Today it seemed like I got a new behaviour when cruising the SDMB: “Congratulations you have won” in a shrill and irritating voice from my speakers. I assume this is related to an ad which appears near the top of threads for free-loaders like me.
Is this a new thing? Is there a policy around it? If it continues, I’ll be a former poster, although I can’t imagine the SDMB would miss me. It’s too invasive for my tastes and since I come and go with many other tabs open, too annoying to turn mute on and off. It’s kind of like being poked in the eye when you forget to protect your face for a moment…
Firefox. AdBlockPlus. Flashblock. Three simple steps and you will never know ads even exist, let alone hear them. And considering the site is serving ads loaded with malware it’s simple common sense. Surfing the SDMB with IE is like fucking a street hooker without a condom.
Thanks. I may try that. I use Chrome for the most part. Ads don’t bother me unless they are intrusive and pop-up blocking can be unhelpful for items besides ads.
I’m wondering specifically if there is a policy against ads which have spontaneous sound–that is, suddenly blare out voice or music without being selected, like some websites do. It’s possible I simply made a mistake but it seemed to me it was totally spontaneous and happened only because I selected a thread title.
I think it’s safe to say that the ads being served to this site are not ones from companies that are looking for high-end customers and paying rates to match. No, these are the bottom of the barrel garbage ads from companies that pay rock bottom rates to get them slopped by the barrel load on low traffic, low value sites. Wear three or four virtual jimmy hats, or you’ll be getting intimate with virus scrubbers and longing for the days when the worst that happened was the ads made noise.
Chrome has an ad blocker extension, I use it and don’t see any ads on the SDMB.
I’m wondering specifically if there is a policy against ads which have spontaneous sound–that is, suddenly blare out voice or music without being selected, like some websites do. It’s possible I simply made a mistake but it seemed to me it was totally spontaneous and happened only because I selected a thread title.
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There should be as it basically makes the SDMB not safe for work, and I believe that is something the admins have avoided in the past (e.g., no surprise links.)
I just want to add that I think the spontaneous noise ads are bullshit as well. It won’t stop me from posting here. But, I will surf with full adblock on.
I post here for free - most ads don’t bother me. And, if it helps keep SDMB up and running that’s great.
But, if this keeps up, they will lose all advertising potential from me.
Because you’d still be using IE, and let’s just say it has some… vulnerabilities. Yes, you’d be wearing a condom, but some joker has been using it for a darts target.
I use IE7, with IE7Pro 3rd party add-on, no virus protection except the one that comes with Vista (and I usually turn it off), and never had any problems. I must have good karma or something.
It might help if we could see what this actual ad is – a lot of different ads run around here and if we can’t pinpoint exactly what the ad is we can’t tell what’s going on.
A name would be useful – a screenshot or some of the copy would be helpful – something to help us pin down the actual source.
It only happened twice on the day I posted.
If it happens again I’ll get a screenshot.
I was wondering whether or not there was a policy but if it hardly ever happens, no problem.
