# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![weef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@weef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weef)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/101 "2016-11-04T16:45:54Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > Oh my god this site is now complete shit. It crashes my iPad 3 safari every minute. God damn. > [@Fenris](#): > > Ditto here–iPad 4 crashes on Safari, Firefox or Atomic Browser\*. It also fucks up the sound (if I’m playing–not even streaming–music in the background, one of the ads kills the sound then crashes the browser despite the fact that I’m using a totally different app) for it. I just don’t browse the SDMB on any portable device any more. > > \*Which was a great app for a while. You can either subscribe to the site to have the ads removed or disable Javascript. I have an iPad 1 that became screaming fast with zero crashes once I subscribed to remove the ads. Disabling Javascript was similar but I don’t know how feasible that is for you. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/102 "2016-11-04T16:50:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Between this and the negative possibilities of Tuesday, I think we may be entering end times… Wasn’t this foretold in Revelation, AKA the Apocalypse of John? Seven Red Bulls, or seven ad popups, or…something. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/103 "2016-11-04T19:09:05Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Get Firefox on Android, then install uBlock Origin add-on. This should probably be the new tagline. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/104 "2016-11-05T06:07:29Z")
> [@weef](#): > > You can either subscribe to the site to have the ads removed or disable Javascript. I have an iPad 1 that became screaming fast with zero crashes once I subscribed to remove the ads. Disabling Javascript was similar but I don’t know how feasible that is for you. Disabling JavaScript definitely works, except that a bunch of other websites don’t work as normal. This situation is ridiculous, it’s actually not possible to type posts as the lag of the keyboard is beyond bearable. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/105 "2016-11-05T12:38:57Z")
Note: “Either subscribe or …” is bad advice if we are trying to get people to become interested in this site. First time visitors to a site are very unlikely to shell out $ right away. The appearance and usability of a site to newcomers is vital for a site to survive. Newcomers become regular visitors. Right now this site is driving them off. (What I did to make this site livable was to write my own userside script that yanks out the crap. This is includes the space killing stuff at the top and bottom of the pages. I’m _not_ going to recommend that to others, esp. first time visitors.) ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/106 "2016-11-05T17:36:55Z")
I’m not that swift at Internet ads. I’d this why after a few clicks on the site with my phone I get these hijack ads that take me to another page I can’t close telling me I won a Walmart gift card? It makes my phone vibrate. The only way I can get the browser to respond out of the ad is to take the battery out of my phone and restart it. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/107 "2016-11-05T17:58:32Z")
Also, when I tried to fumble through to the subscriptions part of the user control panel to see about paying (been on the board since 2005, lurked since 2000 I think) that Walmart vibrator ad came up. I was sketched out about putting the PayPal thing on after that. I’m willing to pay, but is there a way I could do it without clicking on that stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Deanna\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Deanna\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanna_D)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/108 "2016-11-05T22:13:23Z")
I’m browsing on Google Chrome, and went into my JavaScript settings, and continued to allow JavaScript to run…but I hit the “manage exceptions” button, then added the Straight Dope as an exception. I set it to “block,” and don’t see the docking ad, or any of the other ads on the page. JavaScript still works on other sites, just not this one now. I hate to do that, as I realize that the ads generate needed revenue for the site, but the docking ad just went too far. I don’t think that ads should ever make a website difficult to navigate, and these definitely did, especially with smaller screens. Oh, there is one downside, though. I can’t click on the “spoilers” box anymore, unless I enable JavaScript again. I do hope that the Powers That Be reconsider and get ride of the docking ads, though. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/109 "2016-11-06T01:21:47Z")
IIRC, other than spoiler boxes, the formatting functions while you’re composing a post don’t all work without JS. Not a problem if you code it all manually, though. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/110 "2016-11-06T01:38:20Z")
I’m finding that many of the sites I visit most often work perfectly well or at least adequately with Javascript turned off. So I find that I’ve got it off much of the time on the tablet, and that makes this site not only very zippily responsive but mercifully ad-free. I’m disappointed that of all the options being considered by TPTB to address the docking problem, the most obvious and simple one – stop the stupid docking ads – isn’t one of them. I think most of us would be fine with ads if the most obnoxious and intrusive ones were stopped, which to most of us I think would be the docking and the audiovisual ones. Speaking for myself, it’s the ads as such that are the problem, it’s the blatant interference with the usability of the site. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/111 "2016-11-06T08:56:01Z")
Aarrgh – I meant to say, “it’s NOT ads as such that are the problem, it’s the blatant interference with the usability of the site.” ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/112 "2016-11-06T19:35:19Z")
I just thought of something that I’d like to bounce off those of you who know a lot more about SEO than I do. Is it possible/likely that SDMB has been penalized by Google in its search results for having scummy ads? I know they’ve been doing that more and more, and this site has been flagged on some “naughty lists” before. Is it possible that the site’s recent ill-conceived efforts to increase ad revenue are more of the same thing that caused it to decline in the first place? (I admit, I’m sort of assuming a decline, but I think that’s the current default/unchallenged assumption.) ---
**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:** [November 8, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/113 "2016-11-08T07:43:21Z")
Yeah so AdBlock is no longer blocking these dicking ads on iOS Safari. I have no trouble on a PC but this site is such crap on a mobile device. ---
**Author:** ![Sario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sario/32/18580_2.png) [@Sario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sario)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/114 "2016-11-08T15:09:36Z")
I haven’t read this whole thread, but I would like to say the docking ads are quite objectionable. In a similar topic: while trying to log in I had a pop up add that that kept reappearing every time I closed it, and when it did it would make itself the main window, removing my cursor from where I was trying to type my username and password. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/115 "2016-11-09T12:54:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > They are objectionable. If they weren’t, they would be common on other sites. This sort of thing makes the site look like a junk website. I already don’t recommend the main website to anyone, since it will look like a junk content rehoster. > > If the site is actually this far gone that this stuff is necessary, tell us so we can start preparing for it to be shut down. Otherwise, stop making it worse. > [@Spiderman](#): > > I can **not** view SDMB at work because of these issues. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > 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. > [@elbows](#): > > I’m certainly not going to pay for the privilege. I don’t believe I’ll renew. > [@wolfpup](#): > > The issue of tablets or other devices or OSs that for whatever technical reason cannot block ads is one of several things that seems to have been overlooked here… > And now the sticky “docking” ads are really the last straw. > [@Lamia](#): > > The new ads cause my iPad browser to crash every few seconds. The obvious solution to this would be to remove the new ads. > [@weef](#): > > I have an old iPad 1 running iOS 5.1 and Safari crashes constantly with these new ads,… > Seems like SD’s new strategy of carpet bombing us with ads is misguided. > [@Cartooniverse](#): > > You’ve answered your own question. The more obtrusive to us, the more revenue is being gathered. > > I am a Charter Member and maintain that by paying what I consider to be a pittance for the privilege. I’m not really interested in paying $ 10.00 a month for the honor of posting here. > [@ftg](#): > > Unscrollable content is _always_ a bad idea. Very, very, very bad… > The horrible ad system this board is using is presumably driving off first time visitors (who are therefore potential future members). > > Businesses are notorious for being unable to properly evaluate how many lost new customers they drive away in a failed pursuit of gain revenue for existing customers. And since current customer numbers always dwindle, gaining new customers is a must. > > The people running things just aren’t seeing it. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I’m just a single data point, but I will say that I have severely curtailed my visits to this site on mobile devices. > [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > Oh my god this site is now complete shit. It crashes my iPad 3 safari every minute. God damn. > [@Fenris](#): > > Ditto here–iPad 4 crashes on Safari, Firefox or Atomic Browser\*. It also fucks up the sound (if I’m playing–not even streaming–music in the background, one of the ads kills the sound then crashes the browser despite the fact that I’m using a totally different app) for it. I just don’t browse the SDMB on any portable device any more. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have no trouble on a PC but this site is such crap on a mobile device. > [@Sario](#): > > I haven’t read this whole thread, but I would like to say the docking ads are quite objectionable. > [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > From comments above and experiment it appears most of the problems arise when viewing the SDMB on a mobile device screen in landscape mode. On screens with a c. 16:9 aspect ratio the docking ad takes up a large percentage of the available space. I’ve sent some questions to our vendor via our tech guy to see if there’s anything we can do about this. > > The real problem here is that the SDMB isn’t mobile friendly and mobile device users need to view the board in landscape so the type is big enough to read - in portrait the ads aren’t that big but the type is tiny. We have a redesign in the works that should address this problem, but I’ll see what we can do in the meantime. The teeming _dozens_ have spoken. Mobile is big & here to stay. We’re losing longtime posters, you’re losing members (& their revenue). Presumably first timers aren’t staying around either. At the very least, I suggest turning this crap off until you figure out mobile. Any chance of that happening? I get revenue, I really do, but you need to think about how much revenue you’ll (not) get off of so many fewer eyeballs. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/116 "2016-11-10T17:41:07Z")
Just to say, I’m still reeling from the shock of the US election, and normally the Dope is where I turn for community and analysis. I tried to read a couple of threads, but this new style of ad is so annoying that I spent no more than a couple of minutes here. It’s like my community has all started midnight jogging in clown suits or something, and while I miss them, it’s just not worth it to join them. I’m still checking in, but the habit is more annoyance than pleasure. I’m really going to miss this place, but I guess it’s time to go. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/117 "2016-11-12T00:29:44Z")
Hey, whatever, guys. As long as the powers that be don’t have to get real jobs. …for now… ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/118 "2016-11-12T02:23:32Z")
This new ad is irritating and problematic on my Kindle Fire. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/119 "2016-11-12T17:25:05Z")
so that’s what you call this, docking ads. wow, what an incredibly good choice if you want to drive away posters. ads were never a problem for me before, I guess because I am on a chromebook - never had to have any kind of ad block even. but this is awful - I have to close the stupid ad every time I open a thread or go to the next page and it frequently is already making noise which interferes with whatever I am listening to, radio show or youtube or whatever. if the default is to have the ad’s noise off it isn’t always working. at least now I know not to even try getting on the board with my phone. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616/120 "2016-11-13T01:27:02Z")
I don’t know if this would help anyone but ---- I just noticed that if I bookmark a thread and enter and sign in through that rather than the main I don’t get any ads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-docking-ad-will-start-soon/769616.md?page=7)