Holy marketing blast

[Mustang67]

As you can see by the screen shot I was looking for aluminum tubing today. I bought some 8" tube for making a vacuum casting set up for pouring propellent. Anyway I decided to sign on to the forum and see what's new and soon as I went to the home page I was blasted with advertisements from onlinemetals.com. I get it and understand how Google marketing works for the most part, but did they have to take up most of my page?? Makes me wonder what else I can search and get it to pop up on the TRF home page.

Once I signed in it all went away, but the initial blast was overkill for sure.

 

[neil_w]

Tracking ads are wonderful, aren't they?

TRF without ads disabled is really rough.

 

[Dave A]

If you're mic is enabled they have algorithms that when you repeat certain words, you'll get those ads, too.

 

[Cl(VII)]

That is amazing in a really undesirable way. I think I would be pretty mad if I was online metals paying for 4 simultaneous ads.

 

[dr wogz]

TRF without ads disabled is really rough.

or without logging in..

uhg..

 

[dr wogz]

On the topic of banner ads, and ads on the internet in general:

[rant mode: on]

I have no objection to ads. I get it, I understand the need & that is a viable vehicle to peddle other people wares & services for a return.

But I have and will moan about how they are irrelevant to most of us. Ads on the Internet are just as bad as on TV or the radio: pander to a very wide & broad audience. In this day & age, and with this ever-evolving technology (cookies, tracking, keywords, user profiles, etc..) the ads need to and should be more specific to the end users. Past searches seem to be the only criteria for aiming 'some' ads at you..

This is a rocketry forum, where the typical user is male, between the age of 16 & 60. The ads (Google ads) should be able to make this distinction, and serve up ads based on this (loose, but definitive) criteria. Yet I get ads for Zoolilly & other 'irrelevant' stuff. And usually the same ads regardless of what sites I visit.. If I disregard one ad, I'll just as easily disregard 17 ads for the same thing.. I'm a guy on a rocketry forum, show me ads for rocket vendors, hardware people, spray paint, etc.. even 'home depot' is relevant..

Revenue from ads should be from the ads, not the real estate they occupy. (And this site suffers from that: log out & pop on as noted) I would also point out, that despite 2 or 3 or more ad slots, most of them are the same ad.. so, again, this just seems to fail, big time! The marketing propaganda is 'more ads' regardless of their intended target, quality or diversity.

But again, it's not TRF who control the banners we tend to turn off / tune out, but Google / AdSense. If these behemoths of ad providers could generate ads that are more targeted to the users, we likely wouldn't mind as much. I feel a lot of us tend to push back on the quantity and the irrelevancy of these ads, not the quality.. And again, I get it.. most of the vendors we want don't have the budgets to advertise on a massive platform like Google / AdSense, but still, relevance toward the target market shouldn't be be based on budgets, marketing campaigns, or last searches.. But sadly, quantity over quality / relevance for eh end user.

If the ads were more relevant to us, we likely wouldn't just blindly turn them off.. (and also less intrusive / numerous)

[rant mode: off]


I'm reminded of the book / movie 'Ready Player one: "Research shows we can cover 80% of the view screen before anyone starts complaining.."

 

[lakeroadster]

The age old Prince Hamlet debate: Tubing, or not tubing, that is the question.

 

[neil_w]

But I have and will moan about how they are irrelevant to most of us.

I take your point that it seems the ad servers don't account for the fact that they're displaying the ads on a rocketry forum. In the "good old days" of manual advertising sales, the ads would be targeted to the particular medium and venue (like the sponsor ads TRF is now showing). Now, the ads are targeted at the *user*, based on a near infinite amount of tracking and profiling and data collection.

As long as the ad networks work the way they do, I'll take less tracking and less relevant ads, although I have most ads and trackers blocked anyway. And I'm leaving the TRF sponsor ads enabled.

 

[BABAR]

On the topic of banner ads, and ads on the internet in general:

[rant mode: on]

I have no objection to ads. I get it, I understand the need & that is a viable vehicle to peddle other people wares & services for a return.

But I have and will moan about how they are irrelevant to most of us. Ads on the Internet are just as bad as on TV or the radio: pander to a very wide & broad audience. In this day & age, and with this ever-evolving technology (cookies, tracking, keywords, user profiles, etc..) the ads need to and should be more specific to the end users. Past searches seem to be the only criteria for aiming 'some' ads at you..

This is a rocketry forum, where the typical user is male, between the age of 16 & 60. The ads (Google ads) should be able to make this distinction, and serve up ads based on this (loose, but definitive) criteria. Yet I get ads for Zoolilly & other 'irrelevant' stuff. And usually the same ads regardless of what sites I visit.. If I disregard one ad, I'll just as easily disregard 17 ads for the same thing.. I'm a guy on a rocketry forum, show me ads for rocket vendors, hardware people, spray paint, etc.. even 'home depot' is relevant..

Revenue from ads should be from the ads, not the real estate they occupy. (And this site suffers from that: log out & pop on as noted) I would also point out, that despite 2 or 3 or more ad slots, most of them are the same ad.. so, again, this just seems to fail, big time! The marketing propaganda is 'more ads' regardless of their intended target, quality or diversity.

But again, it's not TRF who control the banners we tend to turn off / tune out, but Google / AdSense. If these behemoths of ad providers could generate ads that are more targeted to the users, we likely wouldn't mind as much. I feel a lot of us tend to push back on the quantity and the irrelevancy of these ads, not the quality.. And again, I get it.. most of the vendors we want don't have the budgets to advertise on a massive platform like Google / AdSense, but still, relevance toward the target market shouldn't be be based on budgets, marketing campaigns, or last searches.. But sadly, quantity over quality / relevance for eh end user.

If the ads were more relevant to us, we likely wouldn't just blindly turn them off.. (and also less intrusive / numerous)

[rant mode: off]


I'm reminded of the book / movie 'Ready Player one: "Research shows we can cover 80% of the view screen before anyone starts complaining.."

here is the problem. As annoying as these ads are, like telemarketing, while presumably the vast majority ignore the ads or don’t answer the phone or hang up the phone, it presumably MUST be profitable or companies would not do it.

Sort of like Superbowl Ads. $5.5 million for 30 seconds? Apparently the exposure IS worth it to these companies, or they wouldn’t do it. Really makes you think how BIG these companies are!

 

[mbeels]

Regarding online ads, one of the best uses for the raspberry pi is "Pi-hole". Use it as your DNS server and you won't see most ads.

https://pi-hole.net/

 

[Peartree]

Odd. The whole "one I log in it goes away thing is alien to me. I logged in years ago, entered my password, clicked "remember me," and rarely ever have to do anything. When I click my TRF ic on on my browser bar, I come straight here, and am automatically logged in. I virtually never seen ads (other than the new rocketry banner ads).

 

[lakeroadster]

Odd. The whole "one I log in it goes away thing is alien to me. I logged in years ago, entered my password, clicked "remember me," and rarely ever have to do anything. When I click my TRF ic on on my browser bar, I come straight here, and am automatically logged in. I virtually never seen ads (other than the new rocketry banner ads).

Different strokes for different folks.

I private browse, login in the morning and log out at night. I also always lock the doors on our house, even when at home. Always lock vehicle doors too.

If somebody wants to steal something from me (property, data mining, whatever) .... I want to make it as difficult as possible for them.

 

[dr wogz]

@BABAR

If I was a company guy, I would want my ads to be as targeted as they could be, towards my prime target audience. The internet is supposed to have many more 'smarts' than TV or blind cold calls. I would expect that I can craft an ad campaign, and expect the internet to be smart enough to ensure that ad is seen by my desired audience. I kinda feel internet ads are like talking to a deaf person: You realize / know they are deaf, so you just start talking louder.. (no smarts, no ability to use the technology to better engineer the platform)

TV is reaching a broad audience, and some ads are targeted towards specific during certain time slots, on particular channels, and/or during certain shows. (remember the sugary cereal commercial & toys during teh Saturday morning cartoon blitz..) And I would also argue that super bowl ads are geared to reach a large audience, but they have become a sort of 'show case' for new ad campaigns, and again, for products that appeal to many.

Cold calls are pennies, and again, usually are targeted towards home owners & such. At least they are here. (I have no idea how many calls you US people get..) We also have a 'do not call' list you can put your name & number on.

Also, superbowl & tv ads don't run back to back; the same ad on repeat. You get a variety. Not so with many 'Adsense' pages. The same ad, all over the page! over many pages / sites..

@Peartree :
Think of the new people, the lurkers & others who come browse. They may not be a member yet, but have to navigate thru the ads & such. And, when you change to a new computer, tablet, etc.. Again, before you get to log in, you see what Mustang posted. For me, that's an immediate turn off.. ads are primary, the actual content secondary.

 

[neil_w]

@Peartree :
Think of the new people, the lurkers & others who come browse. They may not be a member yet, but have to navigate thru the ads & such. And, when you change to a new computer, tablet, etc.. Again, before you get to log in, you see what Mustang posted. For me, that's an immediate turn off.. ads are primary, the actual content secondary.

I agree with this. The ad-festooned main page does not look serious or legitimate. New or casual forum viewers who are not yet up to the "I'll pay to become a supporter and get rid of ads" stage are given a pretty bad impression.

Some ads are necessary and justifiable, but that's way overboard.

Just MHO.

 

[Peartree]

@Peartree :
Think of the new people, the lurkers & others who come browse. They may not be a member yet, but have to navigate thru the ads & such. And, when you change to a new computer, tablet, etc.. Again, before you get to log in, you see what Mustang posted. For me, that's an immediate turn off.. ads are primary, the actual content secondary.

Makes sense. It just struck me as odd because I (almost) never see what was described. Even the few times that I have had to log in, it hasn't been anything like that.

 

[heada]

Regarding online ads, one of the best uses for the raspberry pi is "Pi-hole". Use it as your DNS server and you won't see most ads.

https://pi-hole.net/

Add unbound to that and you have a better solution than PiHole by itself. And yes, I run PiHole at home and its great. Everyone should run one.

 

[Hobie1dog]

it's only going to get worse, just like youtube and facebook ads

 

[SDramstad]

Well you have to remember this. If you are not paying for a service, you are not the customer. All of this costs money. If you arent paying, someone else is. And the someone else is getting something for what they are paying and its usually your information.

 

[dr wogz]

i'll add my 'screen shot'

 

[Bill S]

I agree with this. The ad-festooned main page does not look serious or legitimate. New or casual forum viewers who are not yet up to the "I'll pay to become a supporter and get rid of ads" stage are given a pretty bad impression.

Some ads are necessary and justifiable, but that's way overboard.

Just MHO.

That's the kind of thing that drives people to use adblockers. I don't see any ads here except for the 2 recent banner ads, and they aren't obnoxious so I decided to let them be.

Add unbound to that and you have a better solution than PiHole by itself. And yes, I run PiHole at home and its great. Everyone should run one.

If only someone sold a ready to go plug and play PiHole. No fooling around having to configure it, etc. I'd buy one.

 

[neil_w]

i'll add my 'screen shot'

View attachment 450222

Hideous.

 

[dr wogz]

Well you have to remember this. If you are not paying for a service, you are not the customer. All of this costs money. If you aren't paying, someone else is. And the someone else is getting something for what they are paying and its usually your information.

well, this is the base of my argument: if you are collecting data / information about me, my likes, my searches, etc.. USE it!!! toss ads at me that comply with said data..

Granted, I did search the Lego site recently.. But never the Rotman school of business or Bitdefender..

 

[tsmmiller]

Well you have to remember this. If you are not paying for a service, you are not the customer. All of this costs money. If you arent paying, someone else is. And the someone else is getting something for what they are paying and its usually your information.

I use Add Blocker Plus. That as well as a paid member I don't see adds, or didn't until the two banners at the top of this page.
I listen to Pandora while at work, but am not a paid subscriber. On the right side is usually some form of add that I just ignore.
Just a moment ago I glanced at it and found that the add was for LOC Precision and a tag line...
Complete your rocket!

 

[Tobor]

Regarding online ads, one of the best uses for the raspberry pi is "Pi-hole". Use it as your DNS server and you won't see most ads.

https://pi-hole.net/

I have an R-Pi 3 that has been screaming at me to make it a Pi-Hole. I gotta get off my butt and just make that happen...