New Ad Format Coming to Mac-Forums

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Starting Wednesday, May 7, you may notice a new ad format on Mac-Forums. The new ad will appear between the first and second post in a thread. This new format will help us attract more advertisers to our site which in the end means a better site for all of you!

While we know that ads aren't always your most favorite thing about the forum, it is what helps pay for the site and they allow us to keep bringing you this outstanding community.

And remember, when you're in the market for a product, please think about clicking through to our advertisers for purchase. Not only does it help support this forum, but it also helps support many of the smaller Mac developers that advertise on this board.
 

eric


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man, i gotta be honest, i hate those inter-thread ads.

i do click through from time to time on the top ad.

so, i'm guessing there's no news, or progress, on a paid membership sort of thing that would give paid members ad-less browsing?
 
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so, i'm guessing there's no news, or progress, on a paid membership sort of thing that would give paid members ad-less browsing?

It's definitely something we're still considering. We just need to determine logistics and try to understand whether enough true demand would be there. It's one thing for people to say they want it and another for people to actually take advantage of it once it's here. :)
 
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I'm all for paid subscriptions and all against intrusive ads. I'll look at Google text ads, or at ads I want to see. Most ads however I ignore. I'm tired of getting blasted by omnipresent hucksterism.

I have no problem paying my own way. I do it all the time. I've even donated money for forums that were non-profit when I didn't need to pay a zinc penny.

Intrusive ads are annoying. 'Nuf said.
 
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I agree with Eric - I will not do business with any company that advertises that way. I am more then agreeable to paying a membership fee for the privilege of being in this forum.
 

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hey schweb, since i'm guessing this is happening in a couple days regardless of feedback here, will inet be able to tell where they're seeing more of their ad clicks come from? i mean can they tell if they get (for example) 5% of the ad clicks from inter-thread ads, 15% from sidebar ads on the main page, and 80% from top and bottom banner ads?
 

bobtomay

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Sorry, have to agree with everyone else.

I have been trying to use Safari most of the time.
But in Opera, even those top banner ads are turned off.

Just see my response to going to the theater to watch Iron Man in relationship to ads/commercials.

And yes, I would pay a yearly fee for a no ad site.
Admittedly, I am probably a little extreme in this matter also.
 
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hey schweb, since i'm guessing this is happening in a couple days regardless of feedback here, will inet be able to tell where they're seeing more of their ad clicks come from? i mean can they tell if they get (for example) 5% of the ad clicks from inter-thread ads, 15% from sidebar ads on the main page, and 80% from top and bottom banner ads?

Yes, it's easy to track user click behavior so I would imagine that will be taken into account. The inline ads are a test.

No one likes ads, but they're a necessary evil. If this type of ad is a failure, I'm sure we'll consider removing them.
 

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cool - as long as there's some possibility that vehement resistance and non-clicking may get them removed... ;P :D


i think you guys should figure out how to package a t-shirt/"pro" member deal for like 20 bucks a year. ;)
 
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Sorry, have to agree with everyone else.

I have been trying to use Safari most of the time.
But in Opera, even those top banner ads are turned off.

Just see my response to going to the theater to watch Iron Man in relationship to ads/commercials.

And yes, I would pay a yearly fee for a no ad site.
Admittedly, I am probably a little extreme in this matter also.

I'm pretty ticked off over those theater commercials also. I actually stopped going to movies for a bit over those too. But what really gets my goat is the trailers and ads on DVDs. I pay a fair enough sum for a DVD... more than what movie tickets woulda cost me. I don't want to watch outdated movie trailers over and over. It's not quite so bad for the ones that let you zip past all the trailers with one click to the menu, but there's some that FORCE you to zip past only one at a time. Grrrrrrrr.... and they wonder why piracy is so rampant.
 

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I'm pretty ticked off over those theater commercials also. I actually stopped going to movies for a bit over those too. But what really gets my goat is the trailers and ads on DVDs. I pay a fair enough sum for a DVD... more than what movie tickets woulda cost me. I don't want to watch outdated movie trailers over and over. It's not quite so bad for the ones that let you zip past all the trailers with one click to the menu, but there's some that FORCE you to zip past only one at a time. Grrrrrrrr.... and they wonder why piracy is so rampant.

Yep, those are a drag also. But, at least there is a way to get past them without the need of leaving the room.

We almost never watch live TV anymore for the same reason. With the handy little DVR, just starting your viewing 30-40 minutes after the first show begins provides for a commercial free evening.

But, that's another thread. Think we may be guilty of hijacking this one now.

Sorry, schweb. Back to main menu.
 

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All I can say is.... thank goodness for "Ad Block Plus" for Firefox. It's made a world of difference for me. Hopefully it picks up these in-thread ads too.
 
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man, i gotta be honest, i hate those inter-thread ads.

i do click through from time to time on the top ad.

so, i'm guessing there's no news, or progress, on a paid membership sort of thing that would give paid members ad-less browsing?

I doubt anyone would be willing to pay . Ppl already use Adblock plus so i doubt anyone would even see the ad's. And its a very bad idea to entertain paid membership coz i havent seen a mac forum like that, so this would just annoy ppl and they would switch to an another mac forum.
 
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I can understand the need to have ads and I can understand the reasons not to have them. I would willingly donate as Mathogre has said. If it would help make MF a better place
 
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I doubt anyone would be willing to pay . Ppl already use Adblock plus so i doubt anyone would even see the ad's. And its a very bad idea to entertain paid membership coz i havent seen a mac forum like that, so this would just annoy ppl and they would switch to an another mac forum.

There are actually quite a few popular boards out there with paid membership. I fail to see why anyone would leave over it, I doubt that would occur here.
 
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There are actually quite a few popular boards out there with paid membership. I fail to see why anyone would leave over it, I doubt that would occur here.

I agree with you - perhaps a poll would give you some indication?
 
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If you cant view the forum without paying I think a lot of people would leave, I would, sorry to say.

Paying for a forum isnt a big deal to me as long as you can still view the forums without paying. I belong to one of the largest paid forums on the internet and the reason I paid was because it is a one time fee of $10.
 

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As long as there was both Paid and Free with Ads it would work, but if MF became Paid Only, Most the the people needing quick help would leave and go somewhere where they can ask their question for free.


I am a member of a forums that does both Paid and Ad's. I was going to join the pay part of the forums but $$$ is very tight right now. PC forum by the way.

So it MF went all pay, I would have to leave as I really at this point in time don't have the $$$. I am here to help people.
 
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If you cant view the forum without paying I think a lot of people would leave, I would, sorry to say.

Paying for a forum isnt a big deal to me as long as you can still view the forums without paying. I belong to one of the largest paid forums on the internet and the reason I paid was because it is a one time fee of $10.

I don't think anyone ever said that it would be pay or no forum. The paid version would be ad free and possibly some other perks.
 

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