# New "docking" ad will start soon **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 24, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616 "2016-10-24T19:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/21 "2016-10-25T13:12:55Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I thought there already was an opt-in way to support the board (and avoid ads) by contributing a nominal amount. I must be mistaken. I’m almost never logged in when I’m here, because I don’t want all my read-threads to be updated without me seeing them. Plus, I don’t think being logged in affects what ads you see on the front page anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/22 "2016-10-25T13:32:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I thought there already was an opt-in way to support the board (and avoid ads) by contributing a nominal amount. I must be mistaken. There is. But you do have to be logged in, which is not always convenient, and I suspect that wall is going to start eroding on the sort of “selective” basis I noted. It’s between CR and what the advertisers demand, and increasingly the ad brokers hate and reject non-ad options because it undercuts their reach and, more significantly, keeps reminding people that ads are an intrusion. They want ads to become part of the entire landscape as they are in other media, so that this kind of resistance (and _encourager les autres_) will go away. As I said, we’d like to think of SDMB as something special, and from the user perspective it is and always has been. But from the ownership POV, it’s just a revenue-generator that hasn’t been fully exploited, and that keeps them up at night. So the endless badgering and blandishments from the brokers, and premium rates for having no ad-free option or at least a “limited” tier, sound more and more convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/23 "2016-10-25T13:47:04Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I’m almost never logged in when I’m here, because I don’t want all my read-threads to be updated without me seeing them. Plus, I don’t think being logged in affects what ads you see on the front page anyway. The OP was only addressing the SDMB pages, which are all ad free for paid members. Not sure what you are referring to as the front page. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/24 "2016-10-25T15:24:48Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > - This was my opinion when the SDMB went pay a number of years back, I don’t know about actual statistics, but it did seem to take a big hit. It’s my opinion, as well. I joined the Board, but a LOT of people dropped away. Some of them couldn’t afford to pay, and many of them resented the idea of being asked to pay to generate content. I consider my membership dues fair for the value received, but even if the Board took out all the ads and the readership raised enough money to replace the revenue, it wouldn’t turn this place into the Algonquin Round Table. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/25 "2016-10-25T15:43:19Z")
This just feels like a giant drift downmarket. Why even bother holding the line on avatars and emojis and full sentences? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/26 "2016-10-25T15:50:20Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > It’s my opinion, as well. I joined the Board, but a LOT of people dropped away. Some of them couldn’t afford to pay, and many of them resented the idea of being asked to pay to generate content. You realize that was 15, 16 years ago? The net was a completely different place, still clinging to the idea that it was The Peoples’ Park, free of all that capitalist nonsense. I think pay-to-support-the-playground is pretty acceptable, as long as it’s not exclusionary and the stick isn’t too vigorously applied. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/27 "2016-10-25T16:31:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > You realize that was 15, 16 years ago? The net was a completely different place, still clinging to the idea that it was The Peoples’ Park, free of all that capitalist nonsense. > > I think pay-to-support-the-playground is pretty acceptable, as long as it’s not exclusionary and the stick isn’t too vigorously applied. This. I just listened to an [interview](http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/10/17/498237314/how-free-web-content-traps-people-in-an-abyss-of-ads-and-clickbait) with Tim Wu, author of **The Attention Merchants** , which discussed this very topic, “How Free Web Content Traps People In An Abyss Of Ads And Clickbait”. Quite interesting, and pretty hopeless sounding unless people are willing to cough up some dough for content (which I’ve been doing here for over 12 years). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/28 "2016-10-25T16:53:44Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > This. I just listened to an [interview](http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/10/17/498237314/how-free-web-content-traps-people-in-an-abyss-of-ads-and-clickbait) with Tim Wu, author of **The Attention Merchants** , which discussed this very topic, “How Free Web Content Traps People In An Abyss Of Ads And Clickbait”. But no one ever pays attention to ads, so it doesn’t matter, right? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/29 "2016-10-25T17:37:33Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I thought there already was an opt-in way to support the board (and avoid ads) by contributing a nominal amount. I must be mistaken. FTR: I predict that in a year the only difference for someone paying to be a member and not paying is that they will both see ads - just that the person paying will see fewer of them. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/30 "2016-10-25T17:41:58Z")
While this won’t affect me here, I don’t object to unobtrusive ads and will usually accede to requests for ad-blocker exemptions. A narrow docked ad at the bottom? I don’t mind. Occasional sidebar ads? Fine–it might even be something I’m interested in, which is pretty much the objective of online advertising. But if the ad-to-content ratio is ridiculously high, then I do use my ad-blocker for those sites. What’s ‘ridiculously high’? While there’s no hard and fast answer, I’d say 30%–typical of TV commercial breaks to prime time content–is ridiculously high. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/31 "2016-10-25T18:22:38Z")
I was worried the ads were malware on my phone or something. They are ugly, tacky, irrelevant, annoying, obtrusive, and have finally made me look into ad blocking options for my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/32 "2016-10-25T22:38:26Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > they don’t strike me as objectionable. except for [ul] [li]when they play audio as part of the ad; usually on a time delay after the screen loads.[/li][li]when you zoom on a mobile device the ad also increases it’s proportionally, meaning it’s now taking up ½ of the screen.[/li][/ul] I can **not** view SDMB at work because of these issues. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/33 "2016-10-25T22:46:03Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > FTR: I predict that in a year the only difference for someone paying to be a member and not paying is that they will both see ads - just that the person paying will see fewer of them. I’ll be here to point out you were wrong. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/34 "2016-10-25T23:06:55Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I was worried the ads were malware on my phone or something. They are ugly, tacky, irrelevant, annoying, obtrusive, and have finally made me look into ad blocking options for my phone. On Android, at least, Firefox is available with many extensions. I don’t know if they work for Firefox in iOS. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/35 "2016-10-25T23:16:51Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > except for > [ul] > [li]when they play audio as part of the ad; usually on a time delay after the screen loads.[/li][li]when you zoom on a mobile device the ad also increases it’s proportionally, meaning it’s now taking up ½ of the screen.[/li][/ul] > I can **not** view SDMB at work because of these issues. Or they’re hosted on a slow server with an insufficient connection and the page won’t load until after they do. I’ve had SDMB pages hang and an OOKLA speed test says I’m over 200mbps. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/36 "2016-10-26T00:08:45Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > On Android, at least, Firefox is available with many extensions. I don’t know if they work for Firefox in iOS. Adblock Plus is available for many different platforms and browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Android (with some limitations for non-rooted devices). I know Adblock Plus works on Safari for iPhones and iPads. Not sure about Firefox on iOS. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/37 "2016-10-26T00:35:07Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Cyros, you don’t have to root your device. Use AdBlocker browser. Is this on iOS? I’ve been using Mercury to access the Dope because it blocked the pop up ads that were endemic here, but I am seeing these docking ads. What is a good free browser for the iPhone that will block all ads? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/38 "2016-10-26T00:36:37Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > Or they’re hosted on a slow server with an insufficient connection and the page won’t load until after they do. > > I’ve had SDMB pages hang and an OOKLA speed test says I’m over 200mbps. The page has loaded, or so I’ve thought. I’m reading the third or fourth new post…& _then_ the audio assault occurs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/39 "2016-10-26T15:37:56Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The page has loaded, or so I’ve thought. I’m reading the third or fourth new post…& _then_ the audio assault occurs. This just happened to me. Obnoxious. Unacceptable. And by that I mean I will keep following the threads I’ve posted in, but I’ll find somewhere else to read. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/40 "2016-10-26T16:03:11Z")
Well, I _love_ having the bottom of the page obscured by an ad. It makes me want to spend more time here, and subscribe! Yessirree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616.md?page=3)