*SG* Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I've noticed in my time with Neopets this year that the number of advertisements has tremedously increased. Now you have to watch an add before the game loads etc. Am I just imagining this? I was reading http://www.tdnforums.com/index.php?showtopic=11309&hl= and this just dawned on me so I figured I'd see what everyone else thinks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xepha Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Well, for Neopets, we are a product that they can sell to ads companies... When I get the 'this game will start shortly' with an advertisement below, I just refresh the tab because anyway it won't load (thanks for adblocking tutorial that we have on TDN). What I dislike is that ads are really killing their layouts. Neopets used to be beautiful. Now when they redesign a page, it's to add more ads. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*SG* Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 I definately agree that advertising is a huge part of any website's revenue, especially when you are as large as NeoPets has gotten, but I definately think they could do better planning with where they are placed. I too miss the old layouts. I like the newer style graphics, but it's all hidden in ads. Also I'm not too fond of the new login pages they made, my firefox can't remember my username and pw anymore :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Milli Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Yeah, there is LOADS of them! I likeit on your birthday, its add free! That is so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strategos Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Personally, I don't really mind them too much. Neopets still does do their best to make sure that while you see the ads, you can still do whatever you want to do as easily as you could before they changed it. Although I really hate the games ones because sometimes I don't have a lot of time to watch a 30-second ad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*SG* Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 That's true, they aren't long, they're just everywhere. And it's ad free on your b-day? I didn't know that..(prolly 'cause I'm never home on my b-day) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strategos Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 And it's ad free on your b-day? I didn't know that..(prolly 'cause I'm never home on my b-day) Yes, and also on Neopet's birthday (possibly that whole week), November 15. The reason for this is because you get the Birthday Sidebar for that day, which eliminates all ads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xepha Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Just on Neopets Birthday and your birthday... and for premium members too. Other than that, you can block ads and enjoy the site :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureTXTurkey Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Yeah, I don't know what your operating system is or what browser your using, but if you use the browser firefox it automatically eliminates 90% of the adds, and then you can get an add-on for firefox called Remove It Permanently (R.I.P) and that program will remove literally anything from any website. So whatever adds are left you can weed out one by one. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. I'm pretty much always on here, and more than happy to help. Cause I am 100% with Xepha on this: annoying or not the adds make the site ugly, and we just can't have that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*SG* Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 Yeah, I don't know what your operating system is or what browser your using, but if you use the browser firefox it automatically eliminates 90% of the adds, and then you can get an add-on for firefox called Remove It Permanently (R.I.P) and that program will remove literally anything from any website. So whatever adds are left you can weed out one by one. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. I'm pretty much always on here, and more than happy to help. Cause I am 100% with Xepha on this annoying or not the adds make the site ugly, and we just can't have that! Thank you very much! I will definately do that! For a techie girl I find it depressing I didn't know that already lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiaircraft Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I heartily agree that Neopets has too many ads these days. While I usually have the ads blocked, I do visit the site every now and again without my Adblocker (from other computers) and every time I'm just like "WHOA! What's this?". They've pretty much crammed ads into every available space, and then some, which I'm sure every user finds blatantly inconsiderate. <_< If you find the ads a problem, TDN has some comprehensive ad-blocking guides for IE, Firefox, and Opera. /plug :P Yeah, I don't know what your operating system is or what browser your using, but if you use the browser firefox it automatically eliminates 90% of the adds, and then you can get an add-on for firefox called Remove It Permanently (R.I.P) and that program will remove literally anything from any website. So whatever adds are left you can weed out one by one. Well that's technically incorrect - Firefox doesn't do anything to the adverts by default, although there are some great Firefox extensions available for getting rid of them. Sorry, just me trying to be incurably correct again. XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splarne Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 i am a premium member. i got no ads. i did have ads when i was a free player. i run firefox. i used the block and kill filter (an add on to firefox). it caused problems in the loading of some pages (which is what helped push me to premium). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoOlogy Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 I agree that there are more and more ads as the years (or even months) go by. I remember hardly seeing any third party ads 5 years ago (Maybe being under 13 at the time blocked the ads) but I seeing them isn't my problem, it is the new type of content and the positions that is causing so much problems. i used the block and kill filter (an add on to firefox). it caused problems in the loading of some pages (which is what helped push me to premium). How did it cause problems loading some of the pages? The only way that can happen is if you aren't specific enough or you blocked a stylesheet (yes, I have blocked a stylesheet before but luckily Adblock Plus provides a detailed list of blockable objects and what is blocked so deleting the filter was easy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syn-Chan Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 Perhaps it was the wrong thing being blocked. Like NeoOlogy says, if you block something like... Maybe the customizing images, it will error the page to no longer work. In other words, Neopets still does need these images. It keeps the site free, so I prefer them, but I also block them, so maybe... Hm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaoticFission Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 you also have to consider the economy... they have to try staying afloat in the current state of affairs. there is also the fact that this is the 4th quarter of the year--ad companies need to meet their ad quotas before the ad of the year, so all sites, not just neopets, are affected by heavy advertising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuclophobic Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I understand the reasons for the ads, and most of the time I don't pay any attention to them. The ones that do bother me are the pop-ups. I've had a few off Neopets and they're really annoying, especially when you're in the middle of doing something. Also, I've noticed a couple of the banner ads, advertising womens underwear and so on. I'm indifferent to that, but the site's used by children, and it's kinda irresponsible of Neopets to allow those ads to be shown. Does that make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaoticFission Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I understand the reasons for the ads, and most of the time I don't pay any attention to them. The ones that do bother me are the pop-ups. I've had a few off Neopets and they're really annoying, especially when you're in the middle of doing something. Also, I've noticed a couple of the banner ads, advertising womens underwear and so on. I'm indifferent to that, but the site's used by children, and it's kinda irresponsible of Neopets to allow those ads to be shown. Does that make sense? i'm pretty sure they use targeting ads by age and gender demographic. therefore, if you have an account that is 18+, you should be getting different ads then say a 10+ account. ofcourse this is just an educated guess, but this is how i assume it is being done. they are also using doubleclick to serve up ads. one thing i know about double click is that they have tracking cookie networks--many sites that use their services save the information they collect about you in a cookie which is then shared across all of the domains that double click serves. therefore, they collect alot of information about all of the users, which allows for easier ad targeting. solution? clear your cookies regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 The ones that do bother me are the pop-ups. I remember reading on the NT editorial that there shouldn't be any pop up ads, and if there are, you should email in and let TNT know about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuclophobic Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 i'm pretty sure they use targeting ads by age and gender demographic. therefore, if you have an account that is 18+, you should be getting different ads then say a 10+ account. ofcourse this is just an educated guess, but this is how i assume it is being done. they are also using doubleclick to serve up ads. one thing i know about double click is that they have tracking cookie networks--many sites that use their services save the information they collect about you in a cookie which is then shared across all of the domains that double click serves. therefore, they collect alot of information about all of the users, which allows for easier ad targeting. solution? clear your cookies regularly. I don't know. I always clear my cookies, so I don't know if that's the reason. It's probably age related, like you said, but I still think it's probably a bit too much for Neopets. It doesn't relate to their site at all, as in it's got nothing to do with games/pets/toys/etc that most other ads are about. They just seem to stick out a bit too much. I remember reading on the NT editorial that there shouldn't be any pop up ads, and if there are, you should email in and let TNT know about it. I didn't know that. So, some of the banner ads must automatically load up a pop-up? I'll definitely email in the next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strategos Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I didn't know that. So, some of the banner ads must automatically load up a pop-up? I'll definitely email in the next time. Yes, TNT stated in this editorial that TNT, you've GOT to get rid of those advertisements that drop down onto the page. They're driving me completely INSANE! I can't click on anything without clicking on one of the ads that drop down. Do something before I chew my foot off. :K ~autumn_x_star Oh dear, please, no chewing off of feet! Goodness knows Dragona does that enough for everyone trying to get at socks. It's quite messy. Ads like that are NOT wanted on Neopets by us any more than you. If you see an ad that is inappropriate or is interfering with your site play by popping up or moving into the center of the window please report it. We'd appreciate it if you could provide all the information you can when reporting a bad ad, such as the source code. Report here : http://www.neopets.com/s/index.phtml?cat_id=28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaoticFission Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 hmm, not sure if you are referring to pop-ups or what is called take-over ads. the difference between the two is that, pop-ups create a new (usually) javascript window with an ad; take-over ads embed themselves into the page and layer themselves on top of the content. they usually come with a timeout timer, but inevitably force the user to notice them. take-over ads are the most annoying genre of ads in my opinion. adblock takes care of everything for me anyway :) also an interesting note about ad content: think about the surveys to which neopets links out to.... not all of them are kid-oriented... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuclophobic Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Is anybody else getting those photobucket ads? The one's that seem to overlap now onto the main page? It's really annoying because I have to keep refreshing so I can see which links I'm clicking on, etc. I think I might get an ad-blocker now. It's getting past the point where I can grin and bare it. Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Milli Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Is anybody else getting those photobucket ads? The one's that seem to overlap now onto the main page? It's really annoying because I have to keep refreshing so I can see which links I'm clicking on, etc. I think I might get an ad-blocker now. It's getting past the point where I can grin and bare it. Haha. YES! Those are the worst! I hate them! Grr, they are just so annoying! I couldn't get to a page I wanted to go to because of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiaircraft Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 I agree with the opinions stated in the last few posts - a few ads to support a site are all right for me, and I might even click on them if they pique my curiosity, but there's a certain point where ads become just downright rude. The Neopets site is well past that point now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaoticFission Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 ad quantities should decrease at the start of the new year. and if u hate ads as much as i do--AdBlock :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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