Advertising

[Oldddudders]

8 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

It is not a thread about modelling……loads of those 

Indeed there are, some to suit most modelling tastes I would imagine.

 

But the most entertaining threads, which garner multiple rapid responses and high-octane atmosphere, are usually those not full of modelling wisdom and excellence, but involving ridiculous ideas and/or polarised views. Hours of tiltyard fun by incensed keyboard warriors - until Dad steps in to damp or shut it down. 

[TheQ]

One problem I have with the floating advert is that it doesn't scale with the window I have open. I often work with a full page spreadsheet , and the RMweb page taking 1/3 of the bottom right of the screen.. The floating advert then fills a large part of RMWEB.

I note the floating Ad is sitting on top of other Ad's on some of the computers I use. .

 

Todays most common advert for the top line advert.... and ad blocker...

[micklner]

18 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

It is not a thread about modelling……loads of those 

I agree, please do carry on !!.

 

  This is supposed to be a modelling site , not a whinge fest arena , throw your handbags out of the window every day !! etc etc . It becomes very tedious at times and spoils the excellent modelling threads herein.

 

Ad Nauseum springs to mind.

 

Moderators can you add a ignore button to this thread.   Please !!

[phil-b259]

9 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

b) am I the only person to be finding video ads popping up on EVERY PAGE very annoying and degrading of my RMWEB experience

 

 

I too find them very frustrating - but don't see the need to bitch and moan about them on here.

 

If you cannot wait until some sort of RMWeb only subscription is introduced (what am hoping for) then you can go for RMWeb Gold or possibly tinker with your browser privacy settings as some have had success with.

 

9 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

c) am I alone in believing some of the 'payment' for RMWEB is in the info, opinions, knowledge and content that us, the members, spend (often many) hours writing....?

 

 

Internet server providers do not take payment in 'info knowledge and content', they unsurprisingly demand cash - and lots of it given the amount of aforementioned 'opinion, knowledge and content' which RMWeb has. This in turn requires lots of advertising revenue to generate said cash - but advertisers will NOT PAY for content which is unseen by end users who use add blockers or enhanced privacy settings. Therefore it is necessary for the advertising to become more intrusive / harder to avoid and thus continue to generate money for RMWeb which can then be paid to the server Opperators.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by phil-b259

[martin_wynne]

2 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

How many of the complainants here would be prepared to suggest to Mr Zuckerberg that he should provide his service free and without advertising.

 

No-one has suggested that. Quite a few would prefer Facebook to be a paid-for service which is provided without advertising and harvesting of personal data.

 

Martin.

[alastairq]

Oddly, I seem to be receiving loads of ads on here, for ad blockers.....

[JJGraphics]

16 hours ago, fail safe said:

Its totally correct about Safari. Unless you want to destroy all the security and functionality.

 

if you use a properly obtained and correctly installed Safari Extension, it has no impact whatsoever on Safari's security or functionality.

John

[Kylestrome]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

It is not a thread about modelling……loads of those

 

If only there were ...

[boxbrownie]

30 minutes ago, Kylestrome said:

 

If only there were ...

I do agree there are an awful lot of just moaning threads, but those who do complain, and often quite rudely forget they don’t have to read them……unless they are the kind of people who stand and film on their phones a fight in the street, instead of calling 999 

[DIW]

22 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

(if I knew where they lived I'd stare in their windows to watch telly so I didn't have to pay my licence) 

 

 

I would have thought that seeing what some of them watch would make your hair curl!       Oh.....

[fail safe]

4 hours ago, JJGraphics said:

 

if you use a properly obtained and correctly installed Safari Extension, it has no impact whatsoever on Safari's security or functionality.

John

 

[Cyberspice]

Yes advertising is annoying but expecting something for nothing is a bit arrogant. Remember rule 1 of the internet. If you pay for it, it’s a product. If you don’t then YOU are the product. That’s the whole point of social media, to monetise you! 

[G-BOAF]

6 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

I too find them very frustrating - but don't see the need to bitch and moan about them on here.

 

If you cannot wait until some sort of RMWeb only subscription is introduced (what am hoping for) then you can go for RMWeb Gold or possibly tinker with your browser privacy settings as some have had success with.

 

 

Internet server providers do not take payment in 'info knowledge and content', they unsurprisingly demand cash - and lots of it given the amount of aforementioned 'opinion, knowledge and content' which RMWeb has. This in turn requires lots of advertising revenue to generate said cash - but advertisers will NOT PAY for content which is unseen by end users who use add blockers or enhanced privacy settings. Therefore it is necessary for the advertising to become more intrusive / harder to avoid and thus continue to generate money for RMWeb which can then be paid to the server Opperators.

 

 

 

I would be happy to pay £1-2/month for RMWeb to cover server costs and Mod time, but at present my only option is for bundling with with BRM's stuff which I don't want (or don't think I want, and don't want to pay for by default). When I joined RMWEB it was not part of BRM, I joined as a community of knowledge and information, not a source of profit!

 

This said, I would tolerate video ads if they came up once per day, or even once per session. But yesterday they were coming up on EVERY PAGE - forum home page (I closed a video add), Bachmann forum root (I closed a video add), Bachmann 47 thread (I closed a video add)... this is either poorly implemented, or intentionally disruptive....

 

I have also long been totally OK with banner adds that are relatively unobtrusive. I WILL see them but can ignore them. They do not mess with my brain and concentration in a way that video ads do, nor do they require closing on EVERY page. Also why are there not industry relavent adverts r

Given the latest developments, I now have installed an Ad Blocker for the first time in my life (which is now causing me problems on other pages I occasionally visit.... great (not)) . This is a shame as I am happy for ad revenue to support RMWeb, but not at its current disruptive level...! There is a balance to be struck and the line has been hugely overstepped imho

 

Why is there a need for direct monetisation of RMWeb? If we look at things more widely, a lively forum IS contributing to the health of the hobby, including purchasing from manufacturers who advertise/support BRM publications and productions, so there is plenty of indirect payment through RMWeb. Whenever a new product is announced, a thread invariably pops up on RMWeb which is a HUGE free advert for a manufacturer's product (and sometimes even before the official announcement!). If anything product manufacturers could be contributing to the core costs of RMWeb (now there's a thought...!)

Furthermore, those manufacturers who actively engage on the forum are getting FREE expert input and/or independent eyes that help them improve their products (i.e. without paying additional staff/consultants/experts).... Surely this is a very clear path to convert 'opinion, knowledge and content' into financial value to cover core operating costs?

 

Regarding internet hosting - I have large amounts of storage and email traffic on Microsoft and Google email systems. Yes I get some adverts on both platforms, but they are static and not annoying video ads, so I really don't see why this is necessary. If the service providers are insisting on it, time to move to a provider who is not!!! Until recently, RMWeb has happily operated as a free service and a community of knowledge and information exchange for years, what changed? Are the new Warners Group owners using us as cash cow? Not everything has to be cost neutral. When they brought RMWeb they should have realised the most intelligent integration of the platform would be by cross-subsidising from other areas of their business and using RMWeb as a very powerful tool for virtuous benefit and growth of the industry they are part of (and profiting from)..... (see my argument above). However it seems they are not thinking holistically enough, which is what happens when accountants[1] starts running things.... :-(

 

[1] a perfect example of seeing the costs of everything and the value of nothing

Edited October 6, 2021 by G-BOAF

[boxbrownie]

Well I didn’t mind the last video window…..some young lady prancing around in a hardly worn piece of cloth 

[G-BOAF]

8 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Well I didn’t mind the last video window…..some young lady prancing around in a hardly worn piece of cloth 

Exactly my point - highly distracting from the task in hand of model railway engagement.... very different part of the brain[1].

(and, more seriously, for a whole range of people, potentially offensive, and for some age groups, potentially inappropriate.)

 

[1] except for elements of aesthetic appreciation, and if you are going online to look at Crosti 9Fs, there is a major disjuncture between adverts and browsing focus!

Edited October 6, 2021 by G-BOAF

[Phil Parker]

54 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

When they brought RMWeb they should have realised the most intelligent integration of the platform would be by cross-subsidising from other areas of their business

 

What you mean is, the costs of the forum you enjoy should be paid for out of income from the products you are proud to say you won't buy. 

[47164]

I appreciate Andy’,s frustration and was not having a go at him at all, as like many I really appreciate the immense hard work that goes into running the site…very much an unsung hero !

(perhaps darker forces at play as I visit and subscribe to a number of other sites with out the same strange issue..ghosts in the machine).

[G-BOAF]

11 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

What you mean is, the costs of the forum you enjoy should be paid for out of income from the products you are proud to say you won't buy. 

is that 'you' as an individual or a collective/plurality?

I'm not sure there are many products I've said I won't buy - some I may be buying over preference to others (eg. competing manors), or not right at this moment (first batch of new Bachmann 47s) and I think I've indicated I might switch livery choice of Bachmann V2, but I would say that on balance, RMWeb incentivises more purchases than it disincentivises (for me anyway)

 

EDIT - true I did say I wasn't buying the new Hornby Mk1s as they don't have a CCM mechanism which is at odds with ALL other corridor stock I am now running...

Edited October 6, 2021 by G-BOAF

[Damo666]

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

If we look at things more widely, a lively forum IS contributing to the health of the hobby, including purchasing from manufacturers who advertise/support BRM publications and productions, so there is plenty of indirect payment through RMWeb. Whenever a new product is announced, a thread invariably pops up on RMWeb which is a HUGE free advert for a manufacturer's product (and sometimes even before the official announcement!). If anything product manufacturers could be contributing to the core costs of RMWeb (now there's a thought...!)

 

Now there is a thought indeed.

 

Most (I would estimate 80%+) of my considerable purchases over the past 3 years have been because I saw the model on RMWeb, or as a result of people's comments on a new model, or even because of a head's-up on the Bargains thread. I've bought new or second-hand from nearly all the manufacturers; Accurascale (Pre-order), Hattons, Heljan, IRM (awaiting delivery), Bachmann, Hornby, Dapol, DCC Concepts, Heljan all quickly come to mind. Some were impulse purchases (after a short deliberation).

[Pete the Elaner]

5 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

What you mean is, the costs of the forum you enjoy should be paid for out of income from the products you are proud to say you won't buy. 

 

If we all get used to clicking on adverts, then they need to be made more prominent (irritating) to have an effect.

 

I have 3 choices regarding the adverts:

Put up with them.

Pay for gold membership.

Stop using the forum.

 

The choice is entirely mine.

[G-BOAF]

13 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

If we all get used to clicking on adverts, then they need to be made more prominent (irritating) to have an effect.

 

I have 3 choices regarding the adverts:

Put up with them.

Pay for gold membership.

Stop using the forum.

 

The choice is entirely mine.

 

The adverts do not need to be irritating to have an effect, they need to be relavent. And they are invariably (80% of the time) not. The random videos that are popping up are of not interest to me, or even related to the topic of the forum. Another forum I'm on has recently introduced annoying and obtrusive video ads (which not only block content but also crash my phone browser 100% of the time If I scroll past the loading video ad); the ads are constantly related to American Football or other clips that I similarly have zero interest in. it is PURELY annoying.

 

Hornby want to show me adverts for their products and if Hornby present relevant stuff to me, i.e. not the junior range or an xmas CocaCola set) fine, they might possibly get a click (but only so I can find the R-number and search for RRP minus 10% at a dealer). My point therefore is that to be a proper revenue stream the ads need to be tailored to the market using RMWeb including our knowledge of the industry and dealer network.

[jonhall]

10 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Of course a lot of content is of value. However, there's a lot that adds nothing and, often, it's those that add least moan most whereas many who give everyone value grumble least. It's just the nature of people as a whole. 

 

SO what you need to do, is work out how to insert really annoying adverts only into those threads  two problems solved!

 

Jon

 

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by jonhall
spellin

[AY Mod]

8 minutes ago, jonhall said:

 

SO what you need to do, is work out who to insert really annoying adverts only into those threads  two problems solved!

 

Jon

 

 

 

You wouldn't see the posts for ads in this topic!

[Phil Parker]

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

is that 'you' as an individual or a collective/plurality?

 

You as in @G-BOAF

 

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

I'm not sure there are many products I've said I won't buy

 

Except 

 

2 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

BRM's stuff which I don't want (or don't think I want, and don't want to pay for by default)

 

You don't know what the product is, but have already decided not to buy, or even try the free trial...

 

 

[Mike Bellamy]

 

56 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

The random videos that are popping up are of not interest to me, or even related to the topic of the forum. 

 

I thought we had been told several pages back that these are not the actual advertisements but are test videos on a loop so that they keep repeating the same few. I assume that when the test is over we will then get proper adverts with a frequency based on how much has been paid. Hopefully the Silver Membership will be available by then to pay for just RMweb to be advert free.

.