Ads with Sound

[Carl]

I want to let our members who visit the guide to know that advertisements playing sound are not something I ever intended. I value the advertising partners we have who help to keep the site going and provide me enough to live on while making websites. However, marketing agencies and people who seek to make money in unscrupulous ways have put in some very annoying advertising that slows the page and may play audio. The people who do this are violating terms, because the site is specifically set to not show auto-play video ads. I would disable every unit that's been doing it lately, but it'd be putting off the problem and hit me hard. I want meet my own goals for the site through sharing information as I have in the past, without annoying my readers.

I don't believe the companies that they represent would be happy to know they're doing this. I'm actively combating the problem and will make dramatic changes, if necessary, to ensure a nice quiet reading experience there. This problem has already been lessened as I've got some of them banned, but still may happen occasionally.

This has consumed a lot of my time and slowed my production of guides lately. I myself consider this to be a very annoying thing and don't want it. Be assured that future visits will not be plagued with this issue, and i'll work to get them gone as best I am able. Our partners are actively working with us to resolve this, as they do not want it either. 

I'm very sorry and in fact embarrassed. Thank you for your support over the years. The people who come back here every day are dear to me, and I will fix this.

[WickedSimmer87]

Don't beat yourself too much about it Carl We are many who aren't going anywhere, just cos of this. (well I'm talking for myself atleast. But I'm sure others aren't leaving either )

[Carl]

@WickedSimmer87  Thanks for the reassurance

Found this on Reddit this morning, a way to easily mute tabs that start playing sound in Google Chrome. Type this in the search field at the top of a tab:

chrome://flags/#enable-tab-audio-muting

Type this, then click enable on the highlighted option. Now that speaker icon that appears when a tab is playing sound doubles as a way to mute the tab!

I'm glad I saw this, because my site isn't the only one misbehaving!

[kyle2012]

Hi Carl please don't as worry, as a newbee! to this site I've found the information and friendliness of the site invaluable I'm  staying

[WickedSimmer87]

Found this on Reddit this morning, a way to easily mute tabs that start playing sound in Google Chrome. Type this in the search field at the top of a tab:

chrome://flags/#enable-tab-audio-muting

I use firefox

[sdhoey]

No worries Carl. That's why I have a mute button on my keyboard. Those ads aren't gonna run off here. Your stuck with me. 

[HelenP]

I put up with audio ads on sites much less useful than this one, so there is no way a few annoying ads will keep me away from here. 

[Carl]

You guys rock, and remind me how special this community is to me. I took some measures today to reduce the problem to near 0 (hopefully) until one of my networks cleans up the ads they serve. I am glad so many people are supportive of me, but worry about the first impression it makes when we have this kind of thing happening here.

 The site should be a bit faster now, and uh.. quiet as intended, when my changes take effect in the next few hours. I'll be continuing on this early in the week, as I'm needing people who are out of their offices right now. Tomorrow marks my two-year "anniverary" with my girlfriend, so gonna get these issues off my mind, recenter and hope to get back to guide production ASAP. Too much administrative stuff, and not enough doing what I love but hope to fix that and get things simplified There's a collecting section that needs updated, and where is that guide to ghosts from October!? 

[Nettlejuice]

I've always wondered, does the site get money in if we click on the ads? This used to be the case for a forum I followed a few years ago, if so I'll be clicking when I can for sure. The sound doesn't bother me, I never have my speakers on unless I'm in-game.

[Carl]

@Nettlejuice I appreciate it but actually, we don't. We are involved in ad campaigns that promote brand and product awareness, so only those you're genuinely interested in. Very few ads are like that here. Back in the past when I did that type, it didn't work out. So I'm paid by the thousand views. The only direct way to affect the site is through EA Origin and ordering through us when you're interested in a new game. Plenty of people are doing so, and it's almost enough to take care of hosting sometimes. 

[Nettlejuice]

OK, thanks for replying so fast. I guess I'll continue to support through the links.