# Ads now blocking content



## weaver

As the title says. I'm on a MacBook pro running Safari.


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## MikeMar

Is this new or something on my computer?


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## Mike Lang

Checking...


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## ufo4sale

MikeMar said:


> Is this new or something on my computer?
> 
> View attachment 44021


MacBook Air here same setup as you just started this afternoon. Hope there is a fix.


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## OrangeCrush

Same experience on a PC running Chrome.


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## kdmorse

Confirmed here, and they're not one-offs. They're persistent, the entire time you're on the site, floating over the content, following you from page to page.

Annoying on a large monitor. *catastrophic* on a small monitor.


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## David Bott

Hi All...

Ugh&#8230;Yes, that was added overnight to try the ad placement.

I had my provider add it as the revenue has been down a lot and needed to do something. I can see how it can be a pain for smaller screens and will need to contact them to see if they can check the screen rez and not show based on X or I will just get it removed all together.

They are overseas and it is Friday, so I am not sure how soon I can get it adjusted or stopped.

Sorry it is a bother, just trying to get back some lost revenue. 

(Not that is helps much, but you can X it out at the top right for the page you are reading. But it will come back at the next page load. But if it is a long page you need to read, well, you can remove it while reading. Like I said, I know it does not help much and I will see what I can do. Thx)

BTW...Thank you for not using an ad blocker as that surely helps the site. But if you need to, I understand. They also don't show to TCF Club Members as all ads are stopped if a club member.


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## JoeKustra

I see it on titantv.com also.


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## David Bott

JoeKustra said:


> I see it on titantv.com also.


Do you see it here? I ask for you are a TCF Club Member.

Thanks.


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## JoeKustra

David Bott said:


> Do you see it here? I ask for you are a TCF Club Member.
> Thanks.


Never. Sorry I used "also".


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## weaver

My biggest problem with it was it staying in the same text it started in when I scrolled down and leaving a copy at the bottom of the page. If I give it a little more time before I scroll, it seems to stay put at the bottom, which isn't as bad.


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## dlfl

On my iPad 4 running Chrome the ads stay at the bottom -- just a minor annoyance.

I understand the business model but if all consumers were like me, it wouldn't work. I ignore ads -- can't remember ever responding to one. I'm amazed they apparently generate so much revenue for Google and other sites.

@David Bott, is there an obvious reason revenue is down a lot?


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## David Bott

dlfl said:


> @David Bott, is there an obvious reason revenue is down a lot?


Hi...

Google made changes in how it it does the "bidding" process or something like that. This is ore or less what I gave been told...

"_Like I mentioned in my previous email, the Google transition to first-price auction (finalized on 7th of October) has affected the whole industry and the results we're seeing for the last few months haven't been ideal (for a lot of our publishers), as advertisers a lot more conservative when it comes to their budget. Unfortunately, we are not witnessing the normal trends for the quarters in this case but we are expecting things to finally start picking up in November. This market shift I'm afraid is beyond our control but we are doing our best to be on top of this and to improve results, wherever possible. To give you an example of this affecting others, you can read other publisher's feedback here, who are experiencing the same issue_."

And here is some info report written on it... https://yieldbird.com/post-first-price/ (This was not written by the publisher company we use...another company.)

This site as well as DBSTalk as seen a large downward hit I am sorry to say. About 25% a actually over the past months. So, well, I am trying to do something and this was one something that type of ad was suggested we try as they sell for a higher amount based on the type of ad it is.


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## Phil T

Not complaining at all but there are no ads at all on the site tonight. Very enjoyable!


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## SullyND

Phil T said:


> Not complaining at all but there are no ads at all on the site tonight. Very enjoyable!


I haven't seen ads on this site in years. Worth every penny.


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## V7Goose

What the Hell???? These HORRIBLE pop-ups were gone most of the week, and now your bring them back for the next weekend??????


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## David Bott

"WHAT THE HELL"...Actually I ended up breaking the entire ad system for the last number of days resulting in no ads and no revenue for days. It is just now starting to work again as the ad partners needed to re-verify the site.

I am sorry you do not like them, I can understand that. Even though I hate to say this...feel fee to use an ad blocker or maybe become a club member.

The site needs revenue to operate. We will continue to make adjustments and find a balance.


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## Phil T

What happens when the ad pops up when you are scrolling in Safari. Total screen block.


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## Mike Lang

^Did you mean to turn a screen grab into a pdf document?

Does refreshing the page still work?


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## Wil

Mike Lang said:


> ^Did you mean to turn a screen grab into a pdf document?
> 
> Does refreshing the page still work?


Sometimes/mostly yes. Temporarily.


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## Phil T

Yes, for some reason Safari makes a screen grab a .pgn file that this site won't load. So I though I would try a pdf.

I just tried a page refresh and it helped but will have to see for how long. 

The ads are OK as long as they don't block content or the one on the bottom stays put and doesn't float all over the place.


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## Phil T

This morning almost unusable on Safari. The lower ad moves all over the place blocking content. For now I will just use Firefox to view the site.


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## drhendrix

Can anyone recommend an application to stop this box from popping up? Every time I try to read a post it pops up and covers part of the text. I tired Strict pop-up blocker for Firefox but it has no effect.


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## Mikeguy

Phil T said:


> This morning almost unusable on Safari. The lower ad moves all over the place blocking content. For now I will just use Firefox to view the site.





drhendrix said:


> Can anyone recommend an application to stop this box from popping up? Every time I try to read a post it pops up and covers part of the text. I tired Strict pop-up blocker for Firefox but it has no effect.


In the meanwhile, can't you simply use an ad blocker?


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## jay_man2

Phil T said:


> This morning almost unusable on Safari. The lower ad moves all over the place blocking content. For now I will just use Firefox to view the site.


Ghostery Lite is a good, free ad blocker for Safari. The best ad blocker for TCF is a club membership. Great value for all the entertainment I get from the site.


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## Phil T

I think Catalina and Safari 13 have rendered most of the ad blockers pretty useless. I am ok with the ads but not when they float all over and block content. So far in Firefox they stay put. Considering becoming a member.


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## jay_man2

I’m on Catalina and Safari whatever, and Ghostery Lite works. Whoever developed Ghostery tracked the changes in Mojave and Catalina, and put out a version that complements the features that Apple put in Safari etc.


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## Wil

jay_man2 said:


> I'm on Catalina and Safari whatever, and Ghostery Lite works. Whoever developed Ghostery tracked the changes in Mojave and Catalina, and put out a version that complements the features that Apple put in Safari etc.


Problem is you've got to turn it back off once they've gotten their ads under control. Sometimes you just don't bother. It's a big step to cut off legitimate ad revenue from a site you like, even when you _think_ it's just temporarily. I tend to just go away from the sites for awhile.


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## kdmorse

FYI: 

I've been getting frequent "Install Certificate" prompts on my cell phone (which I have never seen before) when browsing TCF that roughly correspond to the times at which the new floaty ads have been active. ie, they appeared at the same time I started seeing floaty ads on my desktop, they stopped happening when the floaty ads were broken for a while, then returned as soon as the floaty ads came back.

I can click around them to dismiss them. I have not been brave enough to see if there's any information behind the Install Certificate prompt that identifies their source, signer, etc... And I can't even swear they're legitimate chrome popups having never seen them before. This is on a Verizon S10 running Chrome, Android 9. No adblocking software present.

They don't happen 100% of the time, in fact on days when I'm TCFing heavily on my phone, sometimes I will see them twice in one day. (I last saw a bunch of them on Thursday)

It is my assumption that they are related. But I've not seen anyone else report them here, so I don't really know. Not fatal, but I thought I'd mention them.


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## JoeKustra

The bottom (feeder) ads are gone from titantv.com this morning.


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## ufo4sale

Why can't you leave it the way it was before? I don't mind the ads in the past but now it's totally out of control. I don't have money to pay for a monthly membership otherwise I would.


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## dianebrat

ufo4sale said:


> Why can't you leave it the way it was before? I don't mind the ads in the past but now it's totally out of control. I don't have money to pay for a monthly membership otherwise I would.


I would suggest you read @David Bott 's replies to the thread, he makes it very clear why they were added.


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## ufo4sale

dianebrat said:


> I would suggest you read @David Bott 's replies to the thread, he makes it very clear why they were added.


I did and there STILL blocking actual text on the site.


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## dianebrat

ufo4sale said:


> I did and there STILL blocking actual text on the site.


He's reluctantly said use a popup blocker if they get in your way.
David also was very clear why he's not yet pondering going back "to the way it was before" which was the income drop, so that answers the core of your question.


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## ufo4sale

dianebrat said:


> He's reluctantly said use a popup blocker if they get in your way.
> David also was very clear why he's not yet pondering going back "to the way it was before" which was the income drop, so that answers the core of your question.


And I would do that. Sorry Dave no hard feelings.


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## danm628

Or take his other suggestion and join TCF Club. Pay for access with no ads. 

I pay for a handful of sites. This is one of them. 

There are a lot of sites I’ve dropped due to ads or issues with ad-blockers. Some sites think they are worth far more than I’m willing to pay. So I just stop visiting. TCF Club seemed reasonable to me.


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## Mike Lang

Ad blockers are for general surfing. For sites you regularly frequent that are trying to stay afloat...support them.


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## Phil T

So far using Firefox keep the bottom ad locked in place without an ad blocker.


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## allan

I have mixed opinions about TCF Club. On one hand, I'm not annoyed by ads. OTOH, I can see the Political Forum.


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## eddyj

allan said:


> I can see the Political Forum.


You can always ignore the forum!


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## danm628

eddyj said:


> You can always ignore the forum!


I have found I'm much happier after dropping almost all threads in the Political Forum.


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## V7Goose

David Bott said:


> I am sorry you do not like them, I can understand that. Even though I hate to say this...*feel fee to use an ad blocker* or maybe become a club member.
> 
> The site needs revenue to operate. We will continue to make adjustments and find a balance.


Yup - I did just that. I was willing to accept the amount of ads you previously had, even though they were annoying and I personally thought they were excessive. But you got greedy, and now you get nothing. The ad blocker makes things much smoother, and I am sure I will never think about turning it off again - out of sight, out of mind. So I guess we found a "balance".


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## eddyj

V7Goose said:


> But you got greedy, and now you get nothing.


If greedy means getting enough income to keep the site afloat, then sure, he got greedy.


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## JoeKustra

eddyj said:


> If greedy means getting enough income to keep the site afloat, then sure, he got greedy.


I wonder where TiVo would be without TCF. But even @TiVo_Ted doesn't pay.


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## NorthAlabama

JoeKustra said:


> I wonder where TiVo would be without TCF. But even @TiVo_Ted doesn't pay.


really? have you read some of the replies to his posts, and in threads he's started? i'd say he pays handsomely. 

besides, i believe his contributions themselves are priceless - maybe he's even earned a _*free complimentary *_tcf club membership?


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## JoeKustra

NorthAlabama said:


> maybe he's even earned a _*free complimentary *_tcf club membership?


I have no problem with that. I do wish we could count on his help when members have non-technical problems. Give him his own forum. No troubleshooting hardware, just fixing account (or accounting) problems. Act as a conduit just like Margret did. Perfect example: a DM to remove ads from my TE4 box so I don't need to deal with the support people.


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## Diana Collins

My personal opinion: if you have ever gotten some information here that helped you to either make a smarter purchase or solve a technical problem, you should show your appreciation by becoming a member. If half of us paid for membership, there would likely be no need for ads.


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## bareyb

I'm getting a lot of this. Refreshing the page helps temporarily, but the Ads make it almost impossible to navigate the site. They literally cover the whole page:


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## David Bott

That to me looks like a video driver issue where your screen is not refreshing as it should like a driver glitch or memory glitch retaining parts of a screen. I can not reproduce it in the main browsers on Windows or Mac. (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safafi)


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## bareyb

David Bott said:


> That to me looks like a video driver issue where your screen is not refreshing as it should like a driver glitch or memory glitch retaining parts of a screen. I can not reproduce it in the main browsers on Windows or Mac. (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safafi)


Oh well. Thanks.


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## David Bott

Their is not really an "Oh well" here. So not sure what you may be trying to imply. I did look into it and based on your screen shot, thanks for sending that, and to me, it does look like a graphic card issue. 

I have not touched the ad code or even the site code in over a year. Not even any updates to the site as this of version Xenforo is no longer supported. If I upgrade to the current version, which I really should, well, you now how people react to change.  As such, I have been afraid to touch anything even though it should should be updated. (Cost to do so for a site this large, is about $4K...Income from Club Members for 2019... Sadly, $1,235 which does not even cover the server costs for hosting. 

You could have a computer issue and not even know it. Even if you took an update recently, maybe that could have made for such an issue. Just not sure. But I would start by looking to see if you are on the most current video drivers. 

Sorry Barey I could not resolve the issue...If we had an issue like that, well, we would be surely flooded with notes on it.


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## bareyb

David Bott said:


> Their is not really an "Oh well" here. So not sure what you may be trying to imply. I did look into it and based on your screen shot, thanks for sending that, and to me, it does look like a graphic card issue.
> 
> I have not touched the ad code or even the site code in over a year. Not even any updates to the site as this of version Xenforo is no longer supported. If I upgrade to the current version, which I really should, well, you now how people react to change.  As such, I have been afraid to touch anything even though it should should be updated. (Cost to do so for a site this large, is about $4K...Income from Club Members for 2019... Sadly, $1,235 which does not even cover the server costs for hosting.
> 
> You could have a computer issue and not even know it. Even if you took an update recently, maybe that could have made for such an issue. Just not sure. But I would start by looking to see if you are on the most current video drivers.
> 
> Sorry Barey I could not resolve the issue...If we had an issue like that, well, we would be surely flooded with notes on it.


Thanks David. I just meant "oh well I guess I'll have to live with it". Definitely not complaining. I used to be a Club Member for many years and I'll look into signing up again.

ETA: Appears you took some action on your end on my behalf and the site is working great again. Thank you! Appreciate it very much.


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