ex-webby

Hi All

Firstly. If you've seen the news about Facebook, and the major brands pulling out of advertising due to their ads being next to people promoting various things they don't want to be associated with, such as BNP, etc.. then you'll realise that this has affected ScoobyNet in quite a significant way.

The reason the adverts on the right hand side have been such poor quality of late, is that these big brands have also pulled out of ScoobyNet - for the same, quite understandable reasons, that they can't risk being associated with extreme content - one of the many reasons why we moderate to get rid of poor quality content like this.

Anyway...

In order to attempt to solve this (as the revenue is very important to keeping the site going) we have reconfigured the ad servers to try to generate slightly better quality ads from many different providers. This is called "chaining".

We ask one advertising agency to serve us adverts, but if it doesn't have one of suitable quality / type (in other words we block things like pop ups, ads that make noises, etc) then it passes the opportunity on to the next ad network we specify, who does the same, and passes it on again, etc, etc.

We have about 4 agencies in the chain currently for the banner on the right, and would like your comments on the quality of the adverts.

We realise that some of you just don't like the adverts at all, but unfortunately we just need them currently - although we're working on that.

So, for those of you that don't really mind the adverts, please let us have your comments, so that we can continue to tweak them. The adverts you see, will be different to those that we see, so we need as much input as possible.

In addition, any of your that have lots of experience with dealing with this kind of thing, please feel free to get in touch by pm'ing webmaster.

Thanks in advance

Webby

Sonic'

The advert I am currently seeing doesnt fit the width correctly, and has no scroll bars, so all I see is a picture of a woman with her arms folded

and because some of the text is missing, it just says 'If you're cheap'

I have no idea what they are advertising

Most of the ad content lately hasn't been too good, or relevant, mostly money loan type ad's or ad's for animal cruelty

Sonic'

Actually scrub that comment about the woman in the ad, the text is scrolling and had stopped running

I see a lot of adverts for Peugot's though

ex-webby

Sonic

Agreed re the content of the ads being poor. I explained the reason for that in my post.

So we need to tweak it now, in order to improve that.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

In general the ads are not a problem, I have yet to see a relevent one mind but, the one that really gets my goat and was at one stage the only ad being served no matter which page I went to was the one for National Express with the speaker pumping.

The ads need to be static if the are being served in this space, all these flashing animated ads are annoying and distracting.

As for ads at the top or bottom I don't care if they flash, sing or dance.

HTH
Steve

Scooby Soon!

The only advert I ever see is "Smiley Central" which I think is about as low as you can go on adverts (although im not moaning!)

mart360

Does this association go the other way??

After all i may object to my thread being posted next to elephant or ocean if they were unethical or had bl**dy annoying tv commercials



Prehaps we have a way of ending junk mail /spam... do something that gets you in the papers, and then make sure your wearing stuff that advertises the spammers/ junk mail providers... tell the world "the junkmail/spam made me do it"


mart

mart360

Quick Q on a serious note...

how do you get paid for the adds? how do the add providers / sponsors know people are looking at them?

I,m reading a book at the mo, and one of the comments made in the book about advertising was so true...


"People become immune to adverts, to the point that they effectively block them out"

This is very true, i hardly notice the adds in SN, (and no Shaun its not a green flag to add more (no pun intended)

However this then leads to advertisers to add gimmicks... flashing lights noises etc.. however they fail to see that by doing this all they stand to achieve is getting the add blocked by a fed up surfer..

It just goes to show how lucrative that 3% takeup rate is

Mart

Markus

Simon,
To be honest I don't overly notice the adverts, which in some ways is a good thing as I don't find them obtrusive.

ex-webby

Mart

This is absolutely true.

This is one of the reasons why we try very hard to block all ads that are overpowering, as its just not the thing to do in my opinion. You'd be amazed how much money they generate, but we've never been into that (despite what the odd few will say), as we believe that the member experience is way more important.

This is a massive subject though, and the ads DO work, if they are fresh, and relevant. But there are all sorts of ins and outs. One day when we've got more time, I'll go into it all

Phil

I can echo that

I removed them when you introduced the feature but put them back now

Content is varied to say the least but hey you don't have to click it

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

At least Smiley Central is something to do with internet forums. Didn't we have Ocean Finance popping up recently? Personally I wouldn't want to promote organisations like that at all, let alone on a site aimed at people with cars that can be cripplingly expensive to run.

I agree about the poor targeting of the ads on the right. National Express has to be a particularly poor example - why would I ever travel halfway across the country by coach, if (almost by definition) I have a scooby?

The top banner does seem to be relevant - scooby parts, insurance and the like. Presumably this uses a totally different arrangement, but it seems to work. Are there enough potential advertisers of such things who (presumably) have contacted SN directly, to use them on the right as well?

Shark Man

Being honest, what is in the ad is irrellevent, so the quality of it is of absolutely no matter - so long as it gets you the funding

Put it this way, none of the ads under the old system have enticed me to click on them, so therefore in that respect, their quality was poor anyway.

What is important is that it doens't affect the viewing of the site- i.e pop ups, or self-enlarging which block what your trying to view, or noises or inapproriate (adult) content. All of which you have addressed. So no problem

ex-webby

Guys

I've explained why the targetting has been poor lately, and this is what we're trying to rectify as of this afternoon, so I need comments on the current ads, not the old ones please.

And yes, we're just talking about the right hand side banners please.

Thanks for your input

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Well, the current one I'm seeing is "Puzzle Pirates". I have no idea what that is or what it means, and it certainly doesn't appear targeted specifically at the car enthusiast (which I'd have thought is about the only valid assumption that can be made about the SN audience in the absence of any further info).

By contrast, the bottom ad (Virgin Media) may only be promoting telecomms, but at least it says "win the ultimate superbike weekend" which does seem more relevant. Hand-picked or not?

Abdabz

I just won an hourly prize apparantly Up in the top right portion of the screen
I wont click through to see where it takes me.

Odds on

That one been bugging me for a bit on the top right. Wasn't going to say anything as the request for input was with regards to the one on the right, which don't really both me.....

Until the 'fart button' ad nearly gave me a bloody epileptic fit!

The AOL add thats playing as I type this is quite fast moving and distracting also.

ex-webby

Thanks for your comments so far chaps

I think the ads are always going to be slightly distracting, as the entire purpose of the advert is to catch the attention of the viewer.

What we DO do is make sure that any of the offensively distracting ones are taken away.. the ones that make a load of noise until you click them, or cover the page up until you click then, etc.

The important thing here is, are the adverts slightly better quality? You are always going to get a few that are just of no interest, the same as on TV, Radio or anywhere, but in the main, I'm hoping that we'll get them a little better with a few tweaks.

So, to be clear. I'm after input on the GENERAL AVERAGE since about midday today, not individual ads, or what was there before.

We'll move on to sorting the rest out later.

Cheers

Simon

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Interesting!! I am now getting my ads in German

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Still had "puzzle pirates" all afternoon so far. That in itself seems odd, I'd expect to see something different on every page - after all, if I'm not interested first time round, I'm unlikely to be any more interested on seeing the same ad for the tenth time.

Given the SN demographic I'd have thought there would be loads of things to advertise: anything to do with cars (obviously), sports, video games, holidays... I find it hard to believe that the ad market for all forums and other sites with user-generated content has suddenly dried up, where else do the big firms advertise at all?

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Puzzle Pirates (unless it has changed) is some sort of online game. You solve puzzles against other players. You form some sort of crew with other real life people. You then use that crew to pilot a ship and then do battle with other players ships. Those battles are won or lost depending on your ability to solve these puzzles better than your opponent (which are sort of tetris based).

Anyway, one of my friends really got into it. I thought it was pants and quit in total disbelief after 30 minutes of waiting for the penny to drop. I guess I was a bottomless pit of despair on that day Try it, you may like it

Smiley Central is not a good place to go if you ask me. The last time I looked at that it was an adware/spyware infested hole that just wanted to grab your homepage, install toolbars and constantly monitor where you go. I would encourage webby to look into that one, as if its still as bad as it was then I would suggest that adverts promoting adware are not appropriate for any site. Maybe they have changed it now, dunno A link to some info on the place: Smiley Central - Gladiator Security Forum I cannot go there, my security software won't let me view the site.

jasey

The ones on the right are fine.

The wibbly wobbly thing telling me I've won the hourly prize at the top creates the Impression I've stumbled into a Nigerian scam .

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

<ducks>

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Yes, yes, we all know that you can block them, but that is not what this thread is about

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Arguably if the ads are indeed directing the unsuspecting public towards sites that host malware, then that puts a new perspective on whether blocking them is a good idea. (I've no idea whether the allegations made against Smiley Central above are indeed true - but I'm not about to use my office PC to find out).

Meanwhile, back on topic...

ex-webby

Smiley Central will be blocked immediately if this is true...

Could someone please tell me which ad network is delivering this crap to us?

I haven't seen it yet?

ex-webby

PS. Apologies for Coffin Dodger.

This particular leech is a really weird one, as he's been posting under another name for YEARS, in a totally respectful and friendly manner, deceiving everyone with his trolling accounts, one particularly weird one where he pretends to be a hot young woman - really seriously - which we had to tell him to stop doing, as it was just really creepy even by his standards.

So, he doesn't have the guts to post as himself on any subjects like this, has been using this service and gaining out of it for years and years, and makes our lives harder by trolling, plus blocks the ads so it just costs us a load of money to keep serving him. On top of that he finds the whole thing really clever, and loves to take any opportunity to switch account, and give his big smilie clever cloggs grin to us and all of the paying subscribers, plus those who respectfully allow the banners to load, who have to carry him while he deceives them all.

It takes all sorts!

Alan C

Why concentrate on these 'low value' or off topic advertisers (I'm currently seeing a 'Zwinky' advert asking me to dress a doll) and not on how SNET can get back in touch with the higher value advertisers?

I'd strongly argue that SNET is nowhere near the social space that Face Book operates in. We are a car forum and 'specialise' in that area. It has technical features and concentrates on the car aspect and does not promote and indeed actively discourages 'low grade', negative and defamatory posting.

It empowers it's members to infract and ultimately ban trolls and other misfits who blight these other socially orientated sites.

The Webmaster and Moderators run this place exceedingly well and that is a strong positive message that should be pushed back to the people who have pulled their revenue and support.

I'll be upgrading to a Plus Member shortly to show my positive support for this excellent site.

Sonic'

How often do the ad's change ?

And are they supposed to be different for each forum you go on, as they seem to be the same ad on whatever part of the forum you go on, for quite a while

Jaybird-UK

The only ad I didnt want to see was the disturbing animal pictures, which is a shame as its such a good cause.

Question for you webby, do you earn more from ads if we actually click them? I dont mind clicking to odd advert once in a while if it helps

On the subject of people that create fake IDs to troll, this really ticks me off, I have seen on other forums that this is a banable offence creating a duplicate ID for that purpose. You have to be carefull with the odd person that posts personal issues and want to remain anon and shared computer networks or DHCP dial up users but most broadband people tend to have the same IP for a long time even if DHCP.

Back to adverts, keep them there where they are, plus users paying an annual subscription should continue to have the option to remove them.