[coldcanuck]

So I'm in the new car market and have come to this forum to learn about people's experiences with the Outback. And then I see sponsored posts by Ford Motor in msny forums, and even got sucked into reading one and watching the accompanying video because I wasn't aware it was a sponsored post..

Seriously, is the "owner" of this forum that hard up for cash they have to accept advertising from competitors?

Just strikes me as odd.

Coldcanuck

 

[bradze]

i see a lot more of them on nasioc

 

[DavidPeab]

1. Google "AdBlock Plus"
2. Download AdBlock Plus for FREE
3. Install AdBlock Plus
4. See no more banner ads on any site

BTW, I use Adblock Plus and it works really well in Firefox. You can also turn it off on specific sites if you want to see the ads.

 

[RobLog]

As long as we're not forced to watch ads in order to view user content like other websites (youtube, to name one of many), I've no problem at all with them. I use Firefox with the Noscript add-on and am not bothered with obtrusive ads.

 

[Wi Subaru]

1. Google "AdBlock Plus"
2. Download AdBlock Plus for FREE
3. Install AdBlock Plus
4. See no more banner ads on any site

BTW, I use Adblock Plus and it works really well in Firefox. You can also turn it off on specific sites if you want to see the ads.

THANK YOU. Best advice I see on the internet for awhile. This worked great!:29::29::29:

 

[rasterman]

So I'm in the new car market and have come to this forum to learn about people's experiences with the Outback. And then I see sponsored posts by Ford Motor in msny forums, and even got sucked into reading one and watching the accompanying video because I wasn't aware it was a sponsored post..

Seriously, is the "owner" of this forum that hard up for cash they have to accept advertising from competitors?

Just strikes me as odd.

Coldcanuck

This board is "owned" by verticalscope. To them, the only reason to run it is to show ads. Like most advertisers, they'll run whatever ads they can sell. Then they can analyze all the data about who saw the ads and use that to sell more ads.

Why would Subaru advertise here anyway? Everyone here already knows about them.

 

[AWDFTW]

Yup, while the forum started out as being owned and operated by an individual, it has been part of the Auto Guide network for quite some time now.

We (the mods and admins other than Admin) really don't have input on how things are done for ads, etc.

 

[iainb]

So I'm in the new car market and have come to this forum to learn about people's experiences with the Outback. And then I see sponsored posts by Ford Motor in msny forums, and even got sucked into reading one and watching the accompanying video because I wasn't aware it was a sponsored post..

Seriously, is the "owner" of this forum that hard up for cash they have to accept advertising from competitors?

Just strikes me as odd.

Coldcanuck

That's not how internet ads work.

Generally the ads that appear on websites are not controlled by the owner of the site. They subscribe to an ad service and that ad service tailors the content to the general type of audience that the site caters too. In return the ad service pays them for "click-throughs".

Then you have smarter ad systems like Google's where the banner ads are tailored to you based on what you are looking at on the internet.

 

[vr4Legacy]

My guess is the OP was looking at a Ford websites before here.

I have noticed that the ads are here are tailored to your browsing history. Everytime I google a product or look into one on Amazon and come back here, BAM, I see an ad for it.

It's smart advertising, and I don't find the ads too obtrusive, after all this is a free site

 

[Euchre]

Wait, there's ads on the internet?

 

[rasterman]

Exactly! Did you pay money? No? you're not the customer. Did you get paid? No? you're not the supplier.

Hmm.. Guess that means you're the product.


/me too.

 

[coldcanuck]

Some good responses here, thanks. I always wondered who owned and operated these types of forums. I guess it makes sense that they may have at one point been owned and operated by an or a group of aficionados and that the forums were later taken over by organizations who saw the huge opportunity to sell marketing opportunities to companies targeting a niche demographic.

Incidentally, I was not referring to the banner ads that AdBlocker would filter out. I was referring to "sponsored posts" that were advertising posts embedded in the list of threads in the forums. They look like any other post and have catchy titles to draw traffic. They are clearly stated as being sponsored posts in the space reserved for the thread starter, but people rarely look at the name of the poster. Kinda sneaky.

On another note, I used to have a Honda Pilot and was a member of the HondaPilot.org group that was much like this forum.

Honda sued or threaten to sue for trademark infringement so the forum merged with the competing for Piloteers.org. I wonder if the owners of this site have an agreement with Subaru?

ColdCanuck

 

[lavarock]

I was considering adding AdBlock Plus. When I started the process I got a notice that I would be allowing Google access to my tabs and browsing activity.
I was also allowing access to my data on all websites. Perhaps Google already can do this without my permission but I am not willing to do this with my permission so I will put up with the ads which I have not found to be a problem for me.

 

[Euchre]

I was considering adding AdBlock Plus. When I started the process I got a notice that I would be allowing Google access to my tabs and browsing activity.
I was also allowing access to my data on all websites. Perhaps Google already can do this without my permission but I am not willing to do this with my permission so I will put up with the ads which I have not found to be a problem for me.

Did you say you were using Firefox?
Where on earth are you getting your 'Adblock Plus' from?
None of those conditions apply to the addon from the official site, last I checked:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

 

[lavarock]

Did you say you were using Firefox?
Where on earth are you getting your 'Adblock Plus' from?
None of those conditions apply to the addon from the official site, last I checked:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

I use Google Chrome. Go to this site Adblock Plus - Surf the web without annoying ads! and click the install for Chrome (a green click box) and you will see the warning I spoke of.

 

[AWDFTW]

While I like Chrome, that's pretty much why I use the slower Firefox. Chrome tracks too much to Brother Google.

 

[vr4Legacy]

Incidentally, I was not referring to the banner ads that AdBlocker would filter out. I was referring to "sponsored posts" that were advertising posts embedded in the list of threads in the forums. They look like any other post and have catchy titles to draw traffic. They are clearly stated as being sponsored posts in the space reserved for the thread starter, but people rarely look at the name of the poster. Kinda sneaky.

I beleive those only appear if you aren't logged on. Once you create an account only the banner ads show up.

Most forums operate that way. It gets good money from the one time visitors that find a post on Google.

And, yeah, they ARE sneaky.