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I will say this - yes, again Andy - at risk of being subject to further sanctions.

 

Why did BRM buy RMweb from Andy?

 

At the time, I thought it would be so that they could promote BRM - fair enough; they incur a cost and get a promotion opportunity in exchange.

 

How naive - the promotion opportunity obviously comes at no cost to BRM; we (non-Gold members) fund it by having to endure endless adverts for wholly irrelevant products and services.

 

..... and then we are regularly chided for not paying actual cash for the privilege of NOT being bombarded with adverts!

 

I know this is out of your hands, Andy - but it must be galling to have to try to justify such cynicism.

 

John Isherwood.

 

(PS. If I disappear from here, you'll know why).

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46 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Does subscribing to gold secure an ad-free experience?

 

 

I am not finding ads in any way obstructing or obscuring a page, and I think the only occasional ads I see, in margins or wherever - I really don't notice them in any way diluting my RMweb day - are for BRM etc, which seems fair enough. 

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11 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

it must be galling to have to try to justify such cynicism.

 

I don't have any problem whatsoever in addressing commercial practicalities and realities.

 

12 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

(PS. If I disappear from here, you'll know why).

 

I don't like people setting themselves up as martyrs but I don't have a problem in dealing with that accordingly either.

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18 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

and then we are regularly chided for not paying actual cash for the privilege of NOT being bombarded with adverts!

 

I don't feel chided in any way, but I am feeling that if a small subscription gets rid of the adverts, it might be worth paying. Does it?

 

[I don't BTW, see the adverts as a 'gun to the head', more one of the options: pay by paying; or, pay by being advertised at. Unless RMweb can be had for free on the NHS, in which case I pay by paying taxes, I can't think of another way.]

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8 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

I don't feel chided in any way, but I am feeling that if a small subscription gets rid of the adverts, it might be worth paying. Does it?

 

[I don't BTW, see the adverts as a 'gun to the head', more one of the options: pay by paying; or, pay by being advertised at. Unless RMweb can be had for free on the NHS, in which case I pay by paying taxes, I can't think of another way.]

However as pointed out numerous times it's not the adverts in general which is the issue. It's just one extremely annoying one that has appeared over the last few days. 

 

It even appears in the reply box whilst you are typing and slows down the website. 

 

 

Attached screenshot to point out what I mean as some aren't quite understanding the issue.

 

1310420781_2020-10-14(1).png.d69cebc10aae1a0afce88ef5f3639117.png

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4 minutes ago, Talltim said:

Ironically, on an iPhone half the advert is hidden behind the quote button and the ‘top of page’ button

 

It's doing that now on android now thankfully, don't know if that's as a result of the ongoing "fettling" or apple always did it. But it's a vast improvement for functionality.

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1 minute ago, slow8dirty said:

It's doing that now on android now thankfully, don't know if that's as a result of the ongoing "fettling" or apple always did it. But it's a vast improvement for functionality.

I’m sure that a couple of days ago the advert was on top of the notification alert, making it impossible to click on, but when you replied the notification was on top of everything

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Sorry Andy but I have to agree with others, it is awkward replying to a topic with the Add staying over the reply box and even just normal browsing it IS very distracting with the constantly changing images, quite often in bright colours that drag your eye from the text you are trying to read ?

 

I don't normally like to complain ( well I do, but know one listens :rolleyes: )   but this one is definitely making it less enjoyable browsing 

I know  you are fully aware that there are those who cant commit to Gold but who still help to make RmWeb what it is with their contributions, this may unfortunately drive some of them away. Whilst I agree the Silver option might be a good idea long term I worry the damage may already be done with those who cant even afford THAT option  if this one runs for too long?  I know you are on the case but hope you see this as constructive comment rather than moaning :good_mini:

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11 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

We're already working on this. RMweb Platinum sees a virtual Andy appear at the end of your bed every morning to regale you with all the overnight postings. For a bit more money, you get an off switch.

 

9 hours ago, Jack said:

 

In the Platinum Plus edition he is fully dressed as well ;)

 

 

 

No just NO ! The thought of a naked Andy at the foot of the bed grinning and waving. . . . A cup of tea around. . Noooooo !!!!

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14 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

ads.

I would Beautiful Toilets, oops, that’s what’s popped Asda Mystery Shopper up, . No, I didn’t mean that! 

Where was I? Wear a face Boots???? No, that’s wrong. 

I give up, it’s getting late.

Nite all

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image.png.85cc99906fb69ecffa3831ef5142e8fa.png

 

Dammit ! I'd just gone for the low tech cover base of screen , when it popped up twice . I think it knows you know! 

 

Seriously if there was a Silver membership that got rid of this  and it was reasonably priced (obviously somewhere between 0 and gold membership , I'd be tempted just to get rid of this advert .  I don't object to advertising as such , the site obviously needs to pay its way , its just the pop up from the bottom of the screen thats the issue 

 

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11 hours ago, Mattc6911 said:

I know  you are fully aware that there are those who cant commit to Gold but who still help to make RmWeb what it is with their contributions,

 

Don't bother going down the route of "I don't need to pay towards the server costs because I post such valuable stuff" route. All it does is wind up the Mods. Ultimately, this site has to be paid for with the sort of money you can spend at Tesco. No money=no RMweb. And as long as RMweb exists, people will post on it.

 

At the moment, the site is subsidised by a magazine many people enjoy telling us they don't buy. Long term, this can't go on, hence experiments with adverts and membership schemes. 

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13 minutes ago, Legend said:

image.png.85cc99906fb69ecffa3831ef5142e8fa.png

 

Dammit ! I'd just gone for the low tech cover base of screen , when it popped up twice . I think it knows you know! 

 

Seriously if there was a Silver membership that got rid of this  and it was reasonably priced (obviously somewhere between 0 and gold membership , I'd be tempted just to get rid of this advert .  I don't object to advertising as such , the site obviously needs to pay its way , its just the pop up from the bottom of the screen thats the issue 

 

 

Don't you have two ears? One ad. for each ear. Obviously.......

 

I just got an ad. for an ad. blocker. I would need a degree in philosophy to analyse that one properly.

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13 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

However as pointed out numerous times it's not the adverts in general which is the issue. It's just one extremely annoying one that has appeared over the last few days. 

 

It even appears in the reply box whilst you are typing and slows down the website. 

 

 

Attached screenshot to point out what I mean as some aren't quite understanding the issue.

 

1310420781_2020-10-14(1).png.d69cebc10aae1a0afce88ef5f3639117.png

Hi all,

 

For those who don't know me, I'm the publisher of the railways department at Warners. I thought I'd step-in as it's unfair on Andy to be taking the flack about a commercial decision made from my desk.

 

RMweb is an incredible website but it incurs pretty substantial running costs...without going into too much detail you're talking tens of thousands of pounds. It offers us amazing marketing value for BRM, we're able to host adverts from companies within the trade and now have RMweb Gold. All of these are great revenue streams but it still leaves a pretty big shortfall.

 

I'm going to be really honest, Google advertising generates a decent amount of money that will reduce the loss we currently make on RMweb. Some adverts work well, others don't so we're continually testing to find the right balance. The advert at the bottom of the page is one such 'test' and whilst I appreciate your comments (and we do listen) we need to test a little longer to be able to make a decision on whether to keep it or not. 

 

As Andy said, RMweb Gold members don't see any Google adverts and get a load of additional benefits thrown-in, including access to the BRM Digital Edition each month and huge back catalogue. 

 

Steve

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I'm much puzzled by this topic.

 

I have never, ever seen any ads whatsoever on RMweb, and I'm not seeing any now. I use a bog-standard latest version of Firefox on a bog-standard Windows PC with no 3rd-party antivirus. I haven't installed any ad-blockers or other plug-ins or scripts. Everything is bog-standard.

 

I understand that advertising is needed to pay the costs, but I thought it was being displayed only to non-members of RMweb visiting the site, and to members who have not logged-in?

 

p.s. I just tried logging-out and browsing a few topics -- still no advertising.

 

p.p.s. Just tried in Opera browser and wow - advertising all over the place! Swapped back to Firefox and no advertising. The answer to the problem for those who don't like it seems obvious. :)

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

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Martin - lucky you!! :good:

 

5 minutes ago, SteveCole said:

The advert at the bottom of the page is one such 'test' and whilst I appreciate your comments (and we do listen) we need to test a little longer to be able to make a decision on whether to keep it or not. 

I'd have thought the answer to that was pretty obvious by now.... :no:

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29 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

I'd have thought the answer to that was pretty obvious by now.

 

Not necessarily. It depends whether the answer is defined by listening to what's being said or what the data says. Some have said that it may impact on their amount of time on site but it's not something which can be extrapolated to a wider position. I have looked at the analytics comparing this week (blue) to last (orange) and there's little meaningful difference in traffic evident.

 

GA 15Oct.jpg

 

Whether there's any difference in ad revenue won't be known yet.

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1 hour ago, SteveCole said:

Hi all,

 

For those who don't know me, I'm the publisher of the railways department at Warners. I thought I'd step-in as it's unfair on Andy to be taking the flack about a commercial decision made from my desk.

 

RMweb is an incredible website but it incurs pretty substantial running costs...without going into too much detail you're talking tens of thousands of pounds. It offers us amazing marketing value for BRM, we're able to host adverts from companies within the trade and now have RMweb Gold. All of these are great revenue streams but it still leaves a pretty big shortfall.

 

I'm going to be really honest, Google advertising generates a decent amount of money that will reduce the loss we currently make on RMweb. Some adverts work well, others don't so we're continually testing to find the right balance. The advert at the bottom of the page is one such 'test' and whilst I appreciate your comments (and we do listen) we need to test a little longer to be able to make a decision on whether to keep it or not. 

 

As Andy said, RMweb Gold members don't see any Google adverts and get a load of additional benefits thrown-in, including access to the BRM Digital Edition each month and huge back catalogue. 

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve, long time no see :)

 

When I worked for a software house we always installed a test system on large client's systems so that we could thoroughly test mods, updates etc before bringing the customer's live system crashing down around our ankles. Would it not be possible to do this which RMweb? Appreciate that you could not replicate site traffic etc, so numbers of clicks etc on an ad would not be meaningful. It could be tested on all popular platforms for functionality (or not) at least?

 

Anyway, hope to meet up sometime in the future, stay safe :)

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