Ads

[Bay Kid]

Can Talk of The Villages find more ways to bombard us with ads?

[Kenswing]

It is getting a bit annoying. Now I’m even getting pop-ups on my phone. One more reason to spend less time here.

[Foxtrot]

Funny I'm on a Mac, using Firefox browser, and get no ads. Perhaps download an ad blocker? Same thing on the Brave browser, no ads.

[retiredguy123]

Can Talk of The Villages find more ways to bombard us with ads?
Download the AdGuard Content Blocker app. It's free. Also, if you have a Samsung phone or tablet, you can also turn on a free Samsung pop-up blocker app.

[Davonu]

Yeah, big step down for ToTV on iPhone. Not nearly as user friendly now.

[fdpaq0580]

Can Talk of The Villages find more ways to bombard us with ads?

They probably can. But, I know I don't pay to come here, so I'm guessing the ads are paying to keep TOTV up and running.

[Arctic Fox]

Can Talk of The Villages find more ways to bombard us with ads?

What annoys me most is when I click to close one and get the error message that I can't then open what I want to without waiting five seconds, even though the ad is no longer showing.

[Keefelane66]

iPhone or Apple tablet never receive adds, no adblocker must be controlled in operating system.
On start up page TOTV references over 130,000 users which is used to sell adds for revenue to make this a free site. I don’t see more than 1% probably less of that number posting

[Michael G.]

They probably can. But, I know I don't pay to come here, so I'm guessing the ads are paying to keep TOTV up and running.

So how would you explain the ads on cable TV?
Yes, we pay to go there and stay get tons of ads.

[Two Bills]

So how would you explain the ads on cable TV?
Yes, we pay to go there and stay get tons of ads.

Because your subscription is subsidized by all the ads.
If channels were Ad. free, and subscriptions were at full cost, no one would buy into cable.

[Michael G.]

Because your subscription is subsidized by all the ads.
If channels were Ad. free, and subscriptions were at full cost, no one would buy into cable.

Now that would be the best idea I heard yet. :bowdown:

[mntlblok]

They probably can. But, I know I don't pay to come here, so I'm guessing the ads are paying to keep TOTV up and running.

I understand the relationship with free sites and the ads that support them, but it never gets old when I try to click on a different "page number" in a thread and the page scrolls a bit more just as I go to click, and the ad gets "clicked" instead of the "page number". Funnier every time.

[Bay Kid]

With all the ads TOTV must be making a good living.

[Goldwingnut]

The ads are an unfortunate and necessary evil because nothing in this life is free. Most do not know or understand the details and costs associated with running a popular website. Everything costs - data storage, bandwidth, support, site design & maintenance, SEO, website hosting, the list goes on and on and of course we can’t for get labor. And, someplace alone the way there is the brass ring that all are striving for, profit. Without the latter there are few incentives for putting in the many many hours of work it takes to keep an online media site running.

On a website such as this there are many ad sources - the internal ads, which are locally generated ads from local sponsors are the ones the content provider has the most control over and for many (myself included) are the primary source of revenue, there are ads that are sourced by the web hosting service that the content provider has little control over and the content provider only makes a small percentage of their gross revenues from. Perhaps the most intrusive of sources are from the search engines that place their hooks into every website and are responsible for most of the bombardment, and while annoying, the content providers recognize that these help drive traffic to their website and that traffic volume (unique users and clicks) is used as an incentive to get more sponsors and better rates from local advertisers, and eventually and hopefully allowing the site to become profitable. It’s pretty easy to tell the sources for the ads, once you get past the local business ads, the rest are driven by these external sources and the cookies left behind in your web browser’s temp folders.

Ad blockers are a great tool but they also work to the detriment of the content provider’s site counts and ad revenues. As far as one platform or anther being less susceptible to ads, I personally don’t see it. I’m working on an iPad right now and on the main page where I started typing this there were 17 different ads in view, I see similar numbers on my iPhone and desktop computers regardless of which web browser I use.

Television is little different, ad content is through the roof. Do you remember the ads on shows from when you were a kid, Gilligan’s Island normally had 3 commercial breaks, one offer the prolog, halfway through the broadcast, and then just before the epilogue, now days you see commercial every 4 to 5 minutes, sometimes more often. A 30 minute sitcom once had 22-24 minutes of content, that number is now down to less than 15 minutes (perhaps this is why TV content has degraded so much over the years - no time for story development, only enough for the cheap one liners and degrading comments - oops getting off topic!).

Advertisers are well aware of your annoyance by the ads and your efforts to defeat them, have you noticed on many shows you’ve recorded there are segments where you can’t fast forward through the ads or if you FF before the ads start that when you do stop new ads magically appear. These are all self inflicted, ad providers working in response to our habits of trying to skip over the commercials.

While this site has many sponsors, it is nowhere close to being in the league of that other local website with its completely overwhelming barrage of ads all responding to the clickbait stories that they produce. That black hole of negativity may (we can hope) someday collapse in upon itself.

Everything comes at a cost that we all must endure, the internet is not free. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[Joe C.]

I've never seen an AD on this site. Maybe they don't know that I'm here.:wave::wave:

[JGibson]

Brave Browser.

They could go to a subscription service instead of ads but will folks pay for it? If ads are getting blocked too much they may have to move to a subscription model.

There is one social media platform that is worth the $8 a month to not see ads and get close to free speech access than any other platform.

Nextdoor and FB are the worst at censorship, ads, and leaking your personal information.

I know Apple implemented some data harvesting protection and FB took a big financial hit because of it.

TOTV can implement certain codes that would render ad blockers useless. I would imagine for now enough folks are seeing the ads that it's not a problem for them.

[Nana2Teddy]

iPhone or Apple tablet never receive adds, no adblocker must be controlled in operating system.
On start up page TOTV references over 130,000 users which is used to sell adds for revenue to make this a free site. I don’t see more than 1% probably less of that number posting
I have ads on my iPhone, which is the only place I read TOTV. Lots of ads. Weird that you don’t.

[Heytubes]

The ads is what supports this forum. Without the ads, no Talk of the Villages!

[Davonu]

The ads is what supports this forum. Without the ads, no Talk of the Villages!
And ads can be done in many ways…some very intrusive and some not so much.

[TOTV Team]

Hello - Many of the 'annoying' ads are placed by Google. We have made changes so that these should now be more limited. We hope this helps.

TOTV Team

[daniel200]

I never see ads on this site. I use an ipad, but i have configured several settings on my ipad as well as my router to minimize ads. It works well for most sites

[Taltarzac725]

Hello - Many of the 'annoying' ads are placed by Google. We have made changes so that these should now be more limited. We hope this helps.

TOTV Team

They pop up when I leave TOTV to Google and then come back on but seem to be gone when I stay on TOTV.

[Keefelane66]

I have ads on my iPhone, which is the only place I read TOTV. Lots of ads. Weird that you don’t.
Check Safari settings

On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Safari. Turn on Block Pop-ups. Turn on Fraudulent Website Warning.

[Rainger99]

I've never seen an AD on this site. Maybe they don't know that I'm here.:wave::wave:

When I use my iPhone, there are ads between a lot of the posts. Doesn’t bother me as I just scroll down.

Would people pay for TOTV?

[LuvNH]

When I use my iPhone, there are ads between a lot of the posts. Doesn’t bother me as I just scroll down.

Would people pay for TOTV?

I think the "regulars" would pay. As much as I enjoy using TOTV I would probably not pay. It has just become a habit when I have down time.

[collie1228]

Popups are a pain all over the net now, so I'm not surprised to see them on this site now. They must be a money maker. But I click a lot less on this site because of them. I hope that reduces the site's overall income.

[JMintzer]

Popups are a pain all over the net now, so I'm not surprised to see them on this site now. They must be a money maker. But I click a lot less on this site because of them. I hope that reduces the site's overall income.

How do you suggest they pay to run the site you use at NO COST?

[Nana2Teddy]

Check Safari settings

On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Safari. Turn on Block Pop-ups. Turn on Fraudulent Website Warning.
I have always had those settings turned on. Still see lots of ads at websites unless I use Reader View. Unfortunately, Reader View is disabled on TOTV website.

[Keefelane66]

I have always had those settings turned on. Still see lots of ads at websites unless I use Reader View. Unfortunately, Reader View is disabled on TOTV website.
Checked my settings again and still do not receive ads or popups

[Pairadocs]

Can Talk of The Villages find more ways to bombard us with ads?

Doubt it. The sight has just changed so drastically over the years from the roots of the intention, or at least what was stated as the intention back when we'd first meet in person at Crisper's. Back then it seemed at least, it was just a way for ONLY village residents to communicate and help each other. Change, as we all know, is inevitable. What I miss most from the original intent, is the person to person actual recommendations people shared. Now, so many posting "seem" to be planted, meaning ads disguised as a personal recommendation. I now prefer to send a private message when really trying to determine things like that.

[Pairadocs]

It is getting a bit annoying. Now I’m even getting pop-ups on my phone. One more reason to spend less time here.

I agree with you. Also, seems strange that while there is a no mention of politics, even saying things such as: "regardless of what political party an individual prefers, you'd think ......... " found out even using words "political party", is forbidden, along with just the words "d" or "r", even when not referring to the actual tenants of those parties". Seems strange, less like a small town bulletin board for residents to "talk" to one another, and more like some kind of national "social media" we hear so much about every day now in relation to censoring and pushing others. Never had any interest in those (probably not allowed to mention them) websites, but never thought of TOTV's as the same type. Puzzling. And the tracking on your phone, found the SAME THING, really strange how right after you post something the very same ad shows up ???? Also seemed strange to us how, during the pandemic, some frequent posters were allowed to post about vaccinations constantly, bragging about how "proud" they were, and even signing their names with things like been vaxed and proud. How strange !

[Pairadocs]

Yeah, big step down for ToTV on iPhone. Not nearly as user friendly now.

Not at all, and who decides what is "political" and "not political", I keep thinking of all the on line bullying, got to name calling in some posts, during the pandemic. Who decides all this ?

[Bay Kid]

Maybe AI heard me. Not as many popup ads the past couple days. Whew!