I think you're one of the most useful gamer focused review sites out there.

    My only concern with advertising comes from being on a bandwidth limited data plan which is unfortunately the norm with internet providers in the good ole US of A.
     
  15. AntiSnipe

    AntiSnipe Master Guru

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    I am sorry to say it, but...

    Bingo! This is why I always run my browser blocking anything and everything I possibly can and will not stop for anyone, anywhere. Every time I hear the "we only serve safe ads" stuff I cringe. You NEVER know and can't control what the ad servers are going to decide to stick up there and even the safest, most well intentioned sights I know of occasionally serve up some garbage.

    The tracking and ad fetching never stops with just the sight you are visiting. Java script (google.com) begets java script (adsRus.com) begets java (weHijack.u)...and on (yahooapis.com) and on (f***russianbabes.ru) until you have 100s ad servers and whatever tracking and loading cookies all over the place...and you thought you were just visiting Guru3d.

    Also intellitext "fake links" are just annoying as all f***ing Hell! If it were not for ad blocking, I would not even use the internet anymore...seriously. Every now and then I turn off all the blocking just to see what I am "missing" and it never takes more than a few clicks to be bombarded with nonsense popups about "your pc is infected, click here to fix it" and page redirects (hijacking) to crap I did not click on, etc, etc, etc. to the point of doing nothing but sitting there in mortal combat with ads and hijack, malware attempts and not browsing anything I intended. Then there are g** d***ed annoying auto playing video ads that come on late at night at 199% volume with no mute, stop, pause controls.

    On and on and on. I just can not remove the condom, sorry.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2015

  16. Demrock

    Demrock Guest

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    Forgot to whitelist this awesome site and please have a donation system or subscription option to kep this site alive and kicking.

    I would gladly donate some money so you guys can keep up the good work.
     
  17. waltc3

    waltc3 Maha Guru

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    Well, some sites get paid fees for simply running a network banner ad on their site which 3rd-party companies maintain and populate--they handle the work and revenue relative to the click-through income--while the owner of the site does nothing except cash his regular checks. Then there are donations & subscription fees that may or may not apply to G3d--I don't know, but I do know that some sites receive both subscription fees and donations. Then there are the manufacturers of the products advertised here--the products are sometimes announced here and then later, if and when the product materializes in a marketable form, the products are reviewed here. That's worth a lot of money to companies--reaching a captive audience--but the hows and whereofs are privately handled between the site owner & the companies involved. That's perfectly normal and how it should be.

    Also, how would someone know that Hilbert wasn't independently wealthy and just doing this as sort of a hobby-career unless Hilbert tells him...?...;)

    In summary, how would a person visiting the site know that HH was disappointed in some way as to the revenue his site is producing unless HH informs him? Well, you can't assume something like that or "know it" intuitively. It's the kind of knowledge that requires input from the site owner. HH provided that input today, and so I'll honor his wishes, of course. The information this site provides me gratis is worth its weigh in unobtainium...:)

    When I was in the Navy long aeons ago, they had a saying which has stuck with me my entire life. You've no doubt heard it yourself, but it goes something like: When you assume, you make an ass out of U and me. So I make it a point to not assume such things as how much a site owner makes from his site because, not owning the site myself, I have no idea unless he tells me. Once he tells me then the ball is in my court.

    HH is doing a great job--as always--and if I had been a steady reader the last time he mentioned this I'd already know it--but for some reason I still am not sure of--I didn't become actively engaged on a daily basis until this year--even though I have been around, like, forever...;) Readership tends to fluctuate, and it wouldn't bother me at all if HH detected ad blockers and immediately asked that they be turned off--I'd like to see him do that, now that I know the situation. Another old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of...", what?...

    There's one major PC-gaming oriented hardware site that is proactive about ad-blockers...I'll not mention the site by name but likely everyone here knows it as it's been around almost as long as I have. If HH wants to follow suit it is A-OK with me...!
     
  18. haz_mat

    haz_mat Guest

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    HH, I am very glad you are talking about this now - we need some serious discussion on this issue.

    I get it - we need ads to sell products to help sponsor our web content. But I cant bear it when these ads interrupt and distract me from the content I'm trying to consume. Its like a flashy billboard that causes a couple of car crashes every week. Except in this case its only derailing my train of thought.

    But the worst of it, and this is what made me disable ads on this site in particular - is this "AdChoices" ad service. Random words in someones post are turned into links to some ad search crap. This is absurd - I shouldn't have to weed out the fake links when someone might actually be posting a real link. And if you accidentally hover over one of these, a completely unrelated popup window appears and will not go away until you click to close it (or apparently a 5-second timer?). If you don't know exactly what I'm talking about here is an example from just a few posts above and how it shows up in my browser: Yes, this is the real link.

    You gotta admit this is just ridiculous. You wouldn't do this with your own articles so why do this to us on the forums? EDIT: Actually I just checked, and even your articles are spammed with those links - no wonder people are using adblock, it makes nice and cleanly formatted content look like garbage.

    I just want to see site owners better scrutinize their ads. Letting some service spam whatever they want using you as their proxy is not showing your readers you care what they see on your site. Yeah, you get them targeting computer related stuff, but the proof is in the pudding here - clearly we have issues with the overall trend of online ads and blocking everything is often the easiest solution to get an acceptable presentation.

    My best-case solution would require more up-front work picking the ads that will be shown. Animated stuff should be kept to a minimum, and those in-post fake link ads need to be history. I don't know your finances, but I for one will give you the bandwidth if you can address this. I've got adblock switched off for guru3d for now, I want you to continue your success. But I do this to give you a chance to change up how you do things.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2015
  19. EspHack

    EspHack Ancient Guru

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    ads here are just more gaming hardware now that I tried disabling ABP, still, I'd rather pay a subscription but I'm certain that will kill this site in the long run, maybe an optional ad-free membership?
     
  20. SuperAverage

    SuperAverage Guest

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    My bad. White listed.
     
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