Well, the current ads are for pop-up blockers. 
I’ve gotten used to the ads now. I think I’d miss them now, even the second one displaying on my screen right now, apparently advertising something in Dutch.
-Lil
Update us please, on the status of this discussion (since ad removal for paying customers obviously hasn’t happened yet).
Hey, I have a thread on buying Model Train tracks and 1 of the 3 google ads was useful. I would opt to keep them.
Haven’t heard yet;
I’ll ask Ed what’s up w/ the optional ads next time I see him online.
What if I use a “open in new window” command to open it? Would that affect anything (e.g. deprive the Straight Dope of the income)?
Shouldn’t affect, a click is a click.
TubaDiva
I’ve discussed the suggestion that we create an option to allow the membership not to view the Google ads and have had it reaffirmed to me that the desired intent was and is for the membership to see the ads.
You can find suggestions on how not to view the ads in the thread So, am I allowed to tell people how to circumvent the ads?
Jerry
Ah well. I suppose those willing to put down $15 for an internet message board are the ones most willing to put down other money elsewhere online.
No big deal. I trust TPTB have the sense not to introduce anything actually obtrusive, like images or popups. Otherwise, if it helps keep my playground open, I’m all for it.
hmm, looks like it’s pretty obvious who carries more weight with TPTB then…
let me get this out of the way right now…
i have NEVER in my time on the Internet, (dear Og, how long has it been, since the AOL 2.0 days, at least 10 years…) EVER clicked on any form of internet advertising, none, zero, zilch, nada, i DON’T click on internet ads, never have, never will
so, in my case, the google ads are useless, a waste of bandwidth, and do nothing but annoy me, i know i can’t be the only one here, the Reader won’t be making money off my click-throughs, as there won’t be any, and since my subscription fee obviously means nothing to the Reader, i may have to consider if re-upping is worth my money (so far it looks like the answer would be “no”)
the only way the google ads would work in my case, is if we went back to a non-subscription basis
oh well, back to browsing in Firefox with Adblock for me…
Right, well then when subscription time comes, you’ve lost my money. Congrats.
Ditto.
sigh
Okay then, Mods, or anyone with access to TPTB, what is the purpose of serving up ads to people that have stated UNEQUIVOCABLY that they WILL NOT click on the ads, all you’d need to do is slip a line of code in the user preference control panel that defaults the ads to on, and it’s up to the user to turn them off, everyone gets ads by default, those of us who choose not to see them can “opt out” as it were
a draconian “Ads for All!” policy will make this paying member actively reconsider re-subscribing, and that’d be a pity, as i like the SDMB, but it’s clear TPTB value the Almighty Dollar that the advertisers give them, rather than the paying subscribers
i don’t care if the ads are on by default, as long as i’m given a way to turn them off, think about it this way, i’m paying for my bandwidth, on MY computer that i paid my money for, i have every right to control what content i see/don’t see on the screen, and advertisers are NOT welcome on my machine, i don’t click on any internet ads, don’t respond to spam or pop-ups/unders either, in fact it’s my simple wish that all advertisers would simply piss off and go away
while i’m wishing for things, i’d also like a shark with a frickin’ laser beam on it’s head…
:rolleyes: +1 for originality, at least.
It’s surprising how many of you actually believed this would happen.
I didn’t really but I figured I’d give them a chance.
Well, now we know what’s what.
The ads are annoying and obnoxious, but at least it’s possible for SOME people to get rid of them. (Others who surf at work may not be able to take steps to block them.) Even worse are the content-free drive by comments peppered in every thread. “HAHAHA LOL OMGROFLOLRFOFL!!! Look at what the ads say now!!!” At least when my renewal comes up, I’ll know what I’ll be paying for.
I’m saddened that the management feels that they can inflict ads on paying customers, unlike every other message board that I pay to subscribe to (who have ads for non-payers and no ads once you subscribe.) Oh well, at least they were upfront about it before it came time to renew. I won’t be resubscribing.
In the time it took you to compose that, you could have enabled an ad blocker. Oh, well…
It’s not always possible. Unless the only computer you post from is your own.