# SDMB and their ADs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079 "2017-11-19T17:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [November 21, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/41 "2017-11-21T21:06:24Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > To be fair, there are other benefits of joining. You get to put a cutesy phrase under your username, and you can be all judgy and morally superior with the freeloaders. But there’s no “like” button next to your post. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/42 "2017-11-21T21:38:18Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Thanks for being part of the SDMB and doing such a lovely job of “fighting ignorance”. I certainly do appreciate that you don’t feel like joining and paying a fee. And I appreciate that you’re one of the two or three douchier twats who pollute every single thread about malware ads on the Durp with the unhelpful disadvice that if you just pay, you won’t see the ads. Please go back to that cactus and fuck it again. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/43 "2017-11-21T21:53:28Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The point is, people coming to the boards from, say, a Google search are less likely to join and pay for a subscription if they’re subject to all the pop-ups and browser hijacks they’re served with here. Make visiting here a positive experience, and they may pay their $14.95 to join. As it is now, there’s no incentive, unless you call paying for the privilege of not downloading malware an incentive. And a negative incentive is worse than none at all. As for me, I don’t see the added value in paying for a membership. I don’t care if I have a custom title, I don’t care if my location and posts are displayed, and I’m not selling anything in the Marketplace. And I already don’t see ads, and that’s the most important thing to me. Personally, I don’t pay to get “added value.” I don’t give a crap about any of those things either. I pay because I want to support a site that I enjoy. That said, I don’t care specifically who pays and who doesn’t. To each their own. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/44 "2017-11-21T21:54:43Z")
It’s also fucking hilarious to expect a noob to fork over fifteen bucks not only with the malware serving and the crippled search and the like but now there’s also MALFUNCTIONING SKINS and no actual nice skins to choose from, no picture capability, no avatars, and bullshit arbitrary restrictions on things like post counts and user titles that are bog standard vBulletin features that even the most podunk of message boards set up for a local high school would have enabled as standard equipment. All this place has is a large volume of posts that can’t be searched without Google and an ever lessening group of technotarded grumpy ass posters continually regurgitating and rehashing the same goddamned arguments they’ve done to death over the years. Big fuckin’ whoop. HAY GUISE PAY MONEY FOR THE CRIPPLEBOARD SO YOU DON’T GET VIRUSES YOU CAN AVOID WITH THREE SECONDS TO INSTALL AN ADBLOCKER!!! That’s just how stupid this argument is. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/45 "2017-11-21T22:06:22Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Shaken down? My, what a snowflake. > > If real-life mobsters threatened me in order to get me to pay them 2 cents a day, with a pretty solid commitment that the rate wasn’t going to increase, I would hesitate to call the cops about being blackmailed. Shaken down, ha. What is your benchmark for actionable extortion? ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/46 "2017-11-21T22:36:47Z")
Charlie: “_Just out of curiosity, how much money would it take for you to wrestle a gun from a mugger ?_” Alan: “_Assuming a small-to-medium-sized mugger, at least 40_.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/47 "2017-11-21T22:45:31Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The OP is also complaining about popups and being hijacked away from the site. That’s hardly unobtrusive. OK. I’ve never seen a pop-up on my phone, nor have I been hijacked. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/48 "2017-11-21T23:46:20Z")
I just use google to search the boards anymore. It’s not ideal, but what can you do? > [@kayT](#): > > If you join for less than the price of an extra-large pizza once a year, you won’t see ads on here no matter what device you use. Sorry to keep banging on this one but I don’t get why people who come here often for years don’t want to just join and solve the problem. And for absolutely zero, I can use adblockers\* and get the same result. I’m not about to support something whose business model consists of “That’s a nice computer. Be ashamed if something happened to it.” Quite frankly, I’d rather have that pizza. \*It takes THREE adblockers, at least, to get rid of them all, btw. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/49 "2017-11-22T01:05:26Z")
It never ceases to amaze me how many of the posters here have been complaining for years, YEARS, about the ads, and how shitty the software is, and what an altogether rotten site it is, and how they will never, ever, give the site a penny of membership money, ever, and yet, here they are. Still. But they all have time to come here and call me names for saying for gods sake join up and shut up. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/50 "2017-11-22T01:10:28Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > It never ceases to amaze me how many of the posters here have been complaining for years, YEARS, about the ads, and how shitty the software is, and what an altogether rotten site it is, and how they will never, ever, give the site a penny of membership money, ever, and yet, here they are. Still. But they all have time to come here and call me names for saying for gods sake join up and shut up. Whatever. Why join if you can block the ads for free? Join if you like, but if you’re going to call folks who don’t subscribe freeloaders, you can stick it up your ass. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/51 "2017-11-22T01:11:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > OK. I’ve never seen a pop-up on my phone, nor have I been hijacked. > > Why is that? I don’t know. Just lucky I guess. I get them on Chrome. That’s why I don’t use Chrome. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/52 "2017-11-22T01:14:59Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Personally, I don’t pay to get “added value.” I don’t give a crap about any of those things either. I pay because I want to support a site that I enjoy. That said, I don’t care specifically who pays and who doesn’t. To each their own. And I appreciate that. Some posters are too damn sanctimonious for their own good. \*looks at **kayT**. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/53 "2017-11-22T01:15:56Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > It never ceases to amaze me how many of the posters here have been complaining for years, YEARS, about the ads, and how shitty the software is, and what an altogether rotten site it is, and how they will never, ever, give the site a penny of membership money, ever, and yet, here they are. Still. But they all have time to come here and call me names for saying for gods sake join up and shut up. Whatever. Actually, I’m just tired of reading your constant, tedious, thread-shitting spewages every time one of these questions appears. Now go back to satisfying yourself with a cactus. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/54 "2017-11-22T02:16:52Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > It never ceases to amaze me how many of the posters here have been complaining for years, YEARS, about the ads, and how shitty the software is, and what an altogether rotten site it is, and how they will never, ever, give the site a penny of membership money, ever, and yet, here they are. Still. But they all have time to come here and call me names for saying for gods sake join up and shut up. Whatever. Because, you freaking moron, I can come here for free, and use adblockers, and keep my computer safe. I’m not giving this website one goddamned red cent, since they don’t give a shit about potentially infecting my computer. But they don’t give a shit about how much I paid for my laptop. (Actually, I’m planning on getting myself a new one soon) The SDMB is an amusing distraction for me, that’s all. Some of us may choose to spend those “mere pennies” or whatever, on other things. And that’s okay. What’s NOT okay is to tell people people the only way to avoid infecting their computer is to spend money, no matter how little it costs. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079/55 "2017-11-22T15:10:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > And for the umpteeth fucking time, the search engine is part of the vBulletin canned package and can’t be changed. That answer doesn’t help me or get me a working search engine like every other forum I’ve visited in my ample years on the internet. If the whole package has a broken shitty search engine then they should have gotten a new package a fifteen years ago. What sort of website prides itself on expanding knowledge and then shrugs and says “Whelp, thems the softwares…” when you can’t reliably search for said knowledge? Anyway, I was a subscriber for years so the “boohoo, people complain but they never give” doesn’t hold any weight for me. One year, I didn’t re-up in time because of the ludicrous way you had (have? don’t know if it’s changed) to subscribe and lost my Charter Member title. I couldn’t see the point in paying even more (since I lost the charter sub rate as well) for less and let it ride for free. At the same time, I told myself that paying for a forum that lacked basic functionality that every other forum I’ve ever used had was pretty silly and so my metric would be when this place got its act together and had a working search engine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-and-their-ads/802079.md?page=2)