Ads, Ads, Everywhere The Ads!!!!

Im not against making money. I know a website the size of ATS requires a staff, bandwidth, servers, investments, etc, etc, and all that requires money.

I realize that.

But the ads seem to be over taking the site. Fast.

I just typed in abovetopsecret.com and before it even loaded, i was basically redirected to another site advertising for something, then giving me another link to "continue to abovetopsecret.com"

So, instead of doing away with the ads...why don't you just give us the option of "ad-free" subscriptions???

Keep the ads there for "Free subscription" users, and make both subscriptions the exact same thing, except for the ads.

No only will it rid us of annoying and pointless ads (and malware in some cases!) but it'll also keep money coming your way.

Everyone wins.


[edit on 28-7-2010 by Snarf]

I'd rather pay a small fee then have to always click away an add. I come here to get away from ignorant commercials. But maybe that won't matter soon anyway. I have to pay for TV and I still get adds. Capitalism at it's finest.

Are you sure you didn't input a typo when you typed abovetopsecret.com? Maybe you found one of those freeloading websites that feed off of typos.

I've never been redirected to another website when coming to ATS.

I wouldn't pay a single cent to read what you wackos post. And the nuts out weigh the real posters. Sorry I like ATS just the way it is, the adds don't bother me one little bit. Come to think of it I even click on them when I'm done reading the posts I want.

reply to post by dthwraith

Who you calling "wackos"? I suppose people are lining up around the block to read what you post?

I don't feel bothered by ads on ATS, have only seen 1 or 2. Nothing compared to TV and all the spam I get in my email.

There was also a thread about the pre-load ad some people seem to be getting here, and SkepticOverlord responded by asking people to get screenshots of the ad and info about the page they came from in this post. So I think it's not an ATS-approved or ATS-generated thing, and hopefully SO will be able to track it down and get rid of it

reply to post by Snarf


I used to say the same thing, Snarf.

Then *blush* I became an advertiser.

I admit it. But mine aren't stupid (I hope) or annoying (I hope).

So beware- if you (like me) invent a solution to the energy crisis or whatever- and if you decide to advertise on ATS because you LOVE IT- then you might want those dirty, capitalistic, annoying-
advertisements to exist.

They help SO, ATS, and erm, me.

Originally posted by dthwraith
I wouldn't pay a single cent to read what you wackos post. And the nuts out weigh the real posters. Sorry I like ATS just the way it is, the adds don't bother me one little bit. Come to think of it I even click on them when I'm done reading the posts I want.

wow, somebody doesn't think too much of himself.
click away at the adds there sport. You will make people in my line of work every happy.

waaaa, boho, my computer seems to be real slow. waaaaaa.

It doesn't bother me that much but I have ATS +
I can pause and fast forward

Perhaps a ATS Licence fee would be more suitable for some?

admin edit: removed TAC violation.

[edit on 7-29-2010 by Springer]

Originally posted by dthwraith
I wouldn't pay a single cent to read what you wackos post. And the nuts out weigh the real posters. Sorry I like ATS just the way it is, the adds don't bother me one little bit. Come to think of it I even click on them when I'm done reading the posts I want.

thats just the beauty of it...if you dont want to pay, you still get 100% access...you just have to deal with the ads

for those of us who don't mind paying...we get to enjoy the website without the risk of malware or annoying ads asking us to play world of warcraft.

And yes, im sure it was typed in correctly, i use google chrome, and the loading page for google chrome displays the top 8 most visited web sites, and for me, ATS is #1. When I clicked on it, i got a full page ad with a "continue to ATS" link on it.

I doubt people would be willing to pay what they make off us each month, but fair enough its a business at the end of the day. I just tune them out the only thing that bugs me is stuff that flows over the screen and I have to close.

ats dont go too far,the ads really start to get annyoing,and then you wonder why people start to use adblock,because its their right, full page ads? what is that?

Originally posted by americandingbat
There was also a thread about the pre-load ad some people seem to be getting here, and SkepticOverlord responded by asking people to get screenshots of the ad and info about the page they came from in this post. So I think it's not an ATS-approved or ATS-generated thing, and hopefully SO will be able to track it down and get rid of it

Ahh, i didn't see those threads, thank you

But you see, IMO, this only furthers my point. It's not ATS approved, but yet it's still happening. Just like with the malware issues a while back.

I don't blame SO or anyone at ATS For it happening. not one bit.

But if I can pay a certain fee every month in order to get rid of ALL of the ads (there's a lot of websites out there that do that) then they're actually going to be making more money off of me, the single user.

Because to be totally honest, i VERY rarely every click on any of the ads, unless it's one of the sidebar ads that I accidentally click out of habit (not sure why I do it either....)

It's not that i hate ATS and refuse to use the ads, it's that nothing every strikes my interest enough to make click on it

Originally posted by XyZeR
admin edit: removed TAC violation.

[edit on 7-29-2010 by Springer]

Deny ignorance, yeah right.....
FYI i posted nothing that "violated" TAC, just showed the firefox pluggin Ad block plus to people who are annoyed at the add-content here.

i just showed people a way to browse this forum Ad-free, if any mod can explain to me why that got removed and is in violation of TAC i'dd love to hear.
Just removing my post about it is silly, childish and frankly quite ridiculous.

But it shows me a lot about what this forum is actualy about: raking in money trough ads is what's important, that's apparent now.... not the people who post on it.... Deny ignorance...change the motto of this joke of a forum.

I'm done here....

reply to post by XyZeR

FYI i posted nothing that "violated" TAC ... i just showed people a way to browse this forum Ad-free, if any mod can explain to me why that got removed and is in violation of TAC i'dd love to hear.

Terms and Conditions of Membership for the AboveTopSecret.com Message Board(s)

4b) Ad Blockers: As AboveTopSecret.com is provided as a free service, in part through the income of our advertising, you agree not to use "ad-blocking" software or similar built-in web browser options designed to obfuscate or block online advertising while using the website(s).

Originally posted by JAK

4b) Ad Blockers: As AboveTopSecret.com is provided as a free service, in part through the income of our advertising, you agree not to use "ad-blocking" software or similar built-in web browser options designed to obfuscate or block online advertising while using the website(s).

Hey, I didn't notice that one. Is that new? I join ATS November 2007. I'm a bronze, is that why I don't see those ads on ATS?

[edit on Mon, 2 Aug 10 by Jazzyguy]

I said that they should sell user pattern information ... at least they wouldnt need to put all these ads

I never seem to have a problem with ads. To be honest i don't even notice them.

Maybe thats because i have the "recent posts" page in my favourites, so i click on that and come straight into that page rather than the home page.

I stay logged in all the time, not sure if that makes a difference.

I'm on IE8 which i know is a sin to some people, but it never gives me probs with ATS.

CX.