Ozexpatriate Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) Andy, can you clarify for me what position Warners has taken for advertising content on RMweb? First let me stipulate that of course Warners may admit any advertising that they choose. Funding is necessary for the website to continue, and, as such advertising revenue is essential. It doesn't really bother me, but I am seeing a lot of ads that I would not have seen on RMweb in the past. I know you have been spending a lot of time working on the delivery of advertising and this question is not intended as a criticism. What I have noticed is a lot of different behaviours. Some days it looks like the sort of ads we used to see - from people within the model railway industry, like manufacturers and retailers. Some times the banner ad space is blank. Other days it looks like a wider spectrum of "modelling related" ads - like an advertisement for model ships I saw earlier today. More commonly lately it is the kind of advertising courtesy of AdChoices by Google that I would see on any website, often based on sites I have visited, or the heuristics suggest (rightly or wrongly) that I might want to visit and purchase from. This page is currently showing an ad from a stone countertop provider in Central Oregon (about 150 miles away). (My laptop was connected to a router in that neck of the woods two weeks ago.) If this is the intended behaviour - no worries, it is nice to know that things were changed deliberately. If it is unintended, please let me know if there is any way I can help. Edited September 17, 2019 by Ozexpatriate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted September 17, 2019 Moderators Share Posted September 17, 2019 I'll try to give a more complete response tomorrow when I'm back at a normal keyboard rather than my mobile but, yes, the behaviours your are seeing are explainable and planned. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted September 18, 2019 Moderators Share Posted September 18, 2019 I'll try and explain this in steps to give a better explanation. Every sub-forum area has an identifying code and scripts are assembled to identify which sub-forum a topic is in when read and deliver ads which are specific to that area. A trade advertiser could elect for their ad to just appear in the Bachmann or DCC sub-forums for example. A trade advertiser (historically) may have taken out a tenancy ad which means their ad (or other trade ads booked into that area) appears in the relevant area. Our IT department has moved over to a new ad delivery software system which is why we went through a lot of pain with poorly sized adverts. More recent adverts are delivered on an impression basis which, in addition to the sub-forum placements, allows for adverts to be delivered at specific time slots or the user's location if identifiable which means ads can be better targetted. If a sub-forum area isn't fully booked with trade advertisers the system will deliver a Google Ads served advert, this could be very generic or may have been targetted in the ways noted previously. It can also take into account users' browsing behaviour. We don't collect or store any information on that, it just happens through systems dependent on users' own security settings. This is why you'll have seen something more specific to your locale. Tests have shown that the Google Ads do deliver a meaningful contribution towards the costs of running the site and are being used in a way which is not to the detriment of any of the trade advertisers as they are getting what they are paying for and better targetted than previously. 1 3 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 Andy, thanks for the thorough explanation. Everything certainly seems to be working along those lines. I have noticed that the advertising banners are sometimes on the top and sometimes on the bottom, leaving the other blank. I don't know if that's intended, but I do like it that way. I have observed this in Wheeltappers where (based on the targeting 'rules' you described above) there is much less of the focused model railway advertising. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted September 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 18, 2019 Thanks for the clarification Andy, up until that point I thought the adverts I was recieving for dementia care were totally random. Mike. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 10 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said: Thanks for the clarification Andy, up until that point I thought the adverts I was recieving for dementia care were totally random. Mike. Shouldn't have read that whilst eating breakfast.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted September 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 19, 2019 2 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said: Shouldn't have read that whilst eating breakfast.... Sorry! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted September 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 19, 2019 Google ads must have been reading someone else's bank account - I've just seen an advert for Bentley cars... 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium rab Posted October 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 2, 2019 On 19/09/2019 at 12:45, Stubby47 said: Google ads must have been reading someone else's bank account - I've just seen an advert for Bentley cars... They've obviously seen the standard of your modelling Stubby and thought you deserve a car to the same standard. On the other hand it could be the Indian model with wheels on only one side, that goes round in circles!! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted October 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2019 all the massive adverts of random stuff in the headers seem to be back, they'd gone away for a while? cheers, Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted October 16, 2019 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2019 16 minutes ago, tractionman said: all the massive adverts of random stuff in the headers seem to be back, they'd gone away for a while? cheers, Keith I had a bout earlier, after pressing Shift + F5 the refresh got me back to normal. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted October 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2019 Getting some on my mobile but not on here Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porcy Mane Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) 44 minutes ago, tractionman said: all the massive adverts of random stuff in the headers seem to be back, they'd gone away for a while? Same here. Hitting Shift F5 doesn't shift em. Nice advert for poundstretcher but how do they know I'm as tight as a ducks Ar$e? Edited October 16, 2019 by Porcy Mane 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted October 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2019 On 19/09/2019 at 12:45, Stubby47 said: Google ads must have been reading someone else's bank account - I've just seen an advert for Bentley cars... Been looking at too many Ivo Peters pictures. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 All over my mobile, makes viewing the site almost a chore and I'm not keen on chores. I know that the site has to pay for it's upkeep but I can't help but feel too much of this stuff will be counter productive and actually drive people away. Personally I watch so little television now mostly due to the seemingly constant stream of advertising for absolutely nothing I'm interested in. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted October 16, 2019 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2019 Look, I don't disagree with the need; just the execution. I've been in touch with Steve and he's on the case. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted October 16, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) Just for info this is how they've started aappearing on my mobile - tablet and PC just have the usual narrow banner at the top Edited October 16, 2019 by keefer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted October 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2019 I'm using my phone and I have to scroll up and down quite a lot anyway, so I just scroll past them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted October 16, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 16, 2019 And at least it's not as bad as most newspaper online sites - about 3 screens worth of flashing popping ads with the story hiding in amongst them 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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