Pop-up mania

[Neil Wyatt]

Fra

On Neil Wyatt Said:

[…]

I could suggest to Kelsey that they consider such a ‘premium’ forum membership that eliminates all but a tiny proportion of ads in a similar way. Would anyone be interested in this?

Neil

Frankly, Neil …

I think paid-up subscribers deserve a free forum

The ‘premium’ version should be for those who don’t buy ME&W

MichaelG.

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Q.  Have I just re-invented the Protection Racket ??

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

For our money would we get premium Model engineering and Workshop Content?

To me it is hardly surprizing what Google is serving up. Sometimes 50% of the latest replies can be Tea Room related threads many of which have nothing to do with Model Engineering or general homeworkshop subjects. Seems people are happy to talk about anything here but not happy if the ads are about anything.

As for targeted. I see ones for Alzheimers which is no doubt picking up on the age demograph. As for Dating sites for asian women , again some of these are aimed at older age groups and I know of several forum members who have married Thai or Philapino Women, even moved out there so again you could say it is targeted and that some would not take offence to an ad like that.

And lets face it we mostly all use loo roll so hard to be off target. But actually it is just one of many forms of “clickbait” which hope you will be curious and click to see what it is all about but the link takes you to something completely different.

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

At least you can identify the products in the adverts unlike the ones that come up on the weather radar site that show sometimes intriguing devices with no clue to their purpose.
It does seem that the googlebot is scraping the site subject matter to select adverts. Have you noticed that eg when someone on here enquired about Colchester parts a few days ago the Ebay search for ‘lathe’ served up some possible parts. This is a combination of the ebay ‘spyware’ and humans in the parting out business checking the forum.

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

I can appreciate the argument for the advertising, but what I am seeing I have never done any searches on. Adverts have never been my source of obtaining things that I want.

I have no need for a dating agency.

Since Kelsey have started using this form of advertising it has crept into other searches on Google. Despite me turning off all the advertisers and partners listed on the My Choices list. One such advert was nothing but pure Porn and this was during the morning.

As I said before, if the advertising is going to be about dating agencies and the like then I for one will not be coming so often. This surely will defeat the purpose of the exercise of having the ads in the first place. They were after all trying to reach a mass audience, not a diminishing one.

Regards

Gray,

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

..You’re telling us it is our own fault we are seeing this stuff? ..last resort of the morally bankrupt.. ..

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I don’t think anyone is saying No Advertisements per se. We don’t want Kelsey Media to fail!

Presumably if you use an ad-blocker the site is still paid to carry them: the blocker simply filters what we receive individually.

Rather, if we need ads, then Kelsey should choose ones tailored to the site’s general theme of amateur engineering – and that can cover things like vehicle restoring and historical machinery as well as building model steam-engines.

Not ads chosen by Google detecting that some obscure user with a thing about propping up loo seats buys frilly unmentionables for his Far Eastern “model”.   (Yes – a frillies ad has appeared a couple of times, between ones for concrete and Musk’s space-clutter.)

My “Favourites” index is mainly links to our suppliers, most of whom advertise in the magazine, and it struck me recently these seem fewer and fewer. They aren’t helped of course by users of this site happily extolling the big Chinese and US on-line “supermarkets”. Why do most not advertise here as well? Too expensive? Frozen out by Google?

 

Display ads, yes, as long as they don’t impinge on the main display area, but at least let’s have ones relevant to amateur crafts!

 

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Do kelsey actually have a say in what adverts come up, or do they just get a wodge of cash and an algorithm decides?

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

A second outfit seems to have muscled in.

Called Criteo or something like that, it is even tackier than Google. It lets you close an ad, then re-opens it only a few minutes later; and none are at all relevant or useful. Some are just meaningless images.

Criteo has has a sort of preference system, but it’s based on YOU WILL have the ads we decide, but YOU MAY turn “preferences” on so it will try to match ads to what the intrusive blighters pretend are your interests –  unlikely to be engineering, then.   It is also ambiguous, wilfully so: it’s not really clear what you are actually setting.

 

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

I don’t get any of that – perhaps it’s that I have AVG active.

And I also use NordVPN.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Hopefully have an answerin the next day or so as one of the Kelsey guys was out of the office yesterday.

I’m still waiting for toaster ads to start popping up!

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

The downside of allowing “personalised” advertising is that it gives Google et al more information about you. and more cookies of course.

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

The pop-up banner at the bottom of the page is a right pain, as it can get in the way of reading a post.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Hopefully have an answerin the next day or so as one of the Kelsey guys was out of the office yesterday.

I’m still waiting for toaster ads to start popping up!

Perhaps he’s on a date with one of these Korean lovelies ?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

When he gets back I’ll ask him to take down the Nigel’s frillies

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

Fra

On Neil Wyatt Said:

[…]

I could suggest to Kelsey that they consider such a ‘premium’ forum membership that eliminates all but a tiny proportion of ads in a similar way. Would anyone be interested in this?

Neil

Frankly, Neil …

I think paid-up subscribers deserve a free forum

The ‘premium’ version should be for those who don’t buy ME&W

MichaelG.

.

Q.  Have I just re-invented the Protection Racket ??

But then some readers of the print magazine would say ‘why should we pay for a forum we don’t use?’ and a proportion of the forum users who don’t subscribe would leave.

In the long term, though, I imagine many magazines will move to an online only format where the difference between a forum and a publication is blurred, rather like most newspapers are now, with premium content behind a paywall.

Only Kelsey’s ex-MTM titles have a forum at all; my first concern is to help ensure it continues to exist – to do so it has to add value for the publisher.

None of this is the publisher’s policy – just my musing.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Interesting. 5mins ago I ordered some fireproof board. Current ad at the bottom of the page is for fireproof board so it is quite possible the ads are targeted based on the user.

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

I got a Warco advert on the banner just now!

 

Jimb

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Yes they are working on things at the moment, Warco down the bottom but at the moment it coms and goes or even sits over the google add. I have also had the google ones fill the big top warco space

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Warco ads are useful as the quickest way to get to their site, faster than finding the favourites link.

On a different website, but probably coming here soon is some strong clickbait for our demographic – “new pension arrangements coming 31 march. Essential information…..”  I’m resisting the temptation so far.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Interesting. 5mins ago I ordered some fireproof board. Current ad at the bottom of the page is for fireproof board so it is quite possible the ads are targeted based on the user.

That makes no sense (at least to me).  Why send you an advert for something you’ve already bought?

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Perhaps the ads don’t track what you’ve bought, but what you’ve enquired of. So would have detected you were interested in fireproof board, rather than that you bought some.

Hoorah though!

Ads for Warco, Sarik, and Kelsey modellers’ magazines!

I’m now going to look for Belleville Washers so goodness knows what will replace Warco’s announcement of its next exhibition. (Errr, there isn’t a town somewhere, or a laundry called B….. Was…., is there?)

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