Automatically Hiding Comments Has Issues

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 23/11/2025 at 17:05, leonsk29 said:

Circling back again to this, Mr. Parker, can we at least get a link to the comments section? Let me explain myself:

- Before, when you clicked something related to comments, you jumped directly to the specific comment. Now, that doesn't happen, you're only redirected to the top of the article in question.

- I know that comments have to be hidden now for non-subscribers, I get that, but can we at least get a direct link to the "Load comments section" banner? That way we wouldn't need to scroll ALL the way down to the comments section of every article, just click and load the comments.

Would that be possible?

It is being worked on.

[leonsk29]

On 23/11/2025 at 14:40, Steven P. said:

It is being worked on.

OK, thanks for letting us know.

[haxasaur]

blaming this on ads is hilarious and then peddling your subscription to remove them. now the site is broken for us who dont wanna pay.

[darkpuma]

On 02/12/2025 at 10:31, haxasaur said:

blaming this on ads is hilarious and then peddling your subscription to remove them. now the site is broken for us who dont wanna pay.

Make site annoying -> people stop visiting -> ads don't generate as much revenue -> add more ads/make site more annoying. A highly effective strategy.

[leonsk29]

On 02/12/2025 at 10:31, haxasaur said:

blaming this on ads is hilarious and then peddling your subscription to remove them. now the site is broken for us who dont wanna pay.

Money talks, folks. Either you pay or you're a second-class citizen, that's the way the world works...

I don't mind the "Show comments" button, what bothers me is that comment links are broken. You can no longer click anything related to comments and at least jump to the top of the comments section, they're just broken and you have to scroll manually all the way down to the bottom of each article searching for everything. Soooooo annoying.

[haxasaur]

On 02/12/2025 at 09:47, leonsk29 said:

Money talks, folks. Either you pay or you're a second-class citizen, that's the way the world works...

I don't mind the "Show comments" button, what bothers me is that comment links are broken. You can no longer click anything related to comments and at least jump to the top of the comments section, they're just broken and you have to scroll manually all the way down to the bottom of each article searching for everything. Soooooo annoying.

exactly, effectively breaking the site for us poor folk who aint gonna pay

[Yonah Member]

On 18/11/2025 at 22:05, Yonah said:

I am not seeing this on the front page when I am signed in (but it is visible when I am not signed in); is it inadvertently disabled for subscribers?

(For those curious, a link that can be used to donate is: https://www.neowin.net/donate.)

Was there a developer who looked at this? I thought it was peculiar.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

On 02/12/2025 at 18:04, haxasaur said:

exactly, effectively breaking the site for us poor folk who aint gonna pay

I normally stay out of this side of things, but really? Is that your argument?

"I can't afford to pay to support a site I like, but I take issue with the way that you are able to keep the site that I like up and running."

It's an aggressive paraphrase, I grant you that. But have you provided any other options on how to do things? Any solutions on how to keep the lights on? Because if we don't find a solution that works, this home disappears. And I don't want that. So we work with the options that we have.

Provide a better idea, and I'm sure the community/staff/owners will hear you out.

I understand the frustration - I'm still getting told to turn my adblocker off despite the fact that Neowin is the only site that I have whitelisted. But I roll with the messages because it's a small amount of time to dismiss said message and get on with my daily news and chats.

Are there bugs to fix? Yes. Every site has their share of bugs if they are dynamic rather than static. But the idea that you want something for free and want to kick up a stink about how it's able to stay available to you? Buddy, pick a lane.

[leonsk29]

On 02/12/2025 at 15:03, Nick H. said:

I normally stay out of this side of things, but really? Is that your argument?

"I can't afford to pay to support a site I like, but I take issue with the way that you are able to keep the site that I like up and running."

It's an aggressive paraphrase, I grant you that. But have you provided any other options on how to do things? Any solutions on how to keep the lights on? Because if we don't find a solution that works, this home disappears. And I don't want that. So we work with the options that we have.

Provide a better idea, and I'm sure the community/staff/owners will hear you out.

I understand the frustration - I'm still getting told to turn my adblocker off despite the fact that Neowin is the only site that I have whitelisted. But I roll with the messages because it's a small amount of time to dismiss said message and get on with my daily news and chats.

Are there bugs to fix? Yes. Every site has their share of bugs if they are dynamic rather than static. But the idea that you want something for free and want to kick up a stink about how it's able to stay available to you? Buddy, pick a lane.

I'll just give my two cents on the matter:

I understand that ads must exist. I understand that infrastructure and staff aren't free. I also understand that the "show comments" button is a requirement from advertisers now so it has to exist. I understand all of that.

But what I'm asking is: please fix the links to the comments section. At the beginning of the article, there's a small button saying how many comments the article has. Right now, when you click it, it doesn't work. Before, you clicked it and you jumped to the beginning of the comments. Now, you have to scroll all the way down in every article, which is very annoying. I just want that functionality restored: you click the button, and you jump to the "Show comments" button, you click it, comments load. Simple.

The same for profile notifications. I understand that comments can't load automatically as before and those direct jumps to specific comments aren't possible anymore, but can we at least get linked to the "Show comments" button?

That's it, those are my ideas, as you asked. We all love Neowin and we want this site to continue existing. This is my favorite tech news site, but unfortunately, I can't support it right now, I'm sorry. But small fixes like those I'm asking for give us "freeloaders" small improvements in site quality, IMO, and are simple to implement, and don't affect ads/revenue in any way.

Edited December 2, 2025 by leonsk29

[haxasaur]

On 02/12/2025 at 13:24, leonsk29 said:

I'll just give my two cents on the matter:

I understand that ads must exist. I understand that infrastructure and staff aren't free. I also understand that the "show comments" button is a requirement from advertisers now so it has to exist. I understand all of that.

But what I'm asking is: please fix the links to the comments section. At the beginning of the article, there's a small button saying how many comments the article has. Right now, when you click it, it doesn't work. Before, you clicked it and you jumped to the beginning of the comments. Now, you have to scroll all the way down in every article, which is very annoying. I just want that functionality restored: you click the button, and you jumped to the "Show comments" button, you click it, comments load. Simple.

The same for profile notifications. I understand that comments can't load automatically as before and that direct jumps to specific comments aren't possible anymore, but can we at least get linked to the "Show comments" button?

That's it, those are my ideas, as you asked. We all love Neowin and we want this site to continue existing. This is my favorite tech news site, but unfortunately, I can't support it right now, I'm sorry. But small fixes like those I'm asking for give us "freeloaders" small improvements in site quality, IMO, and are simple to implement, and don't affect ads/revenue in any way.

thanks for spelling it out, idk whats so hard to grasp on what needs to get fixed.

[tsupersonic]

On 02/12/2025 at 15:03, Nick H. said:

I normally stay out of this side of things, but really? Is that your argument?

"I can't afford to pay to support a site I like, but I take issue with the way that you are able to keep the site that I like up and running."

It's an aggressive paraphrase, I grant you that. But have you provided any other options on how to do things? Any solutions on how to keep the lights on? Because if we don't find a solution that works, this home disappears. And I don't want that. So we work with the options that we have.

Provide a better idea, and I'm sure the community/staff/owners will hear you out.

I understand the frustration - I'm still getting told to turn my adblocker off despite the fact that Neowin is the only site that I have whitelisted. But I roll with the messages because it's a small amount of time to dismiss said message and get on with my daily news and chats.

Are there bugs to fix? Yes. Every site has their share of bugs if they are dynamic rather than static. But the idea that you want something for free and want to kick up a stink about how it's able to stay available to you? Buddy, pick a lane.

I'm indifferent to the whole hidden-comments thing (yes it's annoying to click but whatever), but blaming it on "advertisers requiring us to do this" feels like a weak excuse.

Plenty of sites run ads and still let comments load normally without hiding/an extra click. If that's really the reason, it just sounds like neowin either has zero leverage in negotiations or isn't pushing back at all. Feels less like a hard requirement and more like a convenient scapegoat. Like was there any pushback at all and also was this communicated that this would be changed? The site lacks transparency most of the times, and when feedback is offered, it's taken very negatively and the admins here are very unnecessarily aggressive at times

[Nick H. Supervisor]

On 02/12/2025 at 20:24, leonsk29 said:

I'll just give my two cents on the matter:

I understand that ads must exist. I understand that infrastructure and staff aren't free. I also understand that the "show comments" button is a requirement from advertisers now so it has to exist. I understand all of that.

But what I'm asking is: please fix the links to the comments section. At the beginning of the article, there's a small button saying how many comments the article has. Right now, when you click it, it doesn't work. Before, you clicked it and you jumped to the beginning of the comments. Now, you have to scroll all the way down in every article, which is very annoying. I just want that functionality restored: you click the button, and you jumped to the "Show comments" button, you click it, comments load. Simple.

The same for profile notifications. I understand that comments can't load automatically as before and that direct jumps to specific comments aren't possible anymore, but can we at least get linked to the "Show comments" button?

That's it, those are my ideas, as you asked. We all love Neowin and we want this site to continue existing. This is my favorite tech news site, but unfortunately, I can't support it right now, I'm sorry. But small fixes like those I'm asking for give us "freeloaders" small improvements in site quality, IMO, and are simple to implement, and don't affect ads/revenue in any way.

Y'see, that is a valid comment! And as mentioned in the other thread on this matter, it is being investigated. But these things don't get fixed in an hour when you're asking volunteers to sort it out.

Again, I believe that someone is looking into it.

 

On 02/12/2025 at 20:27, tsupersonic said:

I'm indifferent to the whole hidden-comments thing (yes it's annoying to click but whatever), but blaming it on "advertisers requiring us to do this" feels like a weak excuse.

Plenty of sites run ads and still let comments load normally without hiding/an extra click. If that's really the reason, it just sounds like neowin either has zero leverage in negotiations or isn't pushing back at all. Feels less like a hard requirement and more like a convenient scapegoat.

I'm not allowed (or at least, I don't feel able) to provide the exact reason that the advertisers have asked for Neowin to do this. But basically, if people followed the community rules we wouldn't be in this situation. Our own community has brought this on ourselves.

[leonsk29]

On 02/12/2025 at 15:27, tsupersonic said:

I'm indifferent to the whole hidden-comments thing (yes it's annoying to click but whatever), but blaming it on "advertisers requiring us to do this" feels like a weak excuse.

Plenty of sites run ads and still let comments load normally without hiding/an extra click. If that's really the reason, it just sounds like neowin either has zero leverage in negotiations or isn't pushing back at all. Feels less like a hard requirement and more like a convenient scapegoat. Like was there any pushback at all and also was this communicated that this would be changed? The site lacks transparency most of the times, and when feedback is offered, it's taken very negatively and the admins here are very unnecessarily aggressive at times

I have to agree with the last part because I feel the same about that. When feedback or constructive criticism is provided, I also find that admins are a little bit "edgy" all the time and they take it rather aggressively at times, as if they don't really like any kind of it. I might be imagining it, I don't know, it must be super stressful to manage a website and its people, but still...

[hellowalkman Reporter]

I believe this issue is being worked on @leonsk29 @haxasaur although there is no ETA

[Steven P. Administrators]

Because people freeload and "ain't gonna pay" this also means we don't have a full time developer like some other websites with comments can afford.

Yes there are websites that have ads next to comments, maybe they have better funding and a larger moderating staff who are paid and aren't volunteers like ours, and yet they still put up with these comments!

Endless whining about it, and claiming that hiding comments is a "convenient scapegoat" (when it absolutely isn't) does not change the facts of the matter. Also what do you know if there was any pushback or not? Because this is a privately run website where you do not pay me to run it, I don't have to be transparent about everything.

Some of the entitlement going on in posts here is shocking, you really have no empathy or understanding for what goes into providing a website like this, all I can expect from some people is the assumption I am lying, and then you get worked up at the fact this pisses me off.

If you want a mindless zombie parroting excuses with endless patience, go harass a walmart greeter or phone the helpdesk of a service you actually pay to subscribe to, they are actually paid to listen to your whining.

Meanwhile I started working today at 9am and it's now 9:36pm so I am tired, so please forgive my honesty.

[+Edouard Subscriber²]

On 03/12/2025 at 07:39, Nick H. said:

if people followed the community rules we wouldn't be in this situation. Our own community has brought this on ourselves.

Nick, could you elaborate on this please. 

[leonsk29]

On 02/12/2025 at 18:36, Edouard said:

Nick, could you elaborate on this please. 

I think he might be referring to this part:

Advertisement Blocking.
Glorifying the fact in posts here on Neowin is strictly forbidden. We understand that some members could not care less to display advertisements on any website, and therefore block a stream of revenue that is required to keep this site running. We can not do much about that but please do not glorify the fact.

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 03/12/2025 at 00:36, Edouard said:

Nick, could you elaborate on this please. 

 

On 03/12/2025 at 01:49, leonsk29 said:

I think he might be referring to this part:

Advertisement Blocking.
Glorifying the fact in posts here on Neowin is strictly forbidden. We understand that some members could not care less to display advertisements on any website, and therefore block a stream of revenue that is required to keep this site running. We can not do much about that but please do not glorify the fact.

 I think advertisers just got fed up of seeing content like this:

It is more what Nick is referring to.

Advertisers don't want to be associated with negativity even if it does not specifically relate to their product that they are advertising.

This person joined just to whine in the comments, and this is the typical crap we staff have to put up with every day, and the cherry on top is those members who keep reminding us that they will continue to block ads and not contribute anything towards the upkeep of the site but still demand us to drop everything and immediately fix what they don't like.

[Steven P. Administrators]

This is also an example of what we're combating, people don't care about the consequences of what they post online anymore but it is also because of GDPR and CCPA (U.S. version of it in California). When the consequences are less, people stop caring about what they do, or the quality of it.

No wonder advertisers no longer have faith in user generated content (ugc in the ad world).

Which brings me to my final example, our main advertiser required us to remove their advertising from the forums, so now I am using Google AdSense instead, which also means lower quality, and lower revenue as a result of no more direct sales on half of Neowin.

[Carlisle R.]

What utterly surprises me is the ability of advertisers or advertising networks to force those requirements on websites, I never knew they had that much power! I thought it was up to the webmaster to choose where ads are placed, from what I read it seems not only they dictate specific places where ads are to be put, but also a take-it-or-leave-it "hide comments by default" or no ads for you.

I can't understand why, unless it is to serve more ads. Perhaps when one chooses to load comments ads get refreshed or new ones are served instead of the ones being displayed. I thought if ad placement was not good, websites would just not earn as much from them because people wouldn't click, but I never imagined there were so many conditions!

There is a news outlet I read daily. It has more ads than content, any kind of ad you can think of is used on that site. Full page ones that appear from time to time, others between the paragraphs of the articles, others at the bottom of each article (and its sides). When you scroll down to the comments section, a list of ads loads and you have to scroll even more, and there too one has to manually load comments (and even more ads appear when that happens). It is insane, especially because you can only pay to have ads not personalized, not to fully remove them!

Touching on things that were said in the thread, I also noticed that some things changed when the manual loading of comments was added. I never logged in on my phone, only on my computer, and before the change I could still see comments. They weren't loading automatically unless I scrolled down to the bottom of the articles, but now logging in seems necessary for them to load. It is a bit of a pain, but it is okay with me, I don't mind it. I often find comments more interesting than articles (not particularly here, I am thinking of the Internet as a whole).

I don't see a problem with comments like the one Steve showed a couple of posts back, it was someone expressing his dislike for something, an opinion just like any other. I don't like the idea that only good things can be said in comments, for me comments are opinions people hold, as long as we respect one another I prefer to be able to see good and bad opinions on things. And they don't represent the website's stance on whatever they are about, it's not a big deal to me if they are negative. A bit off topic, but when YouTube got rid of publicly showing dislikes, much more was lost than gained. Being able to know whether something is perceived to be good or not is useful, and not just for the uploader.

I like that some websites have comment systems that have dislike buttons, and the number of dislikes (Ars comes to mind). Others even show who liked and disliked the comments, others hide comments that were disliked a lot by default, ... I think something in-between would be good. And even then, I don't like or dislike posts oftentimes because they are large (like mine here) and I only agree or disagree with part of it, but I appreciate nuanced discussions.

And the rule on glorifying ad blocking, it feels a bit hypocritical because sometimes I see ads about adblockers, or articles promoting one when its price drops. While it is not glorifying them and it doesn't go against the rule, it strikes me as odd for lack of a better word. I don't mind either way, it seems like a lot of work and money is required to keep the lights on, so it is fair play.

But yes, I find it surreal that advertisers have such power, I would never have thought it to be the case. In the end, it is like they are the ones running websites instead of the owners!

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 03/12/2025 at 13:12, Carlisle R. said:

What utterly surprises me is the ability of advertisers or advertising networks to force those requirements on websites, I never knew they had that much power! I thought it was up to the webmaster to choose where ads are placed, from what I read it seems not only they dictate specific places where ads are to be put, but also a take-it-or-leave-it "hide comments by default" or no ads for you.

They know they are the main source of income, so they have a lot of say for good or bad.

 

Quote

There is a news outlet I read daily. It has more ads than content, any kind of ad you can think of is used on that site. Full page ones that appear from time to time, others between the paragraphs of the articles, others at the bottom of each article (and its sides). When you scroll down to the comments section, a list of ads loads and you have to scroll even more, and there too one has to manually load comments (and even more ads appear when that happens). It is insane, especially because you can only pay to have ads not personalized, not to fully remove them!

That site is probably in violation. Google does not allow ads close together or stacked, and I have had to look out for this issue on Neowin too.

 

Quote

I don't see a problem with comments like the one Steve showed a couple of posts back, it was someone expressing his dislike for something, an opinion just like any other. I don't like the idea that only good things can be said in comments, for me comments are opinions people hold, as long as we respect one another I prefer to be able to see good and bad opinions on things. And they don't represent the website's stance on whatever they are about, it's not a big deal to me if they are negative. A bit off topic, but when YouTube got rid of publicly showing dislikes, much more was lost than gained. Being able to know whether something is perceived to be good or not is useful, and not just for the uploader.

Usually I don't care about such comments either, but advertisers reserve the right to decide if they want their ads shown next to our content, and if they start pulling out of Neowin my agent at the ad company who represents us is going to take an issue with it. Especially if it affects 10% or more of our revenue (which it did in this case).

 

Quote

And the rule on glorifying ad blocking, it feels a bit hypocritical because sometimes I see ads about adblockers, or articles promoting one when its price drops. While it is not glorifying them and it doesn't go against the rule, it strikes me as odd for lack of a better word. I don't mind either way, it seems like a lot of work and money is required to keep the lights on, so it is fair play.

But yes, I find it surreal that advertisers have such power, I would never have thought it to be the case. In the end, it is like they are the ones running websites instead of the owners!

This one is a bit funny, because this is being recommended through a third party store-front that I have been forced to use in order to try and generate/makeup the revenues. It takes up a large portion of my duties to have to draft them up for posting every day (although StackCommerce send over what they want featured every day, so I do not have to search or decide) so you take issue that we specifically state in our rules that ad blocking may not be glorified while also at the same time we sell ad blockers through the Neowin Deals posts, fair comment as it does seem hypocritical. But I've made zero dollars off ad blockers, I actually make a few dollars off those same ad blockers if they buy one through our store front! And I am only doing it through the Neowin Deals branded store-front too.

I really appreciate your detailed and well thought out post too 👍

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

On 02/12/2025 at 16:47, leonsk29 said:

Either you pay or you're a second-class citizen

Grow up!

[Steven P. Administrators]

Yesterday I signed a new contract from our hosting provider (where our servers are based) which included a price hike. Before I signed it, they warned that if I didn't agree to the new terms then the pricing would be variable (decided each quarter) and very likely more.

All this along with declining revenues and some people expecting everything for nothing. 😂

[leonsk29]

On 03/12/2025 at 09:22, Nik Louch said:

Grow up!

Prove me wrong with arguments. Prove that this isn't how the world really works, buddy. You're the one that needs to grow up, seeing that you need to accept reality. Again, in this world, those who pay or those who pay more, they get a better treatment. Prove me wrong. I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing, just how it is.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I think this thread has run its course. The main points have been made, and they have been responded to. Now it's just devolving and not getting anyone anywhere.

<Thread closed>