META: Ads are blocking me from being able to read the blog

Submitted by evenyoubrutus on November 11th, 2019 at 12:15 PM

Anyone else having this problem? I'm okay with ads, and have but holy smokes I can't even see what I'm typing. Seems like Seth might want to know about this.

mGrowOld

November 11th, 2019 at 12:17 PM ^

I'm not having the issue but other posters reported same thing this morning.  FWIW I have a Galaxy 8 (no problems) and run Chrome at work (no problems)

Drew Henson's Backup

November 11th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^

I don't know what the exact arrangement is between mgoblog and HUEL. I would not be at all surprised if Brian doesn't care but I still blame HUEL. It's their work. Given how this entire site is essentially an advertisement for their services, I would think they would be even more invested in its success than Brian.

Shop Smart Sho…

November 11th, 2019 at 1:30 PM ^

I've been informed by someone who knows that Brian is responsible for implementing changes to all of the settings to make stuff like how many posts we see per page, how links and jumps work, how profiles are tracked, and all of that sort of stuff. 

Making ads work and the overall design is something that gets fixed by giving enough money to people capable of doing the work. He's the one who chooses who gets the money and how much they get.

To be clear, if an ongoing problem continues to crop up, it's because of choices made or not made by the guy who owns the website.

Drew Henson's Backup

November 11th, 2019 at 1:45 PM ^

I won't dispute anything you're saying but HUEL should rethink its partnership or how much they want to be recognized as the company that built this site. They do a lot of advertising here and they should probably just slink off and hope no one notices them. The irony of the whole "did your brother's friend's cousin's nephew build your site" is very rich.

#NeverHUEL

Sopwith

November 11th, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^

I’ve been having some kind of malware/ad issue where every few visits to the site, it redirects me to a sketchy page claiming my Norton antivirus is expiring that day. I don’t have Norton antivirus. This only happens when I visit MGoBlog. Anyone else?  I’ll take a screenshot next time but it’s made me a little hesitant to even go to the site on my MacBook. 

mgokev

November 11th, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^

I've gotten that too. I've won $200 in an online sweepstakes if I just give them my name, address, phone number, email, and last four of my SSN. 

Still waiting on that check...but I'll let you know when it shows up after I settle this unrelated identity theft issue I'm working through. 

OldManUfer

November 11th, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^

It's not just you. There has been a increase in number of redirect ads on the site recently. These are dangerous and Brian needs to be more careful about the types of ads he accepts or ad networks he works with. It's gotten to the point that I'm starting to not feel comfortable visiting MGoBlog.

rob f

November 11th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^

It looks like you're having the same problem I am, EYB.  I posted at 6am on the bug sticky thread and later to Seth on the mod sticky thread.  I also did a thread hijack near the top of the "ref suspended for sucking thread" , as It looked damn near impossible to start a META OP to complain about it. 

 

Only solution for me is to look into using adblock until the MGoPowersThatBe go after HUEL to get it fixed. 

BornInA2

November 11th, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^

This seems purposeful, exactly like the mobile ads that entirely block the nav options.


"Look: Users MUST interact with your ads in order to use our site at all."

If so,  it's a good short term strategy that doesn't work out well in the long term.

StephenRKass

November 11th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^

Of course I am frugal, and not easily swayed by ads. But I find them so annoying and aggravating that I now am in the place of noting the advertisers. And choosing to boycott said advertisers. This, imhe, is not the way to gain customers and increase your base. BTW, I have this problem or worse at the Chicago Tribune website.

NOTE:  Yeah, of course, like most people, if there was an ad for something I really wanted, and the price was really good, I'd consider it. But somehow, almost all the ads I see are for things I would never get. To wit, I am not going to get another graduate degree; I am not going to date; I am not going to buy any dresses, lingerie, or items to increase sexual performance; I'm not looking for medications; I'm not going to fly to the middle east or other exotic locales; and I will probably never buy a new car.

leftrare

November 11th, 2019 at 12:49 PM ^

My PC view is fine but my iPad view is basically ruined by the top banner ad -- it's taking up half the screen and staying there when I scroll down.  

Streetchemist

November 11th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^

Im on iPhone and use the mobile site. This usually comes up when reading UFRs but when I watch the embedded videos in landscape and then go back to the article in portrait, there’s always an ad that gets stuck in the middle of the screen and it can’t scroll past it. I have to refresh the page to get it to disappear. 

Seth

November 11th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^

Reporting this to our network ad manager. That seems to be a rogue-sized ad getting in where it's not supposed to.

We have a lot of security measures to block these sorts of things but all the bad actors saved up this year's round of shit code for the holiday season and it's like playing whack-a-mole right now.

LSAClassOf2000

November 11th, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^

Actually, I have AdBlock on and it sometimes creates some weird spacing among the panels as it is trying to display things but can't, but I have experienced this with AdBlock off, or the blog content will be pushed down the page quite a bit. 

KalkaskaWolverine

November 11th, 2019 at 8:24 PM ^

It seems to happen in waves. I've had no problems lately on my phone with chrome, but I've had similar issues in the past. Very annoying when you have to refresh on one of the longer threads and lose your place.