Now I can't use this site on the PC because of the ads!

@tenacious_doug

Our of curiosity, what’s the industry standard for click rates? Factoring in accidental. And is there any info on how effective it is in the ‘I saw an ad once, then remembered it months later and went to the retailer (etc) in question’ and which group is most likely to click…..

Actually, you could just link to somewhere that provides some insights on this stuff. Genuine interest.

ahh yes, clear my history

Just pay your way you stingy gits.

Hey, where’s my “P” gone?

Lloyd’s very much up and running on two occassions I have visited the site.

Is it really that difficult?

Subscribe to our site, or we’ll spam your browser, or get lost. Think I’ll hold on to my money for the moment but thanks all the same.

And how else would you pay for the site to be run? People expect something for nothing these days.

Subscribe to our site, or we’ll spam your browser, or get lost

It’s hardly spamming is it, a few ads on the side, one rogue CSS that buggers the page and the fact that all your expensive tablets can’t cope with the normal internet 😉

Mike, did you read the title of this thread before posting?

Ditto – mol, who is arguing against your point?

yep I did, there are 2 issues that are going on and this just seems to be another rambling ad hating thing, Mark explained the rogue CSS thing previously.

Yes, affecting pcs as well as “all your expensive tablets”

What has the cost if the tablet got to do with it anyway???

The explanation only partially holds up to scrutiny though….

mol, who is arguing against your point?

Well enfht seemed to resent both the ads and the fee….

I think that like a lot of people he resents the nature of the recent ads and the fact that kill the ability to use the site effectively.

It’s just poor, very poor.

I think most people accept that a certain level of ads are necessary to pay for the site but that a lot feel that it has gone too far when the ads take over your screen and force you to quit your browser to proceed

Edit- beaten to it by thm

Premier offered more than regular.

Regular now gives a sub-standard user experience.

The term Premier is misleading and should renamed Subscribed.

I use the site on iPhone, iPad Mac book. All run Safari and have a pop up blocking set on them. My windows laptop runs Firefox and install a add PPP blocker on that.
Still get the adds on the right and at the bottom but can live with them

In have pop up blocker set but still can’t escape them.

You can escape them. It’s easy. Get a subscription you tight-wad! 😛

But £1.49 a month would fix it

THM they are trying to fox this. The tech bods are enjoying their weekend off, Mark is promoting his company and trying to look after the site this weekend. They really don’t want anyone to have a bad experience.

I love the irony of the people who can be found on other threads going on about their expensive German motors, carbon fibre ego-chariots, and share portfolio’s, moaning that something they’re not prepared pay for isn’t up to their demanding and exacting standards! And then using the very mouthpiece that they consider a couple of quid a month far too much to shell out to support, to bitch and whine about it!

Priceless. Literally! 😆

Have a word with yourselves FFS!!

I love the irony of the people who can be found on other threads going on about their expensive German motors, carbon fibre ego-chariots, and share portfolio’s, moaning that something they’re not prepared pay for is no tup to their demanding and exacting standards! And then using the very mouthpiece that they consider a couple of quid a month far too much to shell out to support, to bitch and whine about it!

Woah, that’s like spooky man,I was just thinking those exact same words 😯

😀

So in return for annoying me, I give someone some money. That’s a great business plan, I think I’ll try it.
I nearly signed up after Christmas, but I was put off by the smug attitude of some of the (so called) premier members and the take it or leave mentality of the management.

Double whammy – private banking followed by Tudor !

I love the irony of the people who can be found on other threads going on about their expensive German motors, carbon fibre ego-chariots, and share portfolio’s, moaning that something they’re not prepared pay for isn’t up to their demanding and exacting standards! And then using the very mouthpiece that they consider a couple of quid a month far too much to shell out to support, to bitch and whine about it!

They are prepared to pay for it with looking at passive ads, but not with endlessly relaunching their browser. If that’s the price stw charge then obviously they will lose customers. It’s not a moral issue, just like any other buyng decision.

richmars – Member

So in return for annoying me, I give someone some money. That’s a great business plan, I think I’ll try it.

Try and reframe it in your head, is all I can say. Is STW worth the price of admission, if you buy a P? I think for most of us, it is

(I’m a mag subscriber btw, I didn’t pay for the site… Probably would though. It’s a trivial cost against my time!)

The danger is, all forums are the sum of the people on them… So if we lose enough members and traffic, then it’ll damage the forum. That’d be really sad for users and owners but also could mean it’d no longer be worth the price of a P, and simultaneously lose ad revenue.

And underlying that is the fact that the advertisers simply have no reason to care about that, they’re migrant hunters not farmers and don’t care if they kill the flock. It’s barely compatible with a forum’s business model, the only place the 2 come into contact is money. All in all it’s a pretty abusive relationship, I bet Mark etc enjoy it even less than you do but I hope it’s worth it.

Consider some of the alternatives, we’ve seen the way Bikemagic prostitute themselves to pay the bills, letting advertisers choose their content.

<edit- some people reckoned that was Pinkbike. But I’m pretty sure it was Bikemagic. So just for clarity, maybe it’s not 100% certain. But the point stands regardless, people elsewhere in the industry are selling their content not just their ad space>

Are there any other services, provided gratis, that you use all the time, that you’d like to have a good old moan about? Or is it restricted to this forum?

I just don’t like being misled.
‘It only pops up once a day’. Wrong.
‘It finishes Friday’. Wrong.

Are there any other services, provided gratis, that you use all the time, that you’d like to have a good old moan about? Or is it restricted to this forum?

You’re talking like we’re customers. We aren’t. We’re the product, wrapped and sold to advertisers.

Awwwwwwww, bless. 😆

Binners, seems like you are failing to understand why forums exist? It’s a business proposition pure and simple. The awwwww bless comment seems more appropriately applied to the concept of a free service (bless 😉 )Rich and the Doc get what is going in at least as does Mark.

Drac, yes trying to fix it. But in any business it comes down to delivery doesn’t it? And a a number if promises are not being delivered on. Hence the frequency of these treads.

I just don’t like being misled.
‘It only pops up once a day’. Wrong.
‘It finishes Friday’. Wrong.

Mark doesn’t like being mislead either so won’t be happy that hasn’t happened.

The last time someone was reporting that it was appearing too often, it transpired they’d got some sort of cookie blocker installed which was stopping the ads from realising they’d already run. Worth checking.

I honestly think £1.49 a month for use of this forum is a bargain. I don’t need a P to avoid ads but am happy to pay as I think it’s worth supporting.

When are all the “p” apologists going to start paying £1.49 per month for Google?

DavidB – Member

When are all the “p” apologists going to start paying £1.49 per month for Google?

Google control their own ads so avoid it being too invasive or inconvenient, in order to keep their footfall up, so that’s never likely to become desirable

If google was suddenly £1.49 a month, I’d find a good competitor or I’d pay it, it is a phenomenal service. And honestly I don’t think STW has a good competitor.

I’m going to be giving 1.49 to the postman for delivering my mail gratis.

I honestly think £1.49 a month for use of this forum is a bargain. I don’t need a P to avoid ads but am happy to pay as I think it’s worth supporting.

I’d be interested to see what the result would be if STW prevented access to the forums and classifieds unless the user paid £15, or even £1.50 for 30 days. I would imagine a significant decrease in traffic, which in turn would decrease their marketable value for ad revenue. Don’t underestimate the importance of lurkers and passers-by. They’re not freeloaders; they’re vital statistics.

@3fish.That’s a very good point with us, the critical mass, you P’s wouldn’t be in any position to exercise your choice. Perhaps remember that when getting all holier than thou about apparent freeloading…

You can carry on bleating all you like about the evil capitalist pig-dogs and their vile adverts. And how you’re being ‘packaged’ and exploited, but the excuse for your tight-waddery all kind of falls down when you consider that those anointed with the Magic ‘P’ don’t actually see any ads.

So £1.50 a month seems quite reasonable for me to feel like I’m not being ruthlessly violated by ‘The Man’.

You should try it. See if it works for you. Alternatively just carry on whining, because LIFE IS, JUST, LIKE, SOOOOOOOOOOOO NOT FAIR!!!

And they thoughtfully keep sending me really good magazines that I can read while I’m having a poo. There’s simply no limit to the decadent and indulgent pleasures us with the magic blue P get to enjoy 😀