could anyone use this?
It looks better than the old classifieds which were dreadful.
Hopefully it'll encourage people to sign up and post their stuff!
More likely to use ebay or facebook I imagine though.
Better than a load of moaning cockbags so set in their ways that they can’t accept change and throw their toys out of their prams instead.
So is it moaning to point out I can't see the ads? Bar set low this evening.... It would probably be a start is somebody could post some pics of what it's meant to look like just in case people have mistaken what they are seeing for the real thing.
Better than a load of moaning cockbags so set in their ways that they can’t accept change and throw their toys out of their prams instead.
Better a moaning cock bag with an opinion then a douche bag without!
Looks good to me
So as you can see bit of a problem here
Obviously not going to be that helpful to anyone who wants to sell stuff, or those conned into paying for invisible ads. But still this is just whinging and all that isn't it.
Looks good to me
I can see those fine. It's the rest that don't show up.
I don't mind change if it is a an improvement. Websites that don't work for the users tend to end up without users which is good for no-one. I'm not going to buy your bike, even if it is exactly what I want, if a) I can't see it or b) I've given up and gone to pinkbike. Okay everyone on there thinks their 4 year frameset is worth 98% of it s new value but at least I can see that over there.
Not to mention the first page of absolute overpriced garbage! If and when you actually get on to the ads....but don’t worry STW won’t turn off the exsistingbclassified forum until these issues are fixed....oh wait! Sorry as a moaning cock bag perhaps I expected more for my subscription
Same as this for me too. Plus neither the search or clicking on the categories listed bring up any ads.
Is it too soon to blame the E-bike that's apparently been listed?
😉
and the deals of the day which aren't adverts in stw eyes, but they are paid for adverts which P users still have to endure
FWIW, I'm not too fussed about the layout of the Classifieds section. I can see that there are pros and cons (Bez covered it really well). However, if I'd paid to have something listed and then found out that a significant portion of the readership weren't seeing the ad due to a poor implementation I'd be looking for a refund.
<p>It never appeared in the tetsing I know that much many other bugs did, I don’t think there were any reports either while it ran alongside the old one.</p>
<p>As said it worked fine before the switch.</p>
Looks like Gumtree to me... I'll be equally disinclined to use it as i am Gumtree.
The great thing about the old classifieds was scanning 50 adverts in about 30s for the parts you wanted, you could be in and out in 45s and know whether anyone had advertised the bits you wanted. Now you're scrolling through Gumtree'esque rubbish instead.
I don't like it at all.
The great thing about the old classifieds was scanning 50 adverts in about 30s for the parts you wanted, you could be in and out in 45s and know whether anyone had advertised the bits you wanted. Now you’re scrolling through Gumtree’esque rubbish instead.
+1
And I’m not sure its me but the front page has been the same for about a week now, so I’m not actually sure if the listings are changing... how do I refresh it?
And I’m not sure its me but the front page has been the same for about a week now, so I’m not actually sure if the listings are changing… how do I refresh it?
The ads at the top are paid for ones which will stay there for a set out of time.
Thanks
How do I easliy get to a list of new ones each time I log in?
How do I easliy get to a list of new ones each time I log in?
By scrolling past the ones with the blue background
Bit annoying that people are putting one item in clearout ads!!
geex
Same as this for me too. Plus neither the search or clicking on the categories listed bring up any ads.
*Ahem* adblocker. Mine did the same.
It shows a blank page for me too, always has. I thought this was because people hadn't started using the new system yet.
Perhaps it is a good thing and will stop me buying shit I don't need?
It would be much better IMO if there was the option to filter out those boosted ads.
But then why would you pay to Boost your Ad if it's not at the top ?
I assume you lot don't go into the supermarket when they've put a display of Christmas chocolates at the front and you're there because you want to go to the bakery section?
It’s a really odd system because (a) £9 or whatever it is is a lot of money for an ad and (b) the more boosted ads are sold, the wise the forum becomes for buyers, and fewer buyers means less demand means fewer sellers means less competition means less point in spending £9 for an ad. If boosts sell well enough, they’ll occupy the entire first page, and then people are really going to think no-one’s posting new ads any more. As it stands, success dooms it to failure.
I have to wonder whether it would work better to intersperse the boosted ads—semi-randomly—with the main list, but make them visually prominent rather than barely distinguishable (and therefore confusing, because it seems many people, myself included, initially just assumed the listings were broken—you don’t get introduced to the concept of a boosted ad until you actually try to create one).
That way (a) the ads would stand out more (google the pop-out effect, and also try viewing the current visual treatment on a low-rent monitor where the top end of the tonal range often gets clipped…), (b) the listings wouldn’t appear to be broken, (c) the concept of boosted ads could be made explicit as part of the visual emphasis, (d) buyers wouldn’t have to scroll through the same crap every time just to look at the list, (e) the inconsistency from one visit to the next would mean boosted content won’t get skimmed over anything like as much, and thus (f) people wouldn’t be paying £9 to have their ad filed in a section which, for many people, is the one they look at least: for browsers like me, people are paying £9 not to have their ad looked at. Currently the visual treatment and placement for sold items is more effective than for boosted ads, which is a whole world of boggle.
Simple answer... just have the boosted adverts that are older than 24hrs down the side of the page so they still have the benefit of extra visibility, but aren't filling up the classifieds page. That would please both parties - the browsers and the searchers.
Simple answer… just have the boosted adverts that are older than 24hrs down the side of the page so they still have the benefit of extra visibility, but aren’t filling up the classifieds page. That would please both parties – the browsers and the searchers.
There isn't a bit down the side on mobile
Yeah. Firstly, as Simon says, that wouldn't work on mobile. Secondly, it'd make it easier for people like me to ignore them on desktop as well. Thirdly, you have to question the value of boosted ads for selling to Searching Steve: simply raising the visual prominence of an ad* is only any use if there are a lot of ads and you want to stand out, so if a search narrows down the list to just a handful then there's little or no value in boosting. Really, the majority of the value in visual prominence is in selling to Browsing Bob, but Bob's the exact person who's getting a worse experience out of the current boost implementation.
* the other way to boost ads is not one of visual prominence in a sea of other ads, but to plant it into more views; eg dropping one into an unrelated search as a "hey, while you're here, how about this?" suggestion, or by dropping it into other pages on the site, eg one on a forum page. This provides a genuine boost whilst advertising the fact that boosted ads offer real benefit like that, making the whole thing more monetizable, and if done with care it needn't piss anyone off by ruining their experience.
For 9 quid I'd want my ad to appear occasionally in a sidebar elsewhere on the forum.
I love how helpful Bez is being, even when he knows that he's not being listened to.
There have been countless helpful suggestions over the past year. However, my 33 years in IT taught me that everyone thinks their requirements are special and that the processes and systems developed elsewhere simply cannot be used for them. This forum is a classic "fingers in the ears" example. Either the system owner learns to listen to expertise or they employ yes-men who will do what's asked for regardless of the consequences.
I have to wonder whether it would work better to intersperse the boosted ads—semi-randomly—with the main list, but make them visually prominent rather than barely distinguishable
Kind of like a 'Featured Property' on Right Move or whatever the equivalent is on Autotrader, which makes sense to me.
Someone way earlier up the thread said they'd never encountered this level of tension between owners and users on a forum before. I have from somewhere in the middle of the sandwich, with a forum which eventually kind of killed itself by implementing all sorts of clever features that the actual users didn't want in a way which didn't work for them or anyone else. It's a delicate balance and easy to break.
I think there's a problem that people who run web sites inevitably don't use them in the same way that a user does. I was working, a few years back, for a top five UK print/digital publisher and as far as I could work out, across the company there was a single usability expert, who was far and way the most capable person I ever spoke to there about the user experience. Six weeks later he'd been sidelined.
I'm not saying that this is what's happened or is happening with ST in a critical way, but running a site and being familiar with it from the other side of the metaphorical digital glass isn't the same as using it as a visitor, customer or whatever you want to call it. But also, different people use sites in different ways. Focus groups would be one way of digging into it.
Anyway, my take would be that maybe you give people options for sorting ads - newly listed first, by category, randomised, oldest listed etc, so if you want a random browsing experience or a time related one, it's there and you include featured, paid-for ads interspersed with the rest of them.
And now someone will tell me that I can already do that...
Someone way earlier up the thread said they’d never encountered this level of tension between owners and users on a forum before.
Meanwhile, as a direct consequence of commenting on this very thread, over on the Singletrack Select Facebook group, a forum user is being told to Foxtrot Oscar by the owners. 😳
How about making boosted ads time limited but cheaper? i.e. you pay to have it boosted for 7 days, and can renew it after that.
Also make it clearer that they are paid ads and there's more below - a lot of people seem to be missing that and assuming the classifieds aren't being used.
How about making boosted ads time limited but cheaper? i.e. you pay to have it boosted for 7 days, and can renew it after that.
That makes sense to me. Or have a minimal one-off basic listing fee if you want to upload an ad for an item over a certain value - anything over £50 is a straight £1 say, then potentially increase the listing fee as prices rise so the cost of listing is relative to the value of the item. Right now you only get income for high value goods as otherwise it doesn't make sense. If you're flogging a jacket for £50, a fiver's pretty steep, no? If you're advertising a £10,000 car, it's pretty much nothing.
Anyway...
Singletrack Select Facebook group, a forum user is being told to Foxtrot Oscar by the owners. 😳
seen that and thought 🤡
Or have a minimal one-off basic listing fee if you want to upload an ad for an item over a certain value – anything over £50 is a straight £1 say
Pretty much exactly what came to my mind a few days ago, albeit with a smaller payment and lower threshold: essentially a micropayment-based sales portal with a free jumble sale mixed in to keep things lively and help pull more punters in. The problem is, though, that although small payments often generate a lot more revenue than larger ones when you have a large audience, you need a virtually friction-free payment mechanism in place for it to work.
I worked for a classifieds publisher (they were also Britains largest private magazine print co - 1 million copies a week)
They always limited the number of boosted ads to 3 per page of results. So you paid for a boosted ad and the frequency it appeared at was dependent on the number of pages delivered plus the number of boosted ads.
They were pushing out over a 30 million pages a month so people will put up with featured ads - you just have to be sensible about it.
Keep the comments coming. I'm making notes...
Some good points in here and I'll see what is possible and what isn't when I chat to the tech guys next.
Cheers
Couple of simple ones - Chrome/PC formatting no classified ads showing, but showing Advertising which is what being a P is meant to get rid of.
I'd recommend some training for your tech guys.
I think the new classifieds is OK. Going to take some getting used to but hey ho. Change is good when it works.
Some good points in here and I’ll see what is possible and what isn’t when I chat to the tech guys next....
Year? 😉
Some good points in here and I’ll see what is possible and what isn’t when I chat to the tech guys next.
We actually genuinely used to have a person whose job was essentially to act as a translator between the tech guys and the editorial and commercial teams. It was a nice idea in theory, but in practice just added an extra level of complexity and misunderstanding. It was like running something through google translate twice: once from English into Spanish say, then again from Spanish into Russian. The results were sometimes quite interesting.
"I’d recommend some training for your tech guys."
And you wonder why they're not falling over themselves to reply... 😛
Meanwhile, as a direct consequence of commenting on this very thread, over on the Singletrack Select Facebook group, a forum user is being told to Foxtrot Oscar by the owners.
Another one?
