Pop up ads
 

TOTV is now getting very annoying with the constant pop up ads at the bottom of the page and the blue search that is constantly pops up on the right.

The blue strip pop-up is especially obnoxious.

They have to make money somehow to support this site, however it would be nice if they would allow an option to stop the ads after you sign in.

I never get ads on TOTV. Maybe it's due to using Mozilla Firefox as my browser?

I use Ublock ad blocker extension for my Chrome browser. I don't ever see ads.

Most likely. I use Firefox too and it is my understanding that their software includes a pop-up blocker

Ads pop up everywhere. Between posts, in posts, bottom and top of pages. Closing them just leaves a blank space. Sending feedback does nothing as same ads reappear. I just ignore them now.

You can do that, or you can change the settings on your browser to not allow pop-ups, or you can use and ad-blocker (such as Adblock Plus, Ublock, and several others).

AdBlocker Ultimate. :thumbup:

You could also try Brave browser on any platform. It blocks ads out of the box.

Brave browser
 

I too use brave. The only issue is that I cannot get to the TOTV Classifieds. I am assuming it's because of the brave ad blocker.

It’s especially bad now on an iPhone or iPad, which is the only way I use the internet. The ads are even popping up in the middle of individual posts now, which breaks them up and makes them almost unreadable. Are there ad blockers for mobile devices?

I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want to do business with the vendors that advertise those hugh ads. If they were more discreet and did not interrupt the middle of a posting I might be more understanding. I have to fault the web designer for that. Just put the ads between postings. It’s like interrupting a person speaking while they are in mid-sentence. Rude!!!!

I've been trying to ween myself of TOTV and I think these continual pop ups might do it.

I’m living the same reality. Do the previously mentioned blockers work on mobile Apple devices. If not - anyone know of a good blocker for Apple?

Two words: AD BLOCKER.
Four words: GET IT. USE IT.

I've never seen a pop up ad on TOTV.

But, if it wasn't for the ads, how would I know what, car or cart I should buy? How would I know what foods I should buy, or what store to buy them from. How would I know what celebrities wife or girlfriend leaves nothing to the imagination? How would I know what lawyer I need to call? 😱😱🤭

The “Discover Related Topics” thing is very annoying.

Melissa Huenneken realtor popped up right after your post, Joe C. Why did these not used to flood the threads like they do now? Shouldn't all ads be in the classifieds? Who let the ads in? They don't belong here. TOTV, clean up your act, please! No one appreciates it. We can block them, but we shouldn't have to!

Talk of the Villages is a free service offered to you by the people who own it. They pay for the server. They pay for maintenance. They pay for upgrades on the vBulletin code, they pay a subscription fee for the professional version through DragonBytes. They do all the work, they select the moderators, and they are where "the buck stops" should anything go wrong or anything illegal be passed through their property.

Advertisers provide them with a revenue stream from which to pay all of the above.

The only way they can afford to make this website Ad-Free is to CHARGE YOU a monthly fee to use it.

But you have 100% power of your own to not see ads - and that's by using an ad blocker.

ToTV Classifieds are ads. Ad blockers block ads. If you want to see ads, you have to turn off your ad blocker.

Would you prefer to pay for the forum?

This is undoubtedly some junk software running on your computer. I get ZERO popup ads on TOTV. Scan for viruses / malware / adware or have someone look at it.

Computer Guy (I'm up north now)

AdBlocker Ultimate
 

Great blocker, keeps me almost totally free from ads. Go to your browsers settings page and select "Add-Ins". Search for "AdBlocker Ultimate" (icon is a red shield with a lock symbol inside) and install/enable it. You'll get an icon at the top of your browser showing red if it is enabled for the page you are currently viewing. If you want to disable it for that specific page in the future, simply click the red icon and select the enable/disable button (I do this for gmail and other sites where there are no, or few, ads and I don't want the blocker to slow down page performance).

Mobile Ad Blockers
 

YES, you can install an Ad Blocker on mobile phones. Go to your mobile App Store and search for your desired AdBlocker app and install it. On my Samsung I chose "ABP for Samsung."

Really? You saw all the previous posts saying an ad blocker works and as a computer guy you know you have one yourself yet your answer is it is undoubtedly some junk software?

Well, experience (yours, mine, and others) shows there is a real reason to doubt that it is junk software.

Me too... I'm out.i don't need another ad blocker app

There is a mid point between zero ads (fully blocked) and being bombarded far too much.
I think most would be ok with a few reasonable ads to cover hosting costs. But when the ads interfere with seeing the content people are here to see, then that is beyond the mid point. Such cases force people to get ad blockers, and site gets zero revenue. So their bombarding ad delivery choice actually costs them more than a reasonable style.

Sponsors pay to advertise. They pay, whether someone looks at their ad or not. They get some revenue return from click-throughs (people who click on the ads to see the website of the advertiser).

So they don't lose anything by my choosing not to look at them. And they won't gain anything from me, if I didn't have an ad blocker since I'd never click on them anyway.

If ad blockers and pop-up blockers stopped working on this website, I would stop using this website. So they'd end up with fewer active members (since you can't delete your account), less traffic, and less overall revenue.

I know if they started charging a subscription I would definitely opt out.

The new blue ones are annoying

Good point! I am also trying to end my looking at various forums. They have overdone the ads and I am finding it extremely bothersome to get past the ads. I am trying to read more books (the ones with actual written pages) I started this past week to reduce my internet time. See you later my wife just caught me on my phone again.

I ran a Forum with over 30,000 members and we were add free except for adds paid for and located in a sub-forum. No pop-ups or any other intrusions. We asked for donations and gave additional forum privileges for donors. The forum privileges were also granted to more active members. The maximum donation accepted was $150 a year. Only half a dozen members gave that much. Total numbers of members donating was only a few dozen. Most years we broke even. The owner of the forum didn't really care. His only participation was to pay the bills. I had several administrators and about a dozen moderators. All were non-paid volunteers.

It doesn't work like that.
Every web page served to you contains both the content, plus links to ads. Those links have a unique identifier embedded within it, that specifically tags the web page source that requested that ad. That tag is used to generate the payout to the web page host.
So when ads are blocked, that unique identifier never makes it to the ad server, and web host does not get paid.

Thank u for that - most appreciated.

Done and done! I can seeeee clearly now….

Amazing - works like a charm!!!

Thankfully my system blocks the pop-ups.

TOTV however seems to have an arrangement with some area businesses where they (I assume for a fee) can put up "posts" that advertise their service or product. Though some of them are a bit annoying (that undertaker character comes to mind) they are instantly recognizable and you can just pass them on by. Ads like that, I don't mind.