META: In-situ ads are not ours (UPDATE: Light at end of tunnel)

Submitted by Seth on June 2nd, 2021 at 11:56 AM

UPDATE 6/2/2021: I'm bumping this thread because we have identified some of the issues we've been having with rogue ads in content and the occasional pop-up. They're low-level security breaches from an old version of ad manager's configuration. Rather than patch we're going to upgrade the ad manager to the latest version. It's on the testing site now and we hope to deploy in a week or so. Hang in there with us.

ORIGINAL POST FROM 5/28/2021:

We have noticed cheap ads like these have started to pop up in the middle of our content. We are not serving these ads and are trying to track down their source right now.

othernel

May 28th, 2021 at 9:42 AM ^

Hey Seth, I'd also check your ad provider and make sure they didn't add a new "feature" to their ad inventory automatically. 
 

Sometimes these services will have automated or "smart" ad injection that will add ad slots mid article/container unbeknownst to the site owner unless you manually uncheck the feature. This is very common on Wordpress and Drupal ad services

tubauberalles

May 28th, 2021 at 9:43 AM ^

I had a pop-up window ad load and take over the page on the site yesterday.  The constant loading of the side bar ads are an on-going annoyance, too, with different sizes continually pushing content up and down.  

Please give us an ad-free subscription option!

Seth

May 28th, 2021 at 9:49 AM ^

Ad-free subscription option has been in the works for awhile. We wanted to get the "app" version of the site done first because those features are going to be added to that. But I bumped some functionality of the message board up the list, specifically the ability to see which posts are New to you when you're logged in, and the ability to quickly find replies to your comments.

As for some ongoing ad issues, including pop-ups, I had a conversation with our provider earlier this month and gave them an ultimatum to get some longstanding issues fixed. They responded quickly but that response has slowed. We'll see what happens since my deadline is coming up.

corundum

May 28th, 2021 at 1:17 PM ^

Has a reversion to the old site been discussed or are the powers that be satisfied with the current state of the blog site?

I still can't tell when a comment is new and I have comments that I have apparently thumbs up'd on threads I've never even opened.

lilpenny1316

May 28th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^

I have bamboo sheets. Wife loves it...I don't.

This doesn't help the ad situation, but it's the first time I've been able to vent on this and I feel great.

Blau

May 28th, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^

I notice these tend to pop up when creating a paragraph-style space between text when posting. I haven't witnessed them coming about when posting a complete block of text.

Sinsoftheschafer

May 28th, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^

Honestly with the end of 3rd party cookies, this is the future of display advertising.  There's really nothing you can do about this unless you are prepared to change the login state of your users

kehnonymous

May 28th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^

Although I should be as annoyed at Russian mail order brides as the next yokel, you can't deny we've had success recruiting Lithuania/Canada, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Germany, so....

Michigasling

May 28th, 2021 at 9:57 PM ^

I thought those were weird, but I get pretty put out by the ads that pop up at the bottom of the page and block the text on my not-huge rectangular screen.  I don't mind the ads in the column at the right, because they don't block the Diaries and Message Board contents, and can easily be ignored while reading the actual posts.  But right now I have "Grand Opening ShopRite of Belmar 1732 Rt 35 and 18th Ave Now Open Learn More."  I keep hitting the circled X to close and it pops up again almost immediately. 

Besides the bright green leaf that sticks up beyond the top of the ad to block text I might be reading, right now the circled X is blocking Jaeden Gould's playing position in the Message Board contents. (I can, however, successfully read that he's a 4* from NJ.)  (Okay. I can also guess that he's a CB.  But still...) (And now that I clicked the X and in the split second that the ad disappeared I can see that he's going somewhere else...)  (But what's the deal with the green leaf?)

evenyoubrutus

May 29th, 2021 at 6:44 AM ^

While we're on the subject, I'm getting autoplay ads constantly. To the point where I visit the site far less frequently than I did before simply because of that reason.