# Banner ads? You're kidding, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 28, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090 "2007-11-28T21:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/441 "2007-11-29T20:49:24Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] Do folks here not buy magazines because of the ads? [/QUOTE] No I do not. I hate ads for the most part. The only magazine that I buy is Motorcycle Consumer News, which costs around $50 a year, but has zero ads. I rarely every buy another magazine, maybe once a year. I would rather pay more then have ads everywhere. Hell I had to put up with ads on a fucking plane the other day on the seat in front of me. Ads on a fucking plane. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/442 "2007-11-29T20:50:11Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] 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. [/QUOTE] Uhhh … such posts aren’t only just off-topic for most of the subforums (except maybe the Pit), but also borderline spamming. If you’re mad, continue this thread, write TPTB (maybe even vis snail mail), add something in your signature … anything non-destructive, that doesn’t viol;ate the SDMB rules. Please don’t fark up this site. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/443 "2007-11-29T20:54:30Z")
**Lightnin’** you’ll just get banned and the threads will be deleted. Only the people actually looking at the site at that moment will see them. If you think that lots of people will fall on their sword with you then think again. You’ll get socks and trolls joining in but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/444 "2007-11-29T20:59:41Z")
**Elmwood, Yojimbo** - those are valid points about it being spamming. However, _what do we do_? Any silent boycott is doomed to failure, even if only from a lack of cohesiveness. It’s been pointed out, repeatedly, that Firefox and Adblock can get rid of the ads. How long do you think that’s going to last, if every member uses that to ignore the ads? TPTB will surely work on getting around it in some way, if they aren’t already. Should we just hold onto our ankles and think of the SDMB which used to be? ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/445 "2007-11-29T20:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] Do folks here not buy magazines because of the ads? [/QUOTE] I used to work for a magazine, and the day I realized that 95% of content was driven by advertising and advertising alone is the day I stopped reading magazines under any circumstances. Chalk me up as another who won’t re-up if the ads stay. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/446 "2007-11-29T21:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] **Elmwood, Yojimbo** - those are valid points about it being spamming. However, _what do we do_? Any silent boycott is doomed to failure, even if only from a lack of cohesiveness. It’s been pointed out, repeatedly, that Firefox and Adblock can get rid of the ads. How long do you think that’s going to last, if every member uses that to ignore the ads? TPTB will surely work on getting around it in some way, if they aren’t already. Should we just hold onto our ankles and think of the SDMB which used to be? [/QUOTE] If it stays the way it is now (I’m not seeing the ads as they are blocked but that matters less that the thought process behind the move IMO) I’m doing the only thing I can. Walk at re-up time with my money in my wallet and not theirs. I’ll be sad to do it but I feel strongly about it. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/447 "2007-11-29T21:16:28Z")
[QUOTE=SisterCoyote] I used to work for a magazine, and the day I realized that 95% of content was driven by advertising and advertising alone is the day I stopped reading magazines under any circumstances. Chalk me up as another who won’t re-up if the ads stay. [/QUOTE] I also worked for a magazine. I still subscribe to _Newsweek_. I don’t mind generating two types of revenue for them, because they have two types of expenses. They have to physically produce the magazine, and they have to generate the content. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/448 "2007-11-29T21:20:06Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] I’m trying to think of reasons to stay here, and am having trouble. The topics I like to discuss are marginalized, and fighting the good fight about that has soured the whole thing for me. Plus I’m embarassed by my ridiculously high post count; it screams “LOSER!” loud and clear. [/QUOTE] I’m puzzled by that last remark. Lots of people have way higher post counts than you do. Please don’t leave, you have one of the best usernames ever. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/449 "2007-11-29T21:36:59Z")
[QUOTE=Edward The Head] Ads on a fucking plane. [/QUOTE] Somehow, I think people would like Snakes on a fucking plane better. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/450 "2007-11-29T21:37:39Z")
Wow, I leave the country for a relaxing week of international travel, and I come back to a howling meltdown of industrial-strength wackiness. I can’t decide whether I should handcuff myself to my desk or schedule more frequent getaways. I’ve always been extremely aggressive about keeping offensive material off my computers\* both at home and at work, so as soon as I understood the situation I implemented several layers of blocking options, including but not limited to the HOSTS solution mentioned above. I’m ad-free, and will continue to be as long as the technology permits user-level control. That said, it’s entirely understandable that others many not be as comfortable tinkering with their configuration as we IT types are, and that their alternatives are limited, so I give myself permission to feel some anger and disappointment on their behalf, even though I am not and will not be affected by the change. Further, the basic principle involved here, to wit, paid members being further soaked, and not enjoying the benefits of what is, in Internet terms, a fairly substantial membership fee, is enormously significant, and reflects quite poorly on the _Reader_’s decision-makers. Therefore, for the benefit of those who don’t have the technical capacity to block delivery of this content, and further in consideration of the general principle of the situation, let me say this: Dear Reader Management: Please remove the ads for paying members, or feel free to massage my quivering taint with your unlidded eyeball. That is all. \*Unless, of course, I put it there deliberately. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/451 "2007-11-29T21:38:16Z")
As a form of protest, how about all of us that are so inclined use something to the effect of what **Lightnin’** suggested. Like… “Paid membership buys you banner advertisement! Brought to you by another Doper Ready To Strike!!” or something similiar. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/452 "2007-11-29T21:49:21Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] Anyhow, back on topic. I’m tempted to start an SDMB alternative, but I’m already spending enough time maintaining one Web site with a forum. If anyone needs advice on how to start and administer a vBulletin-based site, though, I’m here to help. [/QUOTE] Why _don’t_ we start our own message board? jimm mentioned DreamHost in another thread and I think people should think seriously about this, starting our OWN message board, instead of taking over someone else’s, or just scattering to the winds. I’ve had a DreamHost account for over a year that I pay $9.95 a month for (that’s because I pay monthly, it’s cheaper if you pay for a year, or two years, in advance). I’m only using 7% of my 269.7 available gb. My bandwidth availability is 5384gb. I’d offer my account, gladly, but a new account gets even MORE benefits. 500gb disk storage, 5 _terrabytes_ of bandwidth a MONTH. [Here’s a page](https://dreamhost.com/hosting.html) with all they offer. I don’t know the first thing about most of that stuff, because I only use my account to host mp3s, which is why most of it is going to waste, but it looks to me like it would provide just about everything needed, at a MUCH cheaper cost. Dreamhost even offers a way so that people can donate money via PayPal that goes directly to the bill, and not to anyone running the site. This is what they say about that: > [@](#): > > Just fill out the form below and we’ll give you some HTML code to paste into your website that allows any site visitor to make a donation via PayPal towards your bill with us (donations may not be cashed out)! > > This is way easier than asking them to buy you a gift certificate, and is more appealing to some visitors because they know their money is going to pay your hosting bill and not being blown on your strange Tickle-Me Elmo fetish! > > Note: There is a processing fee of 5% plus $0.30 deducted from donations before they are applied to your bill. The Dreamhost people are VERY cool, which is one of the reasons I’m sticking with them. On the very very rare times there’s a technical problem, they keep their customers very well informed as to what’s going on. Seems like it would take a little bit of initial investment (which I can’t provide…I’m paying monthly because I can’t afford a year’s payment in advance), setting up the message board, some tweaking to make it all look familiar and there we go. It’d have to be set up by someone trusted though, or most people wouldn’t move over. Again, I wouldn’t mind offering my account to set up a message board, if no one else wants to start a new account, but I don’t know the first thing about message boards and would need security and setup help, but a new, fresh account would be better. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/453 "2007-11-29T21:52:07Z")
Just wanted to add another “Fuck you very much!” to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/454 "2007-11-29T22:04:02Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] It’d have to be set up by someone trusted though, or most people wouldn’t move over. [/QUOTE] That’s probably the rub, right there. I mean sure, I can volunteer to do it, but I don’t know if I look all that good in my Pied Piper suit, and I have no idea who would follow me. If they didn’t follow, I’d be hanging out in my own little playground WITH NO FRIENDS! ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/455 "2007-11-29T22:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] That’s probably the rub, right there. I mean sure, I can volunteer to do it, but I don’t know if I look all that good in my Pied Piper suit, and I have no idea who would follow me. If they didn’t follow, I’d be hanging out in my own little playground WITH NO FRIENDS! [/QUOTE] You’ve been around for a long time! I’d sure trust you and follow you. Hey, you paid for my membership once. I’m loyal to you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/456 "2007-11-29T22:08:36Z")
Well, one positive is that the ads are now atop the big banner at the top. Looks nicer aesthetically, harder to accidentally expand. Downside? Still there. I just ponied up for my first year, and it’s rather irksome that they added this. Never felt the need to get adblock, but I think I’ll look into it at sometime in the very near future. (How would I go about doing it and keeping the Google ads? I like seeing random little bits of surreality at the bottom of a page.) ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/457 "2007-11-29T22:09:12Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] That’s probably the rub, right there. I mean sure, I can volunteer to do it, but I don’t know if I look all that good in my Pied Piper suit, and I have no idea who would follow me. If they didn’t follow, I’d be hanging out in my own little playground WITH NO FRIENDS! [/QUOTE] Little known fact: I have a _huge_ Pied Piper fetish, so I’d follow you anywhere, baby 😉 Ok, but seriously: I just looked up the Pied Piper on Wiki because, well, it had been a while since I’ve heard the story and I was trying to remember if it was rats or kids he took with him. And, um, > [@](#): > > While the inhabitants were in church, he played his pipe again, this time attracting the children of Hamelin. One hundred and thirty boys and girls followed him out of the town, where they were lured into a batcave and sodomized repeatedly with the Pied Pipers pipe until they died from torn rectums. The children were never seen again except on Halloween when they haunt the town. Depending on the version, at most two children remained behind (one of whom was lame and could not follow quickly enough) who informed the villagers what had happened when they came out of the church. The Pied Piper is the most notorious sodomizer in history. _WHAT?_ :eek: I’ve changed my mind, **jsgoddess**. You stay the hell away from my rectum. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/458 "2007-11-29T22:10:11Z")
I hate the idea that we’ll all scatter to the winds. Hate it. I also think that it’d be tough to invade another board, they probably wouldn’t be too happy. The question is not _whether_ this board will be shut down, but rather _when_. We- **the posters** -need to be proactive, not reactive. We need to do this sooner rather than later, before we have lost most of our posters to 50 different sites, leaving the last ones to assemble somewhere to become it’s own little fiefdom. I second the opinion we need to start a new messageboard. Now, while we still have a following and momentum. I have no technical ability, but I know how to write a check. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/459 "2007-11-29T22:11:51Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I mean sure, I can volunteer to do it, but I don’t know if I look all that good in my Pied Piper suit, and I have no idea who would follow me. If they didn’t follow, I’d be hanging out in my own little playground WITH NO FRIENDS! I would check out your place if you made one, but you’ve made no secret of your dislike for me. Not making a point of that per se, but just a point about how people might split off. When they close this place, there’ll probably be a lot of scattering to here and there. Maybe instead of being lonely, you’d end up with a lot of people who are well matched to you. On the other hand, some people like hearing a diversity of opinions. That might be harder to make happen unless you make clear who is welcome. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090/460 "2007-11-29T22:12:26Z")
[QUOTE=SomeUserName] It is not on the resricted list. It is on no list I can see. I assume it is saved in the default of “Internet” but I can not view the URLs under that zone, or if I can I don’t know where to look, so I can remove it and then place it on the restricted list. [/QUOTE] Look to see if you have it on the list of webpages that you allow script popups on (since there’s a popup for linking). The first time I tried to add in the restriction it didn’t paste what I copied - cut it short - and blocked this page all together for a few minutes so you might want to make sure it’s the exact url pasting in too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-youre-kidding-right/428090.md?page=24)