Adblockers

[+shift. MVC]

To be honest, even if Neobond, Redmak and Frogboy WERE reaping a minor profit from Neowin, I really wouldn't mind that much. Simply due to the fact that they've set up an excellent community here, and something like this isn't easy to accomplish.

I've been a webmaster before, and trust me, running a website of ~1000 members is difficult enough, let alone a community of over 200,000 members.

[Panacik]

I think i understand and find it quite simple. At my work we use a site to store our main EU hub servers. We pay the site rental costs and a fee for them to maintain the servers for small issues (if the server dies or has a hardware fault, we go on site ourselves to fix.

I imagin its the same or at least similar scenario on neowins side, only the money they are paying Stardock are in shares of the profit that Neowin makes. Therefore, if Neowin starts to lose revenue because people are blocking ads, then Stardock will not be getting as much money and so may evict them from the site.

As Steve said, no company would want to continue investing in to something that is generating less revenue than previous.

[AdzzzUK]

I'll be honest, when I browse t'internet with Firefox, I do use the AdBlocker add-on.

However, there are a handful of sites that I deactivate the AdBlocker software for. And Neowin is one of them (another one is my site lol) - I don't mind the adverts (unless I forget to log in lol), they don't cause any problems and I'm happy to support neowin both as a subscriber and by displaying the ads on the pages I view.

Simple, really. It doesn't cost us anything, and it brings a bit of income in for the staff so that the cost implications of running the site are negated by the revenue generated by the displaying of a few adverts!

I can't see why it's too difficult for people to grasp. And if there's a bit left over at the end of the year, I absolutely have no problem with this being the SBF (Staff Beer Fund) - the staff must work very, very hard behind the scenes here and it's because of that hard work, dedication and selflessness that Neowin is the place it is today.

Just my $0.02.

Ad

[Oshkalabah]

We want to upgrade our 32bit servers to 64bit (for our SQL) and we can't afford to go and buy a new server and get it placed in the DC (costs extra) atm. Thats all am willing to share, it has nothing to do with how much percentage shouldn't be blocking ads. Any long term frequent visitor who does block the ads (for whatever reason) on Neowin is simply faltering our chances to improve the service.

Without trying to sound annoyed, are people really thick? a 29 page thread on this subject and some peoiple still don't understand the basic economics of our situation?

Come on people!

Did they have basic economics prior to grade 9?

Of course we understand economics, and of course we understand how businesses work, and how they wouldn't back a failing venture. However you stated that without your corporate backers this site would hardly be what it is now. That being said, prior to the backing, you saw a doom and gloom forecast. If you were truly making money, you wouldn't have been so negative about 'what could have been' had someone bought you out.

What's the motive? Companies normally don't go out and buy successful companies. They don't normally buy companies that are going to go under. They buy companies that can make themselves better.

I've also never heard of a company buying part of another company, and then making the company they bought pay them back. Are you gaining back ownership? If not, then what you really did was give a majority of your company away, and are paying them to take it.

No one here said they bought you outright. Not sure where you got that.

[dmd3x]

If you want to block neowin ads, at least subscribe first... it will help pay for it (also, doesn't a subscription reduce ads?). I think my adblocker is blocking neowin ads currently, but now I'll disable it on neowin to help support the funding.

I also have adblock disabled for thehungersite.com, for obvious reasons.

[Eric Veteran]

I would have just banned your ignorant ass, so be grateful he's still even allowing you to post. You obviously know nothing about running a high traffic website. It's obvious in your posts. So just stop your bitching already.

Is it suddenly ok for anyone, you or Neobond, to insult people on Neowin? I thought it was against the rules.

1. Our common interest is to keep this site running.

2. Mods/Admins can stop anyone they want who interferes with #1.

3. There was no need to resurrect this thread.

You are referring to a post from 2005! His subscription expired in 2006 :rolleyes:

Sorry, I didn't realize this stupid debate has been going on for years... sheesh. :rolleyes:

[Reacon]

...

I would love to support Neowin by enabling ads, but unfortunately I use a HOSTS file and its not as simple as enabling and disabling. Maybe if the domains aren't used by many other sites, I can remove them from my list (ie. NOT google.syndication).

[Emohawk]

I have an ad blocker. But on Neowin, and neowin only, it is disabled. I am also a subscriber. Those are the ways I feel I can help the community as there are lots of people here who have far more knowledge about all the subjects I know about than I do (unless you want me to bore you with BT's 21CN upgrades :D)

[(o) Xivion )]

i have no sscript i allow all my sites i like but i would have never even known u had ads on this site if it werent for this post.. lol which is good. altho not every site has their ads the same way.... there is this one site with crazy ads they pop up rightin front of what u are doing.. not even in a new window so u cant ingore it! lol well anyways i like ur forums ads they are descreet.

[MackTK]

there are not much advertisements in the first place and it's not annoying in any way. you can barely even see them. speaking of the mods, i've seen, on other sites, people get banned for simply disagreeing with the mods, so be grateful. they are sweethearts here :p

[Iian K]

I only use ad-filtering software because some websites have some very obtrusive ads (hence MySpace),

I don't have a problem with Neowin's ads,

[roadgeek9]

I only have an Adblocker installed because Firefox really slows down when there is a lot of Flash on a website.

I never even knew than Neowin had ads, even before I installed an Adblocker.

[anonymous_user]

To anyone who says they dont notice the ads:

Do you really sincerely not notice them?

For me at least, I clearly see them. Especially the top one. The white background of the ad stands out against the color.

[Coldgunner]

To anyone who says they dont notice the ads:

Do you really sincerely not notice them?

For me at least, I clearly see them. Especially the top one. The white background of the ad stands out against the color.

you may see them, but its hardly a nuisance though.

[miyuki09]

ads are a good for the site and harmless

[iZoom]

As it has been said and I will agree, I would welcome the chance for someone to switch shoes with the mods and see if the community would still be as it is today. Saying that ads are obtrusive or they aren't making money or they're money-grabbers...well lets see how John Doe or Jim Bob would have spent the last 5 or so years trying to build this community?

[Rudy]

I just discovered that my work place block ads ...... I was wondering why I couldn't see the ads when i disabled adblock on my work PC

[AbandonedTrolley]

Whilst I can understand that people would want to block some adds, things like annoying popups for example. The adverts on Neowin are hardly obtrusive and see no reason not to put it in a safe list to help the site out :)

[+allan MVC]

I've just never understood the attitude of some people on sites like this. They feel they have some inalienable right to access and use the forums in any manner they choose. The fact is that someone (or some group) created the site, pays for its upkeep, and ALLOWS us to be here. We can get help solving problems with our computers, learn about new software and hardware, discuss all sorts of topics, read breaking news - and do so ABSOLUTELY FREE OF CHARGE. All the "management" asks is that we obey a few rules - whatever they may be. Yet some folks balk at the idea of ANY rules thinking that once the site is up on the web the public has the right to do or say anything they want and nobody has the right to question them. If the owners of the site can find a way to make money and still provide free access, all I can say is good for them!!! Yet even in this thread some people say "it's okay to make a little money, but not a lot." This isn't EXXON charging high prices for oil and making record profits - again, it doesn't cost us anything to be here and use these services . Personally, I couldn't care less how much they make. In fact, the more the better - it will only mean more and better features and service for us and insure the viability of the site for that much longer.

Thirty pages of a thread discussing why the owners of a site have the right to make money and impose a few rules on - or ask for cooperation from - the people who come here for free. I just don't get it.

[Minimoose]

I will pay for a subscription soon, as I have used this site quite a lot and its always been helpful for tech issues. Seriously, I cannot actually find ads on neowin, I don't have an ad blocker installed (I checked on various websites) and I cannot see any. I would like to support Neowin even without the subscription money so I will try and find a way to see the ads :p

Anyone give me a heads up on where I should be seeing them?

[Jimmy0]

Anyone give me a heads up on where I should be seeing them?

At the top and bottom of the page (see screenshot below).

[Ambroos]

I've been having Neowin.net as an exception in Ad Muncher ever since I got it. At school though, all ads are blocked automatically through the proxy we have to use...

[ViperAFK]

I whitlist neowin, but block ANY video/flash/animated ads on other sites, they are ****ing obnoxious.

Neowins ads are unobtrusive, so I gladly whitelist the site and show all of them.

I think this is one of the better websites when it comes to ads, some forms ive been on have ads inbetween every or every other thread as well as tons of other banners and skyscraper ads.

So please dont disrespect Neowin, things could be a lot worse.

qft

[Xtreme2damax]

I can understand where everyone is coming from. You pay for a website, for it's upkeep and maintenance and use ad as a means of earning revenue to help keep the site going.

Sometimes people lose their jobs, or they don't have a job while going to school/college so ad revenue becomes a necessity to ensure uninterrupted operation of the website.

On top of hosting costs, you also have to worry about board licenses, paid updates if you use a commercial board software like IPB or Vbulletin, then you pay for other services to enhance usability of the website and user friendliness and so on.

As long as the advertisements are unobtrusive I am fine with it, by unobtrusive I mean a couple banner ads or in text advertising. Pop-ups would fall under the obtrusive/annoying category. ;)

[Minimoose]

After reinstalling windows I can finally see the ads and to be honest it took me a few hours of browsing the site to actually notice them. They are some of the most unobtrusive ads you will find on a website, so I don't see what the fuss its about.