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Don't like more ads? Consider disabling ad block for BBI

Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/22/2019 11:14 pm
A few posters have recommended that I make this more obvious.

BBI depends on (1) ad revenue and (2) a 2-month contribution campaign (August-September) that usually receives contributions from a few hundred readers.

One of the reasons I have had to add new ads is that I need to increase revenue. It's not a case of me being "greedy" but simple reality.

If you use an ad blocker and can select which sites you can block or not, please consider turning it off for BBI.

I do not allow intrusive ads (i.e., overlays, pop-ups, take-over, auto-sound, etc.). If you compare BBI with even other MSM sites, we tend to be more surfer friendly.

If ad revenue increases from people shutting off ad blocking software, I can decrease the number of ads. At the very least, I won't have to increase the number of ads, which becomes a destructive circle.

Thank you for your consideration.
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RE: seriously  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/23/2019 5:26 pm : link
In comment 14400056 Dodge said:
Quote:
Get Xenforo for the forums then get WordPress for the front end. It's easy to install and customize and cheap. WordPress can be customized for $40 with a pre made template people sell on the internet.

There really is no excuse.


We've been using WordPress on the front end for years and years.
...  
Dodge : 4/23/2019 5:39 pm : link
Then there is no reason your frontpage should look like a high school project from 1999.
Oh you absolutely have to appreciate the irony here.  
USAF NYG Fan : 4/23/2019 6:41 pm : link
I couldn't help but laugh.



I do feel bad as I know how ads work but I just didn't think about it. My ad-blocker is on by default for my computer's protection. I just never thought to turn it off for BBI.

Also, I think enough people have pestered Eric about upgrading the site. I'm ok with whatever he decides to do. I'll continue to offer up suggestions here and there but I am happy with the site how Eric wants it to be. Personally, I think part of the problem is migrating over current user data (usernames, thread history, et). I would hate to have to lose all the historical information. I look up how long a person has been a member here quite often.

I have one other recommendation. Can you just have a donate option available all the time?

Regardless, there is a BBI shop that if used should kick some percentage to Eric and BBI. Looks like some great Giants' merchandise there. Outside of that, please disable your ad blocker for this site and click on a *cough* every now and then when you visit.

Eric a quick question. If I go to Amazon via your BBI shop link to do my Amazon shopping, do you get a cut? I apologize if you have to answer my question by saying you can't answer my question.
USAF NYG Fan  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/23/2019 6:53 pm : link
Yes, thanks for asking.

We are an affiliate of the three companies listed under the BBI shop tab, including Amazon. If you buy something from Amazon via the BBI portal, it does not impact your price, but a small cut goes to BBI.
RE: USAF NYG Fan  
USAF NYG Fan : 4/23/2019 7:34 pm : link
In comment 14400216 Eric from BBI said:
Quote:
Yes, thanks for asking.

We are an affiliate of the three companies listed under the BBI shop tab, including Amazon. If you buy something from Amazon via the BBI portal, it does not impact your price, but a small cut goes to BBI.

Well hell. Another thing I could have been doing earlier to help out. I'm a prime member. I'll have to tell the wife how she will get to Amazon Prime from now on as well.
I've got some ideas on how to make the site more mobile friendly  
Gary from The East End : Admin : 4/23/2019 8:30 pm : link
After the draft hoopla dies down I'll set up a demo site so I can play around.

The CSS for this site is not great. I've been adding fixes on top of fixes for years. I need to strip it down and start from scratch.

Also, the HTML for the thread view is kind of borked. I made some changes a while ago to fix problems with broken ads and it's not really an optimal solution.

Lastly, and actually most important, the database code uses some deprecated functions. I need to rip those out and use the more modern functions so we can move to PHP 7.* and get some more security and speed.

None of this stuff is rocket science. I just need to get enough ahead of my other client work to devote a couple days to it.
that seems like a waste of time.  
Dodge : 4/23/2019 9:15 pm : link
Stop reinventing the wheel. Forums are a dead media form. Just use an existing platform.
RE: that seems like a waste of time.  
Gary from The East End : Admin : 4/23/2019 9:44 pm : link
In comment 14400443 Dodge said:
Quote:
Stop reinventing the wheel. Forums are a dead media form. Just use an existing platform.


Over the previous 365 days, this forum has had nearly 900,000 users and over 40 million page views.

We're very much alive.
Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click,  
Ira : 4/23/2019 10:24 pm : link
Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click.
RE: RE: that seems like a waste of time.  
christian : 4/23/2019 10:37 pm : link
In comment 14400492 Gary from The East End said:
Quote:
In comment 14400443 Dodge said:


Quote:


Stop reinventing the wheel. Forums are a dead media form. Just use an existing platform.



Over the previous 365 days, this forum has had nearly 900,000 users and over 40 million page views.

We're very much alive.


With that traffic I bet a decent chunk of revenue is getting eaten by ad blockers.

I suspect with the investments in the code you've described above -- the site would very easily qualify for the acceptable ad criteria.

If you're not familiar-- in a nutshell, well laid out and labeled ads can be whitelisted by the popular ad blockers. Most users aren't worried about ads, just the intrusive or obnoxious variety. The blocking tools have evolved to let fair, normal ads appear for users who normally reject them.

In my view with just some simple layout upgrades this site is good to go and doesn't need the obnoxious off the shelf features other abysmal sites leverage.

Nothing would be worse than going this direction.
Link - ( New Window )
Stupid question but  
Rover : 4/23/2019 10:39 pm : link
Are the type of ads one sees on BBI based on that users browsing history?
RE: Stupid question but  
Gary from The East End : Admin : 4/23/2019 11:11 pm : link
In comment 14400562 Rover said:
Quote:
Are the type of ads one sees on BBI based on that users browsing history?


Pretty much all ads are these days.

I use an ad blocker for most sites, so when I visit sites where I turn it off, like BBI, the ads are often creepily targeted and specific.
Also, Google seems to like this forum  
Gary from The East End : Admin : 4/23/2019 11:29 pm : link
Buried in the over a decade of posted here are hundreds of long-tail keywords that bring in searchers directly to specific threads.

The most popular thread of this kind was one from three years ago about sweet 16 gifts.

All in all, it's only a couple percent of our traffic, but it's not nothing.
Hey dummies  
Joey in VA : 4/24/2019 12:25 am : link
You can click on the little blue arrow and report the ads to Google as several types of offensive ads and they will disappear. You can actually tell Google what you do and don't want to see and it will adjust. But just whine uncontrollably without knowing any facts, it's what most of you do daily. Color me shocked that a community of people who follow football and have no clue what they are watching are whining about ads they can easily control. Grow up you dimwits.
Hey Joey... don't resort to name calling  
JinCO : 4/24/2019 2:28 am : link
I don't want to to see ANY ads, therefore I use an ad blocker. I find ads intolerably intrusive, and detrimental to my experience on this or any other site.

I donate every year and I am glad to do it. BBI keeps me current on the team I love.

Eric - Why not just charge a fee? If all the registered users paid monthly, say the cost of a Starbucks mocha, I would expect the site would be well paid for.

Bonus - Paying keeps the riff-raff from registering under a new anonymous monicker monthly and endlessly stirring up shit...



RE: Also, Google seems to like this forum  
USAF NYG Fan : 4/24/2019 5:08 am : link
In comment 14400618 Gary from The East End said:
Quote:
Buried in the over a decade of posted here are hundreds of long-tail keywords that bring in searchers directly to specific threads.

The most popular thread of this kind was one from three years ago about sweet 16 gifts.

All in all, it's only a couple percent of our traffic, but it's not nothing.

This explains some of why you don't want to upgrade to one of the more popular boards. Thanks. I'm actually quite curious about it. I still say the toughest task to upgrading the board (maybe the whole site) to something more current would be transferring a members' historical information.

Rather than patchwork to out-dated technology I think at some point BBI should bite the bullet and get current with the technology. I'd setup a BBI Site B that allows plenty of time for users to transfer over. I'd say 2 - 3 months. If you can't transfer the historical information over for them you can perhaps giver users the ability to input some information themselves such as their previous BBI alias if someone stole their current one. Manually transferring the profile data over would take a very long time. Maybe you could get some trusted volunteers to help. It would be a daunting and scary thing to make the switch. I know you don't want to lose members over it but I think it's the quality of many of the posters here and the site owner, moderators, content providers, etc that makes it so greaat. I don't think they will quit on BBI.

At the very least you should try a site B just to see if people take to it. I would recommend phpBB for the board. You can turn off the bells and whistles you don't like. It's free. People think the free boards get hacked but phpBB hasn't been hacked since before version 3.0 and that came out in 2007. Most apps, programs, extensions, etc are designed to work with the other popular or common apps, programs, extensions, etc. and phpBB has been around for a long time. It's still the most popular free forum out there and just as capable as the pay for version IMHO. It has plenty of extensions and very supportive community in it's own right.

“In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be, by remaining what we are.”
― Max Depree, Leadership Is an Art

That being said, I will continue to come here regardless and support BBI as best I can within my means. Keep up the great work.
I use an ad blocker on my computer  
bob_in_ec : 4/24/2019 7:10 am : link
and just turned it off for this site. I don't have an ad blocker on my IPHONE and some ads do cover the posts. I also contribute annually to BBI. I would like to know what is the contribution amount that is needed to keep the site up and running.
Eric and Ads  
Percy : 4/24/2019 8:04 am : link
Speaking personally, and I recognize that BBI is your business, not mine, I would prefer that BBI adopt a more typical annual subscription fee system than permit unwelcome ads (and all of them are unwelcome) on the site. Why have you chosen not to do this?

If the site cannot provide an adequate income stream from subscription fees at some level, then perhaps it should not survive. As things stand, advertisers are likely sooner or later to insist that BBI prevent users from gaining access to its content without turning off their ad blockers. What then? We can only guess, Eric.

I would prefer to pay a fee. I am not going to put up with ads. I love BBI, but not enough to be bothered by ads. Sorry!
RE: Eric and Ads  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/24/2019 8:47 am : link
In comment 14400833 Percy said:
Quote:
Speaking personally, and I recognize that BBI is your business, not mine, I would prefer that BBI adopt a more typical annual subscription fee system than permit unwelcome ads (and all of them are unwelcome) on the site. Why have you chosen not to do this?

If the site cannot provide an adequate income stream from subscription fees at some level, then perhaps it should not survive. As things stand, advertisers are likely sooner or later to insist that BBI prevent users from gaining access to its content without turning off their ad blockers. What then? We can only guess, Eric.

I would prefer to pay a fee. I am not going to put up with ads. I love BBI, but not enough to be bothered by ads. Sorry!


Percy, much of this I've said before over the years, but let me provide an overview of my thinking in context of your specific questions:

I personally haven't seen a better format for a forum on the net. I am not thrilled with how the quote box works, but I love how the conversation format is simple and is easy-to-read. The simplicity also seems well suited to different browsers and devices EXCEPT the text is too small for mobile devices.

So in my mind if we can fix the mobile issue with the existing format, that would be ideal. That will probably solve some of the ad issues that I don't see on my desktop or laptop that others see on some mobile devices (I don't see those issues on my wife's phone or Kindle either, but I believe other people are seeing them).

Right or wrong, I am absolutely CONVINCED a fee-based membership for BBI would kill the site. AT BEST, I think we would get 1/3 of current posters signing up. And that is AT BEST. Think about how uninteresting the Forum would be if 2/3rds of the posters evaporated. Why would the other 1/3 re-up for the Forum? Why not simply go to another FREE fan site?

Now if you are suggesting a separate category that those who pay don't see ads, I don't know how that would work. Not with the existing home grown software we have an not with the two ad networks I employ. There is no way for me to turn off ads for selective readers.


RE: I use an ad blocker on my computer  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/24/2019 8:50 am : link
In comment 14400764 bob_in_ec said:
Quote:
and just turned it off for this site. I don't have an ad blocker on my IPHONE and some ads do cover the posts. I also contribute annually to BBI. I would like to know what is the contribution amount that is needed to keep the site up and running.


Without getting into too many specifics, I need to cover costs and generate enough of a profit to justify my time and effort. As anyone who runs a website based on advertising will tell you, publishers are largely at the mercy of the ebb and flow of how the ads are performing. There is a scary seasonal element to it (i.e., ad revenue always plummets at certain times of the year and there is always the worry if it will rebound). Sometimes things look solid and other times they do not.
Eric  
gidiefor : Mod : 4/24/2019 9:56 am : link
I figured out why the ads are covering a portion of text on the right side in my case. I enlarge the view on Chrome so that the text is larger for ease of reading. In Actual Size, it is not as much of a problem.
RE: Eric  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/24/2019 10:09 am : link
In comment 14401111 gidiefor said:
Quote:
I figured out why the ads are covering a portion of text on the right side in my case. I enlarge the view on Chrome so that the text is larger for ease of reading. In Actual Size, it is not as much of a problem.


Thanks. It has to be something like that because I haven't seen this issue on the devices I use. It must be an issue when people manually expand the screen.
Joey  
fkap : 4/24/2019 11:17 am : link
perhaps you are unaware, so I will politely inform you, that there is a way to impart information without name calling hostility. Don't assume that everyone knows something just because you know it.
RE: RE: Eric and Ads  
Stan in LA : 4/24/2019 12:55 pm : link
In comment 14400909 Eric from BBI said:
Quote:
In comment 14400833 Percy said:


Quote:





Right or wrong, I am absolutely CONVINCED a fee-based membership for BBI would kill the site. AT BEST, I think we would get 1/3 of current posters signing up. And that is AT BEST. Think about how uninteresting the Forum would be if 2/3rds of the posters evaporated. Why would the other 1/3 re-up for the Forum? Why not simply go to another FREE fan site?




Eric, you're missing the message here. Most people on any forum are lurkers. They would be the ones signing up for a subscription model. Gary says you get 900,000 users a year. If only 1% signed up at $1.99 a month, (I firmly believe it would be much higher), do the math. Insofar as losing valuable posters? No problem. Give them free access to the forum. They would be, in effect, paying for the site via their contributions. Easy-peasy. I simply do not see a downside here.
RE: RE: RE: Eric and Ads  
JinCO : 4/24/2019 2:00 pm : link
Stan, I suspect the 900,000 are user logins not registered users. The real numbers would be much lower: Registered accounts minus duplicates. Ex. I have registered 3 times since 2000, due to forgotten passwords associated to email addresses I don't use anymore.

Regarding the "1/3 at best" estimate I wonder if this is based on the number of folks voluntarily contributing? Or the number of active user accounts?

Either way, requiring ads could kill the site just as fast. At least you can control the fees.

Maybe take a middle ground like many other media outlets have. Paid accounts are allowed to use ad blockers, free accounts get no such privilege.

Then again, maybe the ad revenue is more $$$ than we know on such a high traffic site, and too lucrative to completely transition away from.

Eric - despite some entitled nit picking dickheads who want to bitch about mobile compatibility and layout... symptoms of an over entitled society in general, IMO... I believe most BBIers love the site, we will continue to come for the content no matter which way you decide.




In comment 14401669 Stan in LA said:
Quote:
In comment 14400909 Eric from BBI said:


Quote:


In comment 14400833 Percy said:


Quote:





Right or wrong, I am absolutely CONVINCED a fee-based membership for BBI would kill the site. AT BEST, I think we would get 1/3 of current posters signing up. And that is AT BEST. Think about how uninteresting the Forum would be if 2/3rds of the posters evaporated. Why would the other 1/3 re-up for the Forum? Why not simply go to another FREE fan site?






Eric, you're missing the message here. Most people on any forum are lurkers. They would be the ones signing up for a subscription model. Gary says you get 900,000 users a year. If only 1% signed up at $1.99 a month, (I firmly believe it would be much higher), do the math. Insofar as losing valuable posters? No problem. Give them free access to the forum. They would be, in effect, paying for the site via their contributions. Easy-peasy. I simply do not see a downside here.
Eric,  
MadMax : 4/25/2019 3:28 pm : link
Do whatever you need to do to keep this site going, it’s priceless to us Giants fans - Thanks!
When switching to a pay model  
USAF NYG Fan : 4/25/2019 4:11 pm : link
you would have to give them some kind of taste from an ad-supported free version. It's a tough call to decide what is enough to provide for free to entice someone to pay for increased access. Take Sy's draft ratings for example. Do you just none of it for free or just the QBs and OL picks for free? People what to get an idea of what their money gets them.

If you upgrade the site to more current tech/times (and I know that's not the preference) then you would almost NEED to find a way to transfer the historical info over or you will wait a long time to build it back up to what it was. If the software/programming is so out of style that you can't automatically bring it over to the new site then you a stuck. It would take way too long to manually transfer everything over and who's got that kind of time. I can tell you that when I first came here many years ago I stayed and looked around because there was a lot of content. There were a lot of threads, posters, replies, etc. If I came here and only saw a few threads with only a few people posting on said threads, I'd have moved on to find another Giants' site.

I can certainly understand the trepidation involved in such a major overhaul.
RE: RE: Eric and Ads  
Percy : 4/26/2019 12:19 am : link
In comment 14400909 Eric from BBI said:
Quote:
In comment 14400833 Percy said:


Quote:


Speaking personally, and I recognize that BBI is your business, not mine, I would prefer that BBI adopt a more typical annual subscription fee system than permit unwelcome ads (and all of them are unwelcome) on the site. Why have you chosen not to do this?

...

Right or wrong, I am absolutely CONVINCED a fee-based membership for BBI would kill the site. AT BEST, I think we would get 1/3 of current posters signing up. And that is AT BEST. Think about how uninteresting the Forum would be if 2/3rds of the posters evaporated. Why would the other 1/3 re-up for the Forum? Why not simply go to another FREE fan site?

Now if you are suggesting a separate category that those who pay don't see ads, I don't know how that would work. Not with the existing home grown software we have an not with the two ad networks I employ. There is no way for me to turn off ads for selective readers.



Thanks for the education responding to my little post. I very much hope it works out as you hope.

No, I did not intend to suggest a two-tier fee idea. Even to me, and even if it were technically feasible, that would be a non-starter.
...  
brandozilla : 4/26/2019 9:32 am : link
Eric,

I tried turning off my ad blocker, however repeatedly the ads block the text of posts. This happens despite what zoom percentage i use.
RE: ...  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/26/2019 11:36 am : link
In comment 14409794 brandozilla said:
Quote:
Eric,

I tried turning off my ad blocker, however repeatedly the ads block the text of posts. This happens despite what zoom percentage i use.


Thanks. We only recently became aware that that was an issue. I haven't seen it on my end, but I have asked Gary if there is something we can do.
No worries  
Simms : 4/26/2019 4:38 pm : link
Not bothersome at all. Especially when compared to other ads. And if it assists Eric along with all his effort I tip my hat in gratitude.
The ads that block posts were bad enough.  
Boy Cord : 4/26/2019 9:00 pm : link
These are absolutely ridiculous. Talk about web pollution.
RE: The ads that block posts were bad enough.  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/26/2019 10:38 pm : link
In comment 14413265 Boy Cord said:
Quote:
These are absolutely ridiculous. Talk about web pollution.


Give me a break.
in the positive feedback dep't  
fkap : 4/27/2019 5:10 pm : link
the ad within a response thing doesn't bother me. it mostly inserts into a spot that is easy to ignore. bad for the advertiser, but that's not my concern.

the ad covering a portion of member writing is sporadic, and annoying, but if that's the worst part of my day, I can live with it.

Overall, the ad level on BBI is reasonable. Thank you for your efforts to keep it bearable.

aside from the ad issue, I frequent alternatehistory.com and love their format. Particularly LOVE the feature that, when you reenter a thread you've previously visited, brings you right to the spot you left. If you ever revise the site, that's a great feature.
RE: in the positive feedback dep't  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/27/2019 5:21 pm : link
In comment 14416499 fkap said:
Quote:
the ad within a response thing doesn't bother me. it mostly inserts into a spot that is easy to ignore. bad for the advertiser, but that's not my concern.

the ad covering a portion of member writing is sporadic, and annoying, but if that's the worst part of my day, I can live with it.

Overall, the ad level on BBI is reasonable. Thank you for your efforts to keep it bearable.

aside from the ad issue, I frequent alternatehistory.com and love their format. Particularly LOVE the feature that, when you reenter a thread you've previously visited, brings you right to the spot you left. If you ever revise the site, that's a great feature.


Thanks. Regarding the other site, that would be a very cool feature.
What this place can really use  
antdog24 : 4/27/2019 6:14 pm : link
is an Nginx load balancer. Something in front of the Web server to keep the hamster from getting destroyed. Implement some queuing.
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