Teh ban!!!

I've noticed the .Org becoming infested with ads recently. I've "AdBlocked" every single one I've come across - the annoying blinking ones were especially irritating.

In all honesty I'm not very happy about this. Are these ads necessary and where is all the money going? I thought the forum ad banners were for internal ads rather than ones from external third parties.

Edit: The image in the user in question's sig appears to be implemented by his choice rather than by an automated system. I doubt it has anything to do with the upper levels of management, although I do question whether it should be permitted and why he has placed it there.

I've never seen one in a signature though I've seen those ads and, like Omanes, blocked them all.

The org has become a Google ads place. I don't like it at all.

I haven't noticed any of these ads you guys mention. Do they pop up or something?

Its just a small banner at the top of some pages and a larger one at the bottom of most. They haven't bothered me since we stopped having ones that made noises....

The server space has to be paid for somehow, and the odd ad seems better than having to pay to be a member!

(assume moderators can squish any 'independent' ones appearing in sigs though)

I'm not sure it's a .ORG ad - I've only seen it in CrossLoper's signature.

I dont mind as IE 7 blocks them for me, and at school, the Blocking program blocks them all.

But what's wrong in having external ads in sigs, as long as they aren't too big or flashy?

Genuine members linking to sites / mods / or topics that they are involved with
elsewhere isn't likely to annoy people.

But having spammers realise they could sign up and have
"buy your viagra here" in sig - so getting multiple ad views for free would definitely be irritating!

Yes, but by the very nature of the ad, only posting members will get their sites advertised, and, the more they post, the more exposure their ad gets. And since we have a very active moderating community here, it's unlikely that a spammer will go very far.

I don't mind ads in sigs in particular, because I think it is rewarded by good behaviour and regular activity. I'm not neccesarily talking about "buy-viagra" ads, but, say, ads advertising another forum, for instance, or just a personal website -- relatively harmless ones.

I doubt it blox this one.

Exactly. The best course of action is to just quietly block the ads without making a fuss.

It doesn't seem to be a .ORG sponsored ad - it only appears in one member's signature.

I think the member should delete the ad.

by.... mennen!

I agree. As long as the ad is something that other Orgahs would be interested in (ie,other forums,personal websites,etc.,like Quirinus said),I personally would push for it to be allowed,as I'm on a of a couple of other forum sites I'd like to advertise (as in,text that the reader can click on to go to said site,not a bright,flashy banner that pops up in said reader's face and interupts what he/she is doing).

On the subject of members advertising other forums etc.... I think its fine, I don't think Org has any problem with the idea of members advertising other forums they are involved in.

I'd like to advise our members to use some caution if signing up to new sites though, remember its a very bad idea to use same username and password combination across multiple sites..

I don't think all of these ads are so bad:

Nice if they could spell "congratulations" wouldn't it?

Although I have blocked all of these additional advertisements, couldn't we maybe have something a bit more subtle.

Google's AdSense program seems to fit the bill - customisable, simple and, potentially, useful. Although there is nothing wrong with advertising, intrusive advertising simply encourages the user to block the content using AdBlocking software in their browser - not to click on it. In the end it's often more damaging to the company's marketing campaign than helpful.

I think banning Ichigo is an option. I'm wondering why no one has suggested that yet though.

But does it block the ad in question, however?

What, for bringing this up?

O RRY?

I didn't realize that the ad was put in his sig by him. I thought it was the forum.....

I recommend banning everyone as an option. That way, no one can complain about it again.