Giant ads?

I saw breifly, some pretty large ads on the page while I was looking around, and I am wondering about them.

Will the large ads be used? If so, will they be used in threads and not just the directories?

Also, another question, maybe a good idea. George, will you ever think about the posibility to have an option to remove ads from the forums for users that pay money not to see them?

Giant ads see here:
http://24.226.62.28/-/images/TheGiantAds.png

Whenever i see one of these big ads here. I hit alt <-- and alt --> and they disappear. So by simply jumping back and forth again, you get rid of them. (i supose i better not told this cause it might be fixed now, but why should i be the only one that has the better surfing experience ?)

Why worry about them??? This is a free, great service. We should not complain about advertisements that make money for the owner of this website. We are lucky he doesn't charge for this great service.

See what WA said about them is this thread (http://www.codingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24257) . They are "standard" size for visibility on forums. They are also not on every page that comes up. Click on them every once in awhile to help pay for the site. I agree they could be smaller but that is the size "they" are paying for.

MNS

They are large, and my point really was if they were going to be in the threads, such as at the top of the page now, while you are reading this. I don't like that, but I don't really have a say, I don't pay for any of this.

But to boost my other question:
George, will you ever think about the posibility to have an option to remove ads from the forums for users that pay money not to see them?

I don't know if I would pay not to have to see the ads, but maybe if they get out of hand, such as popups, or as another coding forum does it; it takes your post (http://theimaginaryworld.com/postgrid.html), and it adds (http://adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov) it's own links under the words to typed (http://www.cs.cornell.edu/talc/default.html) in, but not to an extreme (http://www.sharkyextreme.com) like I took it. ;) (http://www.wink.com)

Originally posted by Morgoth
I don't know if I would pay not to have to see the ads, but maybe if they get out of hand, such as popups, or as another coding forum does it; it takes your post (http://theimaginaryworld.com/postgrid.html), and it adds (http://adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov) it's own links under the words to typed (http://www.cs.cornell.edu/talc/default.html) in, but not to an extreme (http://www.sharkyextreme.com) like I took it. ;) (http://www.wink.com)

They do that on Anandtech, it gets annoying sometimes. Especially since when you hover over the links, this DHTML pop up appears.

Originally posted by oracleguy
They do that on Anandtech, it gets annoying sometimes. Especially since when you hover over the links, this DHTML pop up appears.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/ is the other one, I think.

I don't see why it has to be so narrow/talll. Why not put the two bullets side-by-side?

Originally posted by SDP2006
Why worry about them??? This is a free, great service. We should not complain about advertisements that make money for the owner of this website. We are lucky he doesn't charge for this great service.
I don't worry about them. I just think they are uggly and take up to much space on my screen, which is annoying.
I don't think WA does this to make money. Probably only does it to not loose money for keeping this site running.
Charge money for this service? Don't think that would ever work. + if people need to pay something, they get picky and think they are entitled to get the advice/code/tutoring they have in mind
Originally posted by MNS
Click on them every once in awhile to help pay for the site
Jut did and just got a blank screen (which makes then pointles)

Pity the advertised sites coding is dreadful.

:D

The problem I have with the Ads is their randomness. It would be better if they were always there or always not there, it's the shifting of the screen up and down as I check into threads and then go back to the list of unread messages that causes the ads to give me trouble.

George uses the revenue from the ads to keep the forums running. i think that if a little time were invested ( possibly amongst the mods, and a few other knowledgeable members ), throwing together a page or two for CF merchandise would remove the necessity for the ads. i believe it was pretty well established, when it was first brought up, that a number of us would take part in a t-shirt competition, and that many of us would buy/wear CF merchandise.

A CF store is of course completely George's decision, but i really do think it's a much better idea than the ads.

assuming the ads have to stay, i think i'd like to see them down the side of the page ( left or right side, doesn't matter ). an ad that size, right at the top, results in too much lost space above the fold, i think.

I think a shirt more along the lines of a baseball uniform might work better than a t-shirt. A referee type shirt without the black and white stripes??

MNS

Originally posted by MotherNatrsSon
I think a shirt more along the lines of a baseball uniform might work better than a t-shirt. A referee type shirt without the black and white stripes??I doubt that could be made cost-effectively. Unless everyone here want's to pay $30+ bucks for a CF shirt.

The ads don't disturb me as long as they aren't mixed with the posts (yahoogroups anyone?:( ). Ad away if you need the money! :thumbsup:

I have to say it again though, that giant text ad is an anomaly. It totally misses the point. Text ads work because they are unobtrusive and sort to lure you into clicking. That thing is a bloody warning sign. Not complaining mind you, just wondering how marketing people think.

<EDIT>
Oops! Mixing yahoogoups and googlegroups up. That's bad! :o

Originally posted by beetle
I doubt that could be made cost-effectively. Unless everyone here want's to pay $30+ bucks for a CF shirt.

I guess it would depend on where you got them, and how many you bought at one time for bulk prices. Either way there is going to be the cost of buying materials. Someone had suggested something besides a t-shirt so it could be worn to work. I just thought that might be an alternative. I really don't need another t-shirt. Everyone makes those. Something a little "unique" and stylee might be worth a couple extra bucks???

MNS

That's the thing - since this is a first try for merchandise for CF, true demand is not known. Therefore, to be cost effective, I do no think it wise to purchase merchandise in bulk ahead of time, but better to take advantage of the "make it when ordered" model the internet has made so readily available.

Ok. Here is another suggestion. Put up a banner ad in rotation for people to make a donation towards site costs. I have seen them on other sites but atually do not know how well they work. I am sure some of the people that come here and get problems resolved quickly would be willing to kick down a few bucks. It all adds up eventually.

MNS