Advertising on Railroad.net

[Jeff Smith]

I believe the "picture" ads (gum-gum?) are still on. Thoughts? The reply I received from the owner was very high on user experience. Please be constructive and I will send the comments on.

From the owner:

Make sure to notify anyone who was pissed or left that these green ads are gone. We think for the users…it was a test – it made good money – but I don’t want to make people mad…

Also from the owner:

Someone wrote

: I will hit a few ads myself and do what I can to help:

Tell them not to do it – it is against the terms of the ad networks to have people to click on ads just to try and help….

If they want to help – ask them if they have any contacts inside the major “railroad” related companies who may want to advertise directly on Railroad.net

I think he appreciates the team spirit, though.

[MEC407]

I think there's a consensus that the ads being placed on top of user-contributed photos are not cool, but if we have to choose between those and the green link ads, I think most of us would say that we could live with the photo ads, even though we don't like them. Inserting spam links into people's messages was definitely a tipping point.

This may be somewhat off-topic, but if the owners are open to suggestions from long-time members/contributors, I have one: get someone with writing/editing/journalism experience to proofread the stuff on the front page. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but seeing major grammar errors on the front page of the site surely isn't good for business or the site's money-making potential.

[charlie6017]

It kind of sounds like the owner is in love with money, and not so much with what this site represents, and why WE are here, and that's trains.

It just seems like it's a 180 degree swing from what Mike and Otto had before, and John Stewart before them. I could sense this almost from the time the new owner took over, because of the ads that quickly came after the take-over, many of which are not railroad related. I just have a hunch that it's "just the money" for this guy.

But I could be totally wrong...........I don't know.

I am certainly greatful that at least the green keyword ads are gone, and thanks for that!

Charlie

[gprimr1]

I've talked with the owner, I don't know if he's a railroad fan or not, but he does want us to be a primary resource on the internet for everything to do with trains.

[BostonUrbEx]

Okay, the banner advert at the top, I can handle.

The * occasional* random words turned into hyperlinks, I can handle.

The ads that pop up on the bottom border of forum-hosted images, I can handle.


But now, it's starting to cross a line. Ads popping out of signatures? Really? What's next? I understand the need to cover expenses and the incentive for profit, but if you're making enough to skim a little off the top right now, then please no more ads cheapening the feel of this please and making it a little annoying to browse... please...

Also, something I would rather see INSTEAD of the black box ads popping out of images and signatures... If the page displays 10 posts per page, then display an advertisement "post" every 5 posts. Anything that pops up or blocks will annoy. I'd rather have a page break which I can expect and not have to x-out something just so I can see an image or read a post.

Sincerely,
Concerned Forum User

[DutchRailnut]

Seems the new owners have crossed line of covering expenses and making a few buck to new low of getting greedy.
wonder when they make this a paid member site, cause that is next when commercial owners take over.

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

Adblock: best browser addon in the history of mankind if you're a Firefox or Chrome user. I literally didn't know there was advertising on this site until I saw the threads because I can't see a damn thing but squeaky-clean forum page. And it doesn't (in Firefox) ever overstep its bounds and block content it shouldn't. IE has much more limited options for ad control, although there are some addons for it that approximate most of Adblock's core functionality.

I know that's a dilemma when it's a site you like and it needs to make money to keep running. You can grant an exception on the blocker for any site you want. But when it starts getting invasive like popups, tacky Flash ads, and altered siggies...exercising control at your own computer takes a lot of aggravation out of it. It's kind of a necessity these days because so many sites go overboard, and of course there's no agreed-upon definition for every user of what is acceptable level of advertising. But I can attest that blissful unawareness is heavenly. I wouldn't look at client-side control as a band-aid or unsatisfying compromise. It's your browser, you're visiting the sites you want to not the sites you're told to. You have every right to control the user experience on your own computer to whatever degree you choose. Content providers can't take that away from you.

[Jeff Smith]

Seems the new owners have crossed line of covering expenses and making a few buck to new low of getting greedy.
wonder when they make this a paid member site, cause that is next when commercial owners take over.

This is my opinion only, and not that of the owners.

Really?

Yes, internet ads are annoying. I especially don't like the ones that attach to pictures. I have not seen any that attach to signatures.

I did address this issue a while back with the owner when the "word pop-ups" got a ton of complaints. He responded by removing that feature. So there is a certain sensitivity to the issue.

That said, I hardly would call the owner "greedy". I'm not privy to the details of how much he paid for the site, but he certainly has a right to recoup his investment and derive some income from his management of the site.

[scottychaos]

update on this users experience..
my opinion/tolerance of the ads in the photos grows worse all the time..not better..
I am contributing photos to a thread about CSX signal bridges:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 7&start=15

Im planning to move my future photo posts on this topic to railfan.net, only because of the ads in the photos..

In another recent post:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 28&t=92972

I purposly inserted only tiny thumbnails..so there wouldnt be an ad in every single one of my photos..
(they arent added to very small photos)
this greatly decreases user experience, because people cant see and enjoy the full-size photos..

I am seriously considering leaving railroad.net alltogether because of this issue alone..
it really ruins the user experience for me..
there is an adblock addon for firefox, which helps, but I also access RR.net on computers running IE, and I cant add ad blockers to them.

Putting an advertisemt in EVERY photo is just way over the line..its too much..
IMO, it ruins the photos, and annoys me greatly every time I see those ads pop up in every single photo..

I understand the need for advertisements..I understand they are often necessary..
ads on the top and bottom of pages are fine with me..
but an ad in EVERY one of my own photos (and every photo on the entire site, in every single thread) is just unacceptable to me..

thanks,
Scot

[Jeff Smith]

Scot, I'll forward that concern on to the owner.

[MEC407]

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV, but I feel like this might bring up some legal issues, or at least ethical issues. If someone shares their photos here, and the site profits from those photos, that seems a little sketchy to me.

[Jeff Smith]

Scot, I'll forward that concern on to the owner.

The response from the owner:

"I AM GOING TO REMOVE GUM GUM ADS

Tell the users that they are being removed today!!!"

[MEC407]

Which ones are the Gum Gum ads? Are those the ones that attach themselves to people's photos?

[Jeff Smith]

Indeed they are.

[MEC407]

Nice. Hopefully they can find a slightly less-intrusive revenue source to replace them.

Thanks Jeff, and thanks site owners!