This site needs to rethink advertising

[VulpesVulpes]

Hi Everyone!

This is a little vent from an ex-user of the site that has in the last few days remembered why I don't visit here any more. The intrusive advertising is beyond the joke, almost to the point of offensive.

I totally understand why this site has and needs advertising, and although it was the final straw that pushed me away from the site, I actually get why you have anti-ad-blockers running, and I would be happy to white-list the advertising wasn't such a joke.

The good: the relevant advertising that you have going here is bang-on so kutos to using a decent ad-provider. I would say that I have clicked the most adverts on this site than any other because they are relevant to what I want.

The Bad: my god do you need to ram them down my throat at every possible opportunity?!?! Each page has half a dozen loaded ads at a minimum

The Ugly: Whoever thought pop up/over advertising was a good idea needs to hand back the keys. Adverts that actively intrude and impede the ability to consume content on this site help nobody.

On the web, less is generally more. I wont pay $75 for an AFF membership. If you did $5/10 for mobile site access (silly that you restrict this!) and advert free experience people would sign up in droves. If you allowed traffic to visit your site easily from all platforms without make the site un-user friendly then your traffic increases from a better SEO score would pay for itself. I am sure a lot of people like me do not care for things like the value pack, and I am not going to swing you a pineapple to not see ads.

Your current silver price is about 70% of the cost of what a year of spotify premium costs me, its not worth it!

This is a great site with good users and good content. Go back and think about how you do things stop strangling this site!

Cheers
/rant

 

[LordGarlic]

Bye bye vulpes!!!

 

[OzEire]

Well I wouldn't put it quite that way but OP has some good points.

Paying membership just to get app access is not right, particularly when the app is so flakey. With current app issues I can't bring myself to fork out again for another year of this frustration.

I personally don't mind the ads and will either endure them or quit regular visits when my current membership expires.

There is zero chance of me ever clicking through a third party ad on any site, but it's great that admin can get some $$ to host.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I don't think that the OP understands how a capitalistic world works. Hope they enjoy communism.

 

[andye]

I'm sure my subscription has saved me many multiples of its cost

 

[Denali]

I dont even notice the ads but for the OP,

 

[VulpesVulpes]

I personally don't mind the ads and will either endure them or quit regular visits when my current membership expires.

You would be surprised - they have become more intrusive, you may start to give up. I am glad someone shares some of my thoughts!

I don't think that the OP understands how a capitalistic world works. Hope they enjoy communism.

Hahaha I love the internet, I am not suggesting communism is the answer, rather the opposite. It is all about what a market will bear and your average Joe isn't going to drop $50/75 on this site. It is why I put the spotify example in my OP to show what a market will bear. I am an analyst by day so I am actually qualified on this stuff, but I don't expect the admin to take notice (although they are reading this thread, and liked some posts such as OzEire so maybe they do agree with some of my points?!). If they made the subscription model attractive, maybe they could earn a lot more at a lower price with more volume (crazy I know!). This is capitalism in its element!

I like this site and would hate to see it go the way of VA Source (although, that 'reason' is in question)

Fix the over-the-top ads, or fix the subscription model and the site will do better. Get crazy and do both!

I'm sure my subscription has saved me many multiples of its cost

See, this isn't the case for me. I value this site, but not to the tune of $50/yr

 

[Ric]

As for me, and this is strictly IMHO, the knowledge/value that I gained from this site far outweighs the value of $50/yr.

 

[Deleted member]

I don't like advertising either, so I pay the money, and enjoy the Ad free world of AFF. it is such a small cost it hardly matters

 

[OzEire]

As for me, and this is strictly IMHO, the knowledge/value that I gained from this site far outweighs the value of $50/yr.

A greater number of knowledgeable members (and their contributions) ought to mean a more valuable site... for everyone. Those who are more involved, contribute more, go to meet ups, etc are probably the ones who pay for membership. Whereas others can drive by to read or rant for free.

Just seems a bit odd (to borrow a phrase) for the 'lifters' pay to keep active - in my case on the phone while travelling- while the 'leaners' benefit from free content. Without the app I wouldn't access the site while travelling (this is most of the time) and therefore not contribute.

I'd rather the site find another mechanism rather than making app access linked to membership.

 

[samh004]

I was unemployed when I discovered this site and I'm a student now, yet I found the value in a subscription to the site. Everyone has differing needs and expectations, but the site fulfilled what I needed so I was happy to support it, and of course that lead to the subscription being worthwhile as I spent a lot of time in an ad-free environment.

I'll agree that really intrusive ads can turn you off a site, but if you feel a connection to the community and it helps save you money, then supporting it with $50 isn't a hard ask. I love the community here, I don't know where I would be without the people and the friendships I've made here.

 

[jbman]

The membership price is reasonable, however the app support is poor

 

[Deleted member]

The membership price is reasonable, however the app support is poor

Given the cost of membership I think one could hardly expect a lot more. If we all offers to pay say double, that might help admin find an extra bid to help with app development maybe?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Given the cost of membership I think one could hardly expect a lot more. If we all offers to pay say double, that might help admin find an extra bid to help with app development maybe?

That's like saying, Facebook is free and therefore we shouldn't expect much..??
AFF is fundamentally a media property which needs members, views, and activity to remain viable. UX is the super-important for every tech company, which suggests a positive UX is linked to success.

Nobody would disagree AFF could be a lot more than it is today, but we need to respect the owner's decision to keep this a forum.

 

[Pushka]

I'm sure my subscription has saved me many multiples of its cost

And this site has given me the info to fly in a manner I previously could only dream about.

Given the cost of membership I think one could hardly expect a lot more. If we all offers to pay say double, that might help admin find an extra bid to help with app development maybe?

That's a good point and idea. I'm lucky and keeping fingers crossed the old app remains functional.

 

[Hammando]

The ads are aggressive. I happly pay to be a member of the site.

Is there a setting so I am never logged out of the website?

 

[flyingfan]

I agree the ads are heavy on. I started to pay a subscription and have never looked back. Since coming across AFF I discovered a status chasing addiction I didn't know I had and have just today (thanks to the last DSCs posting) requalified WP for another year. These runs have also taken me to many places for the first time including DRW, TSV, ASP and KTA (even the last one I'm not ashamed about). You don't need to be doing mad runs to benefit though. Without this site I wouldn't have been able to fly longhaul F twice and J and PE numerous times and let my family enjoy the pleasures of status.

The only thing that still frustrates me is not having worked out how to post using the app - haven't gotten it to work successfully yet...

 

[donovan301]

Re Auto/ Always Login.

All I do is have a shortcut the the page on my screen.

Only ever logged in the first time. (Non paid version)



As for the Adverts on the sit, Yes they have a purpose.

Aside, I barely see let alone pay any attention to any ads on any sites... It's visual noise I chose mot to see.

( That being said, on mobile websites they are far more invasive, popping up blocking your screen view. Anoys the Bejeezus outa me !) (
Dunno about AFF mobile tho?)

 

[AisleSeat]

The ads in the mobile view of AFF are not that bad. Appropriately sized so scrolling is easy. Way better than what some sites have going on.

I will admit to running a custom view of AFF at work, giving it the appearance of our CMS. If the big ads were visible it'd be obvious as to what I was doing.

If the OP is concerned about ads, they can switch javascript off (ads disappear but functionality of the site is reduced)

 

[coriander]

Has there been a change of policy on ads lately? Over the past couple of days, I've noticed ads appearing on the forum pages: it seems that there's an ad every 2nd or 3rd post now, easy enough to ignore on a desktop but really intrusive on an Android. Yes I understand how capitalism works, but I thought $75 per annum freed you from adverts.