Banner Ads: An SDMB Posting Boycott

[Scissorjack]

Being a mild-mannered kind of poster I don’t usually do this kind of thing, but the sudden appearance of the banner ads for paying members without prior warning or discussion has me really pissed off. The reasons have been well covered in the main Pit thread, so I won’t rehash them, but it seems to me that the general feeling of outrage is just going to pass ignored by management, with an attitude of “well, they’ll get used to it”, unless something concrete is done by the members here to really express our disgust at both this insulting arrogance and what is a really bad business decision.

The idea was mooted a couple of times in the main thread, but what I’m suggesting a boardwide boycott from posting, by as many members as wish to sign their names up in this thread and participate, until the ads are removed and an apology is made. Perhaps when the management realises that they are in real danger of losing revenue through both paying members and ad clickthroughs over this, they might be brought to reconsider. If not, at least we’ll know the contempt in which the membership is regarded by those who own and run this site, and can make our own decisions about whether to leave or stay.

So Scissorjack will be gone from these boards for a week. If anyone wishes to join me, feel free to say so here.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

And on Dec. 1, no red-blooded American should buy gas either. We’ll show those oil companies.

[John_Mace]

I would have posted in this thread, but I’m already boycotting.

What banner ads, btw? I got rid of them already.

[Malodorous]

I’ll post twice as much to make up for your not posting. Also, I now want to buy a Ford Focus for some reason…

[FairyChatMom]

I didn’t even notice the ads. There are way too many other things in my life that merit my irritation. Boycott? Yeah, sure…

[control-z]

I usually browse the SMDB with images disabled anyway, what’s there to see other than smilies?

[yojimbo]

Although I come from the same country as the shitbird Captain Charles Boycott himself I don’t think that it would have any real meaning.

I kinda want my face on a stamp all of a sudden.

[gazpacho]

You do understand that the boards are not a money making operation for the reader? The new owners probably don’t really give a rats ass about the boards and would probably welcome an excuse to dump the whole thing and focus on the core business of the paper. But I am sure your protest will bring them to their knees any day now.

[What_Exit]

@Malodorous

I’ll post twice as much to make up for your not posting. Also, I now want to buy a Ford Focus for some reason…

These ads are damn good, I bought my Ford Focus several years ago in advance of these ads.

Scissorjack: I don’t see what boycotting for a week will do. It doesn’t cost the Corporate Owners anything if you don’t post, only if you don’t renew.

Good luck with this, but I will pass.

Jim

[Una_Persson]

Your passion is commendable, but your idea not very well thought through. It will have no more impact than the “let’s all stop buying gas on Friday” efforts, previously alluded to in here. In fact, given that Dopers in general are not very well known for follow-through on their indignation, I’m guessing that less than 1% of the paying members will actually not renew based on banner ads.

Note I’m not saying that banner ads aren’t terrible and offensive. But come on, people. How many of the folks who made it this far are really going to back up their talk with (in)action when renewal time comes? I guess we’ll see.

It took me all of about 30 seconds to block the ads. It was such a huge hardship and all. To hear people rant on here, you’d think it was the end of the world.

[Lightnin]

From another thread on this subject, posted by me:

@Me

I got about halfway through this thread before lunch, and walked over to the nearby pho place thinking about the situation. I’m not affected- yet- but I imagine that TPTB are doing their best to make sure that we all, eventually, see the ads. After all, they’re doing it for the money, right? Why should our choice in browser and plugins affect that potential revenue stream?

As mentioned before, WE are the content providers for the SDMB. We’re in the unique position of providing said content and yet having to pay for the privilege. And now they want to subject us to ads on top of that? Hell no, I say.

A boycott’s been mentioned- but as another poster pointed out, it’s like herding cats. Besides, there are many members who haven’t seen the ads yet, and haven’t read this thread- so a call to boycott will be problematical at best. Also, TPTB won’t necessarily notice a decline in posting- it’s hard to notice an absence, right? New guests won’t have a clue as to what’s going on, and will continue to post as they do already. End result? It’s easy for TPTB to ignore us. So what do we do?

Strike, that’s what.

Here’s my plan- every time you want to post a new thread, or respond to an old one, instead make a new thread with the title, “SDMB Members on Strike Until the Ads are Removed,” and in the body of the post, detail exactly what’s going on with the new banner ad situation, and that you’re unhappy about it.

Imagine what a forum full of those posts will look like. I can’t imagine TPTB will be able to easily ignore that when Tubadiva brings them a screenshot of it.

So, what do you guys think? Is this too much of a nuclear option?

[miamouse]

@Una Persson

It took me all of about 30 seconds to block the ads. It was such a huge hardship and all. To hear people rant on here, you’d think it was the end of the world.

I agree with you, and to be honest, if there’s no sound involved, by the time you read through the OP, you’ve scrolled down enough to not see the ad anymore.

However, it’s kinda the principle of the thing. We pay-to-post, and the people running the board don’t need to generate content, we do it for them. We are paying to create content for someone else. (whether or not all that content is good content is another matter…)

Adding the banner ads doesn’t separate a paying member all that much from a guest, except that we can search, but only within the last few years and if the words are no shorter than 4 letters.

plus a boycott won’t work unless you don’t lurk. It’s the page views that matter.

[Thudlow_Boink]

Here’s a boycott I can get behind:

There is no way in hell I am ever going to be clicking on one of those fucking things.

And if I happen to read one, I am never going to buy/use/patronize the product/company I see advertised there.

Tell that to the people who are paying for the stupid things.

[mhendo]

Sorry, Scissorjack, while i sort of appreciate the reasoning behind your post, i just don’t think it will be very effective.

For me, the main decision to make is whether to stay or to leave permanently. And if i leave permanently, it will probably be because quite a few other people leave as well.

Over the past few years, quite a few people whose posts i really enjoyed have left these boards. Even Dopers whom i argued fiercely with (Brutus and Debaser come to mind, and there are others) still made my experience here more interesting. But i was doing a trip down memory lane the other day, reading over some old threads, and it really brought home how many people aren’t here anymore.

Sure, there are still plenty of great folks here, and we add new members all the time, but i really believe that the board is teetering close to the critical mass required to keep it interesting. If this current situation causes more than a few people to leave, i might decide that it’s not worthwhile hanging around.

As far as the ads themselves go, it’s more a matter of principle. They really are trivially easy to block, and i don’t see them at all, but the fact of their existence is annoying and is just the latest development in a rather worrying long-term trend. Coming on top of ongoing expressions of frustration by some users about board performance, and nebulous and unfulfilled promises from the admins, the new banner ads simply demonstrate exactly where the priorities lie around here.

Also, while TubaDiva has now started an ATMB thread expressing her own frustration with the whole situation, i think it’s quite revealing that her first response to this whole issue was basically to dismiss people’s concerns in a rather offhand and insulting manner.

@TubaDiva

Jerry is currently chasing down an infrastructure problem and turning on the ads for everyone makes it easier to do so, it’s easier to find the bug when the situation is the same for all.

If you choose to take offense over it that’s unfortunate but that’s always your option.

Incorrect information, and a sneer, all rolled into two short sentences. As Jodi said in the thread in question,

@Jodi

But not every inquiry is a complaint and not every complaint is automatically unfounded, so there really isn’t any need for you to be so goddamned snarky.

[Orbifold]

Read the Dope. Don’t read the Dope. Whatever. Just spare us the frickin’ drama.

[Jodi]

@mhendo

Also, while TubaDiva has now started an ATMB thread expressing her own frustration with the whole situation, i think it’s quite revealing that her first response to this whole issue was basically to dismiss people’s concerns in a rather offhand and insulting manner. Incorrect information, and a sneer, all rolled into two short sentences.

You post her “revealing” post, and my response to it, and completely ignore her later, more measured and sympathetic thread, and my response in it, which was:

@me

Thanks, Jenny. I know it must be frustrating for you as well as for us. But it’s also worth reminding us as posters that there’s nothing to be gained by shooting the messenger.

I’m not happy about the banner ads; they’re obnoxious and obtrusive. But I have zero interest in tarring and feathering any of the mods or admins. Please keep me out of that.

[CarnalK]

@gazpacho

You do understand that the boards are not a money making operation for the reader?

Well, the boards have a revenue of around $30,000 from membership fees alone, plus whatever they make from the Google ads and banners. How many classified ads for Chicago area prostitutes would the Reader need to sell to bring in that much money?

Where exactly did you get your “understanding” of the financial situation?

[jjimm]

FEEEL my boycott.

This is me not posting.

I will follow this up with more examples, if required.

[miamouse]

@CarnalK

Well, the boards have a revenue of around $30,000 from membership fees alone, plus whatever they make from the Google ads and banners. How many classified ads for Chicago area prostitutes would the Reader need to sell to bring in that much money?

Where exactly did you get your “understanding” of the financial situation?

Where did you find this number?

[levdrakon]

We’re paying customers, and at the end of the day we’re dealing with a real business. A physical snail mail letter of complaint to the right office should get noticed.

Additionally, and IANAL, most of us pay with credit cards. Most credit cards have some sort of purchase protection, yes? For those who genuinely feel they’re not getting what they think they paid for, it might be worth contacting your credit card company/bank and seeing what your possible recourses might be, i.e. a charge-back. Chicago Reader would notice that.

I’m not suggesting anything illegal of course. Check with your credit card company and see what they think.

I can’t find a link to the user/purchase agreement, so I can’t review what’s in there. I imagine there’s some legalistic blurb about “we can do what we want,” but credit card companies don’t always agree.