The ATS Issues Thread

ATS ads now targeting member by IP Location?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d94c9b7496de.jpg[/atsimg]

Please take a long hard look at the above pic.
Now look at my location under my avatar.
Do you see the similarity??

I live in NC, I have on my profile that I'm from NC
and I get an ATS advertisement that will only
sell to a NC resident.

The ad above is for a beauty pageant that
only NC residents can enter !!!!

Now please tell me how I was selected to
get this ad targeted for a NC resident
if ATS is NOT giving my IP address out to
advertisers???

This should be a very serious concern
for ALL ATS members.

reply to post by boondock-saint


Um, YOU are giving you IP address out to advertisers. ATS, like every other site that hosts ads, embeds links on their page that point to servers run by advertising agencies. Your browser, when you load the ATS page, sends a request to the advertising agency's server, to get the embedded content from there. That request implicitly contains your IP address, just like any other web page request. In this case, the advertising agency chose to deliver you content specific to where your IP address is roughly located geographically.

For an example, see this link:
www.ip2location.com...

reply to post by boondock-saint


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).

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by boondock-saint


Please do not suggest members break ATS Terms & Conditions of Use that everyone agreed to abide by when joining.

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).

reply to post by boondock-saint


Other than the fact that you agree to disable 'ad-blockers' when you join ATS, I think you will find very little support on this issue from the higher ups.

Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love. (article)

Many of us actually supported the petition offered on that thread so that we may keep enjoying our favorite sites such as ATS free of charge.

I'm not sure why you got this bit between your teeth boon, it's nothing new.

We are told to address any questions in this forum but its very hard to get a reply..
If you then start a thread on the subject ,it is closed with the notation to please post in ATS issues thread..

Its a little frustrating...
It was only a simple, small issue, but IMO still a member deserves a reply..

Note, I was patient to the extent of waiting till I'd seen a few Mods post after my post which is a few days old now.

posted on 22-9-2010 @ 09:40 PM single this post "quote"REPLY TO:


JUst a quick question to ATS...

Could we make the 'I'm a Friend Of" the same as the "My sharpest friends"
ie: listed as they are chosen..

The "I'm a Friend Of" list stays alphabetically listed and its easy to miss someone who just made you their friend..

Not a huge issue, but would be nice....

reply to post by CynicalM


Your suggestion has been seen. It can not be answered yet, as the site is still in the middle of being updated and revamped. I would just hold tight and wait to see how the profiles look when they are updated

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Thanks for the reply...

Maybe I expect too much but I just think maybe someone could have posted what you just said a little earlier,
though I understand it must be busy at ATS with all the changes..

Hi,

Does anyone know what size images need to be to fit "correctly" into the comments box on someone's profile? I did a search but couldn't find a definitive answer.

Thanks for your time,


-TheAssoc.

ahlusunnah.org.au...

I wanted to post this page (just posting for the sake of example here), but the link has been dead for some 2 years, apparently. I was able to access it off the wayback machine, but when I did [ u r l = that link ] text [ u r l ], it broke it up like this:
ahlusunnah.org.au..." target="_blank" class="postlink">link

Then I tried posting a tinyurl link, but ATS seems to automatically remove the tinyurl part of the link!
link

(weird....this link works now)

I seem to remember that ATS has it's own url shortener, and that would be a solution for now, but seriously, it'd be nice if this issue (along with the other issue of links being broken up by stuff like ( and ) )was fixed.

In this case, I realise that the problem occurred because the wayback machine link has two "http" bits in the link, and ATS automatically attempts to format those as two separate links.

I know it may cause some major issues (although really, it shouldn't), but can't it be made so that if someone posts a link in ATS, the whole block of text would be considered a link until the next "space" was encountered?

So(this)whole*thing??would=be/considered+a+link, if I had put an http : // www . at the start.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
reply to post by CynicalM

 

It can not be answered yet, as the site is still in the middle of being updated and revamped.

I would just hold tight and wait to see how the profiles look when they are updated

OH... i was wondering why i got the 'white-out' treatment... i had a suspicion that my 'warning' had something to do with the white-out, [ATS Purgatory] my Avatar escaped but my mini-profile is Still experiencing

i wish i gave a hoot about the 500 point deduction, but i figure that in time the 'warning' will be determined to have been a misreading of the content and the staff will be given some night-school classes to bone up on slamming the gavel too early


added: the Michigan J Frog avatar is very appropos, the singular person alone is witness to the amphibians talents...but as soon as an audience appears...poof! the majic ceases

reply to post by St Udio


I'm probably confused, since I don't understand the relevance of the post you're replying to, but if you're referring to the fact that your mini-profile and the text in it are both white, you should be able to change that in the "Tools" section.

Originally posted by babloyi
ATS seems to automatically remove the tinyurl part of the link!

We don't want to allow link-shortening "services" on ATS because they track your IP, the site you clicked-from (ATS), and the site you click to (the link)... then sell that information to third parties.

Originally posted by boondock-saint
Now please tell me how I was selected to
get this ad targeted for a NC resident
if ATS is NOT giving my IP address out to
advertisers???

As explained in our Privacy Policy, nothing about you is ever shared.

However, when a call for an ad on ATS is sent to the ad networks, they have the ability to target the ads based on geographic information which is learned from your IP address, which they can "see." But at no time is any data passed between ATS and any ad network.

Originally posted by TheAssociate
Hi,

Does anyone know what size images need to be to fit "correctly" into the comments box on someone's profile? I did a search but couldn't find a definitive answer.

Thanks for your time,


-TheAssoc.

Images on post can be a max width of 600p.....
However, I have noticed that on profile comments, they should probably me a max of around 400p. I put one on someone's profile recently that was a max of 500p and it centered it and is now a bit wonky and too wide.

reply to post by St Udio


Your white on white is due to you choosing background and text color of white.
We do not allow the text on mini-profiles to be obsured, so the text or background color will have to be changed.
Just go to:

TOOLS
ACCOUNT

and towards the bottom, you can change the font or background color.

I received a message sometime yesterday and was not able to attend to it, I figured I could find the time later. However, now that the screen has changed I no longer know how to open my private message box. I cannot even find a link to my own profile to try to locate a message option. ??

Can someone link me to an explanation?

Originally posted by Greensage
I received a message sometime yesterday and was not able to attend to it, I figured I could find the time later. However, now that the screen has changed I no longer know how to open my private message box. I cannot even find a link to my own profile to try to locate a message option. ??

Can someone link me to an explanation?

Go to:

TOOLS
MESSAGES (first option on submenu)

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Thank you ! Thank you!