Slide up Google Ads at Bottom of Screen Topic is solved

[herb200mph]

Has OSM lost its mind? Or whoever did it.

We now have these Google Ads sliding up from the bottom of the screen on the forums.

With $300,000 in the bank, OSM should not need to revert to penny-clicks when there are better and less obtrusive ways to raise money.

I find this new add-on offensive.

[toivo]

Quite right, annoying and unproductive add-on at the forum. That is why a browser like Brave that blocks ads automatically is ideal here. I have used it since those ads were introduced.

[herb200mph]

toivo: Glad someone agrees about the ads. We have an ad blocker active also, but does not seem to be catching these. Will explore.

I would not have objection to side-bar [non-Google, paid sponsor, Joomla! related], static ads, but this Google stuff leads to privacy invasions insomuch as the ads are likely fed to us based on cookies and the other website locations we have visited. Am surprised that OSM/whomever, wasn't smart enough to figure out that this likely is against any GDPR compliance.

[TheINIC]

This is about "joomla.com - Feedback/Information"

Preamble:
When I visited forum.joomla.com I would see a very fast banner come and go in as long as 2 seconds. Today however, it stayed on so I was able to read it.

The bottom banner that interferes with the content behind it, with a red background states:

We have detected that you are using an ad blocker. The Joomla! Project relies on revenue from these advertisements so please consider disabling the ad blocker for this domain.

Why This FEEDBACK:
I do not block ads here. I will block ads that have a built-in stalker, ads that uses canvas fingerprinting, cross-site relay, anything that is made to peep at my History, leave anything that is designed to follow and report back to site, or 3rd party stuff that most sites disclaim any responsibility for. I also block anything that reports to Google my location, my APU,GPU,CPU MAC ID's, where I arrived from, and follow to report where I go etcetera, etcetera.

The banner doesn't bother me, I rarely see any. Maybe those that manage the forums software are unaware that the "ads" can do more than just advertise. The rejected ads just may be one ad is adding stalkers, I'm not checking each out. Unfortunately, the software used to manage privacy sees one bad they all get blocked. But I suggest that now days, more and more people are looking to protect their rights to privacy.

I had disabled the Ad Blocker, and left the stalker blockers on. It's why the software/add-on/plugin within the site erroneously detects ad blockers.

Just a thought...
~Ti

[toivo]

This is about "joomla.com - Feedback/Information"

When I visited forum.joomla.com [ ... ]

The URL of this forum is https://forum.joomla.org.

[sozzled]

Interesting discussion but I don't believe any good will come of it.

I don't know when, how or who decided to implement in-your-face Google Ads on the forum (although advertisements have been a long-standing feature of several J! service websites for a number of years) and whether extending the clickbait to the most looked-at of J! service sites (i.e. The Joomla! Forum™) this was a good idea, a natural evolution in OSM's revenue-raising efforts or simply someone's "brainwave", I won't comment.

I agree that some people have more than a mild aversion to advertising. I agree that some people make efforts to protect themselves from having their privacy invaded. In fact, I probably should make more of an effort to protect my own privacy from those who try to foist products down my throat. However, I don't make enough of that kind of effort and I generally live with putting up with advertising as just a part of the way things are.

I will, however, make two comments:

(1) The operation of the forum website is, to some degree, controlled by the forum management team but under the control of the OSM's Operations Department. There have been no reports from either the forum management team or the operations department for some months. Therefore, we don't know who, how or when the decision was made to implement the advertising changes we see here on the forum. Be that as it may, though, the ads appear to be confined only to the main board landing/index page and not on every page one visits.

(2) I agree there are other, "less-obtrusive" ways to raise revenue. I've given up offering my suggestions on how this could be achieved within the forum because I know that OSM has no time for suggestions offered by outsiders like me. What we know, from looking at how businesses have had to adapt in order to survive in the highly-competitive digital world, is that it's either a case of advertise, subscribe or perish.

There's some truth in "the financial solvency of a company is inversely proportional to the company's reliance on advertising". Think about it. One could suggest that OSM is desperate, looking at squeezing its number-one achievement—The Joomla! Forum™—for everything that it's worth. I would never suggest that, of course. However, even hinting at OSM's plight does have an impact on the J! community.

So, for the present, I'll see other people's thoughts on this. I don't use ad blockers, not because I'm naïve, simply because they've interfered with website development activities when they're activated. The ads themselves are a little more "intrusive" than I'd prefer, I guess, and (at worst) they probably raise a pittance in OSM's revenue.

This forum will perish—irrespective of whoever may be managing it—if OSM implodes (and can't pay its debts) or if it's faithless to those who use it.

[TheINIC]

This is about "joomla.com - Feedback/Information"

When I visited forum.joomla.com [ ... ]

The URL of this forum is https://forum.joomla.org.

You know what I meant, I know what I meant. Problem solved. Thanks for the upgrade
~ti

[ooffick]

Hi Guys

Just a quick update, yes we agree with you that those ads are annoying, and not in the control of the forum moderators.

We have entered in some discussion to get some more appropriate ads implemented.

Kind regards
Olaf

[ooffick]

So the slide up ads should be removed now, if you do see them again could you report back here please.

Kind regards
Olaf

[sozzled]

Thanks, Olaf.

[herb200mph]

Hard to believe that someone has actually DONE SOMETHING based on complaints with a rational foundation. These tenth-of-a-penny click ads certainly can't be earning any money, so why both with them.

[ redacted ]