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Regarding the large ad

I am using microsoft Edge & a few days ago i did the following

I went to Edge settings 

 click on                                           ... in the top right corner

scroll down to & click on               Settings

in settings click on                          Privacy, search, and services

set the tracking setting to             Strict

I also Cleared browsing data

Since then i haven't seen ads except a BRM ad

 

John

 

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I'm experiencing a new(to me) problem with ads, but before I continue may I please be clear I understand the need for ads to help finance RMWeb.

What is happening is that I select my first topic on the forum and instead of the expected content, I'm presented with an ad, ironically for ad blocker, in the middle of the screen, but the whole of my screen behind the ad is 'opaque', no content visible at all. I have to dismiss the ad before I can see the forum page or even other adverts in their usual position on right side of the screen.

My question, is this ad appearing and functioning correctly ?

 

Regards,

 

                 John

                   

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6 minutes ago, Brit70053 said:

My question, is this ad appearing and functioning correctly ?

 

 

I understand that additional periodic pop-up ads have been added for non-Gold users.

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9 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

I understand that additional periodic pop-up ads have been added for non-Gold users.

 

Probably best if we do not go down the road that such a confirmation has regularly signposted; the views of many members are already well known.

 

CJI.

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I am getting the same on my screen. It is the first time I have had to click on an advert to clear it off the screen before I can proceed to the forum.

 

I don't have a problem with having adverts on my screen but being forced to click on them before I can view the forum is a bit more than I am happy with.

 

Being forced to click on an advert to close it just seems rather manipulative and intrusive. Do the product providers know that I have clicked on their advert to close it? Have they captured any details from me? It would be nice to know.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

I am getting the same on my screen. It is the first time I have had to click on an advert to clear it off the screen before I can proceed to the forum.

 

I don't have a problem with having adverts on my screen but being forced to click on them before I can view the forum is a bit more than I am happy with.

 

Being forced to click on an advert to close it just seems rather manipulative and intrusive. Do the product providers know that I have clicked on their advert to close it? Have they captured any details from me? It would be nice to know.

 

 

 

Couldn't agree more - but nothing will be done, and we'll be told that RMweb can't exist without more and more advertisements.

 

It's a waste of time posting on the subject.

 

CJI.

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1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

I am getting the same on my screen. It is the first time I have had to click on an advert to clear it off the screen before I can proceed to the forum.

 

I don't have a problem with having adverts on my screen but being forced to click on them before I can view the forum is a bit more than I am happy with.

 

Being forced to click on an advert to close it just seems rather manipulative and intrusive. Do the product providers know that I have clicked on their advert to close it? Have they captured any details from me? It would be nice to know.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, cctransuk said:

 

Couldn't agree more - but nothing will be done, and we'll be told that RMweb can't exist without more and more advertisements.

 

It's a waste of time posting on the subject.

 

CJI.

 

 

 

 

The solution is simple - you PAY for the site yourself by becoming a Gold member.

 

Advertisers create adverts to make people pay attention to the featured products and are not going to stump up cash if people install technology that prevent the adds from being seen.

 

The more people that have add blocking software (even if its just the built into the browser variety) the more inventive / disruptive advertising has to be to generate the same level of funds - funds which are essential to pay for the server costs etc.

 

Thats presumably why RMweb does it - and its by far from the only hobbyist / forum site that does it (or worse)

 

For example, have a look at the National Preservation web forum and you will find it not only has adds you have to close to see the site but it also frequently has the site embedded within an advertising background that is incredibly distracting. Many newspaper websites have gone further and require you to actually click on said adds or fill out some survey before you can see the content.

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So it’s not a fault…  How annoying.  I get why we have adds but if they get too regular or I have to arse about I’ll stop coming.


I’d go ad-free for £20-£30 a year, but I’m not interested in the rest that comes with Gold/WOR+ so I’m not getting it.  I don’t think I’d browse as much in this brave new world.

 

Edited by MrSimon
Ad free
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I’ve never minded the adverts at the side or even more recently the ones popping up from the bottom of screen , but these ones that cover the whole screen and you have to click to get rid of them are a real pain . 

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At least I now know this is not some malfunction of my laptop or O.S., which is what concerned me most. 

I just find it a little illogical that an advert for an 'ad blocker' is effectively preventing me from seeing adverts placed and paid for by other companies; is this partially the result I'd get if I obtained said Ad Blocker  which might presumably allow  viewing of content without any adverts at all ?  Puzzling.

 

Regards,

 

                John

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39 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

 

 

 

 

The solution is simple - you PAY for the site yourself by becoming a Gold member.

 

Advertisers create adverts to make people pay attention to the featured products and are not going to stump up cash if people install technology that prevent the adds from being seen.

 

The more people that have add blocking software (even if its just the built into the browser variety) the more inventive / disruptive advertising has to be to generate the same level of funds - funds which are essential to pay for the server costs etc.

 

Thats presumably why RMweb does it - and its by far from the only hobbyist / forum site that does it (or worse)

 

For example, have a look at the National Preservation web forum and you will find it not only has adds you have to close to see the site but it also frequently has the site embedded within an advertising background that is incredibly distracting. Many newspaper websites have gone further and require you to actually click on said adds or fill out some survey before you can see the content.

 

I don't have any problem with adverts funding RMWeb as I have made clear before. A while ago, when this thread was started, there was a problem with over intrusive adverts which was resolved after a bit of discussion.

 

It isn't that I mind adverts. I just don't like the new way they are appearing.

 

There is much on RMWeb Gold that is of no interest to me at all, so if I joined I would be paying for lots of things that I would never look at.

 

A while ago, there was talk of a limited payment just giving an advert free RMWeb, which never got very far but I might have been interested in that.

 

If the forum was still owned by Andy York himself I would have been much more likely to offer financial support but now it feels that it is more about profits of a business rather than helping an individual to keep it going. 

 

So if I am being offered a binary choice between paying up or putting up with the new adverts, neither is very attractive. A third option is to cut right back on my visits to reduce the number of times I have to navigate the adverts. Much depends on how many times they pop up (it has varied since they started from very occasionally to every few clicks) and to how intrusive I find them or if I get used to them.

 

 

 

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Have to admit I find this new advert that pops up in the middle of the screen and prevents me from seeing anything until I close it REALLY irritating.

 

The other adverts I have no issue with. I also dislike the idea that I have to pay to be a Gold Member to avoid this. 

 

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

If the forum was still owned by Andy York himself I would have been much more likely to offer financial support but now it feels that it is more about profits of a business rather than helping an individual to keep it going. 

 

 

I have to agree with this sentiment. Perhaps this new advert is a pop-up too far...

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Yes I've been getting the pop up ad too. Ironically most have been for an ad blocker. They all seem to be reluctant to close, one of them locked up RMweb (yesterday Evening) to the extent that I had to close the tab and come back this morning to report. I realise that advertising revenue is important, which is why my ad blocker is set to allow ads here on RMweb. I really don't mind them when they don't interfere with the workings of the pc or laptop, but this present are a worry when the screen is greyed out like this and the ad is reluctant to close.

 

141571905_spampopup.jpg.1b30ca9b5347cd0f697b4f3034daab70.jpg

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8 minutes ago, lyneux said:

Indeed. When you click the close button, the ad doesn't immediately close. Seems to have a timer associated with it. Pretty terrible user experience.

 

Guy

Keyboard or browser back arrow gets rid of them without clicking on the ad.

Edited by dhjgreen
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I have no problem with advertising. It's the tracker which they install which I object to.

 

So -- use Firefox. Set the tracker blocking to strict, and hey presto no ads appear at all. It's the tracker which is being blocked, not the ad, but the ad disappears in the process. If RMweb want the income from advertising, fine by me, just show me the ad by itself -- there's no need to put a tracker with it.

 

Martin.

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1 minute ago, Vecchio said:

you are a gold member. So you don't see the annoying pop up

 

I don't see any advertising, even if I log out. Or on any other web site. I'm not having advertisers set their trackers on my computer. Use Firefox and set tracker blocking to strict, and you will be amazed how much nicer it is to use the internet.

 

Martin.

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Whilst I appreciate that circumstances change when I joined the message was Sign up to get an ad-free experience. If you did not you could browse the forum but you would get ads.

 

Like others I don't mind seeing ads in the side bars but I do object to this

 

94244977_Screenshot2021-09-16at09_29_41.png.29cacc52c6dda051eeecabb676aabae5.png

 

So we have two options - pay for RM Web Gold (which I don't wish to do) or sign up for the World of Railways Plus or whatever its called and get RM Gold for free. I did the free trial but didn't really benefit so didn't pay.

 

I have to say that as a subscriber to BRM I would have thought we could have had RM Gold for free in any event.

 

I have a subscription to another model railway magazine for which I have access to both printed and digital copies. Same with a magazine on the prototype. With BRM you have to pay extra if you want both. 

 

In fact I am thinking of cancelling my subscription as the content of the magazine is not what it was and its too geared to beginners. Go back to its early days and there was far more content than now and some decent detailed construction topics which we don't seem to get anymore. I am sorry to say I don't feel I am getting value for money but I appreciate that others may not feel the same and it clearly fills a need.

 

Paul R

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I don’t regularly read the threads down here in the ‘engine room’ (though perhaps I should), but I am finding this new way of presenting ads a bit too intrusive, not least because my touch screen doesn’t respond very well to touch to get rid of them (my problem).  I have no objection to ads on a commercial basis, and don’t screen them out, but I would opt out of these.

 

As a long-time paper BRM subscriber, I hope part of my subscription costs do support other bits of the business such as RMweb, though I’m on a very good deal (for me) so maybe there’s not much left over?  I would be interested in an RMweb only ad-free subscription, but I decided not to go for gold as I don’t want everything else: I’ve tried digital subscriptions to BRM a couple of times, but don’t make good use of them - personally I prefer the paper magazine, even without some extras.  I’d be reluctant to sign up for the whole package simply because I spend too much time on the internet as it is (I can resist anything apart from temptation).

 

I don’t know if an RMweb only ad-free subscription might be possible: it could be that the cost of setting up and running such a scheme means it isn’t viable for Warner’s alongside WoR plus, or that working out the cost of what such a subscription might be too complicated (I imagine the marginal cost of each new user is only a fraction of the fixed costs of hosting the site).  I don’t expect such calculations to be disclosed - they’d be commercially sensitive, but I do wonder if it might be an option?  Hope it’s Ok to ask, Keith.

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Of as big a concern for me as these ads is that in recent times RMweb has reduced to a crawl for much of the time, or just completely inaccessible. I don’t know if the ads are connected to this problem but I’m sure things will resolve themselves in one way or another sooner or later. 

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