Mild Criticism

[Otter]

Perhaps a mod might like to explain to me why a mild complaint re bandwidth and adverising on the site has to be disappeared or do I need to pack my bags and go?

 

[Tomasso]

There have been threads dealing with these issues in the past and have not been removed so I can't imagine why yours would be.

 

[Dinerman]

When did you make the post?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The ads are interesting when you're not logged in. They appear in the first post of a page, which I found odd, if not surprising given the need for the FLounge to be viable, commercially, or at least self-sustaining. I do like that this ad stream is removed for members.

bk

 

[Nathan Flowers]

I'm not dead-set on keeping it that way. Just testing to see what the data show.

 

[Lily Powers]

Something else I noticed when I'm here and not logged in, is that certain key words in posts, "gold shoes" and "blue dress" for two specific examples, are in yellow, indicating a link to a photo or something. I click on the and they each take me to Bizrate; another one about "red hair" took me to an eBay auction. When I log in, they are no longer there, but I don't always log unless I'm going to contribute to a thread. I don't mind the visual ads, but those misleading links are cheese-ball.

 

[MarkJohn]

Yep... noticed this for the first time today.... this is CRAP, as it makes it look as if the poster has linked key words to products.

This is unacceptable, and I will not post here until this is revoked.

Ad's within a page is one thing, but this sort of keyword linking is bloody awful... at least change the 'link' colour to dissociate the poster from the advertising.

Something else I noticed when I'm here and not logged in, is that certain key words in posts, "gold shoes" and "blue dress" for two specific examples, are in yellow, indicating a link to a photo or something. I click on the and they each take me to Bizrate; another one about "red hair" took me to an eBay auction. When I log in, they are no longer there, but I don't always log unless I'm going to contribute to a thread. I don't mind the visual ads, but those misleading links are cheese-ball.

 

[Tomasso]

when I'm here and not logged in .

I don't understand why a member would not log in when they visit. You miss out on a sizable portion of the Lounge not to mention use of the new posts function

 

[scotrace]

I don't understand why a member would not log in when they visit. You miss out on a sizable portion of the Lounge not to mention use of the new posts function

I share your bafflement.

We will continue to do what we can, in all reasonable ways, to pay the bills and keep the doors open. The joint is still free, and for years, was offered completely out-of-pocket. This is no longer possible as no one has pockets that deep. We're just too big now. I'm sorry this is unacceptable, MarkJohn, but we will be happy to refund your dues, if you find our terms disagreeable.

 

[MarkJohn]

That is NOT the point... so, non logged in viewers, whether members or not not, see ad links, as if the poster has put them there... this is NOT a good thing!... is it?

I often browse the forum without logging in, or sometimes I forget to tick 'remember me' and get logged-out very quickly. The sections I read most, don't require you to log-in, and sometimes I only do so to post a reply or make a thread.

I don't understand why a member would not log in when they visit. You miss out on a sizable portion of the Lounge not to mention use of the new posts function

 

[MarkJohn]

These link ad's seem to put words in my mouth... I DO NOT want to advertise Ralph Lauren, which my Fathers Day post did... as a member you can link to sites, products etc, if they are relevant... these appear, regardless of the content of the post.

I support advertising to pay for this site, but not on things I post.

I really love this forum, and found it a breath of fresh air... but this move is one I will not support... sorry.

I share your bafflement.

We will continue to do what we can, in all reasonable ways, to pay the bills and keep the doors open. The joint is still free, and for years, was offered completely out-of-pocket. This is no longer possible as no one has pockets that deep. We're just too big now. I'm sorry this is unacceptable, MarkJohn, but we will be happy to refund your dues, if you find our terms disagreeable.

 

[ButteMT61]

Dang dude, just leave already. Thousands of longtime members don't seem to be bothered. I'll double the hosts offer of a refund.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Hmm..I stay logged in. Never see any of this stuff...so no problems here. Why log out? Don't get it..

 

[splintercellsz]

Even when logged out, the ad's don't annoy me. Almost every webpage has advertisements. Yahoo, google, bing, amazon, ebay, etc. Are you going to go jump down their throats and cancel your usage of those sites, due to ads being there?

 

[Nathan Flowers]

Regarding those link ads, we're not completely sold on keeping them. We're monitoring the data to see if they are useful. If not, we'll kill them.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Hmm..I stay logged in. Never see any of this stuff...so no problems here. Why log out? Don't get it..

Sometimes you are logged out automatically, for various reasons, and have to log back in. It's not a particularly onerous chore, however.

 

[Dan Allen]

It is probably advertising that has allowed the entire internet to be free, let alone any single site. In my book, a small price to pay to keep from having to buy a ticket. I have learned to ignore the adds when on my wife's computer not logged in. My " digitaly" brained grandson has set my computer so very few adds get threw anyway.

 

[ButteMT61]

And if you have a clue, you can disable all ads anyway. I love how people think everything should be free...

 

[Otter]

Ghostery will clear out and block most of the tracking cookies that these things use. FL is not bad, only 3 on this page that I can see. Worst I have seen so far is 11 on a single page on another forum. When I am not at home I am either on my "mobile device" or a shared computer and I tend not to log in to anything that requires usernames or passwords!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I find no fault in the ads being here or not. It is not free to run the Fedora Lounge and if the ads being here will help the Fedora Lounge to continue being here, I am all for them. Some ads are good information and can lead to a nice purchase, so why not like them?