jsteele
Post 05/11/2024 23:32     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Good news. This evening I finally got the St. Augustine ad using Chrome on my Mac laptop. I have identified the creative id of the ad and the source network from which it came. I have sent that info off to our ad partner. That should be enough for them to block it.

Some caveats, however. First, they probably won't even begin looking at my email until Monday. Then they have to contact the network and possibly other networks to have the removed. Second, the same ad may be being severed multiple times with different creative ids and from other networks. So this may only be one instance of it. We won't know about that until this one is blocked. Third, some users have reported similar but different ads. I still have seen or captured any of those.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 22:17     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Jeff, have you tried scrolling the website when you're not logged in? Maybe being a peon would force these ads on you?

FWIW, I have been blissfully annoying ad free since I switched to using Edge instead of Chrome.
jsteele
Post 05/11/2024 19:22     Subject: Re:These ads are so huge and annoying!

Anonymous wrote:another user who has been getting the ads regularly. Was hoping this would have been resolved after a week or so, but it's still going on.


I also hoped that it would have been solved. But, I am basically being asked to bake a cake with no flour, no sugar, and no butter. I still have not seen these ads and, with just a couple of exceptions, nobody is providing screenshots. I am doing all I can to solve the problem but unfortunately, all I can do in these circumstances is basically nothing.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 19:00     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Just got the inspira one
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 18:57     Subject: Re:These ads are so huge and annoying!

another user who has been getting the ads regularly. Was hoping this would have been resolved after a week or so, but it's still going on.
jsteele
Post 05/11/2024 14:03     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How long after an ad is reported, does it go away? I think we had a spate of these earlier, and they went away for a while, only to come back again. At least one of them is a repeat offender (the one with the dog).


If I can provide something that can be used to identify the problematic ad, normally it is removed within a couple of days. This time, posters have described a number of ads, but only two screenshots have been provided. So, other than those two, it may take a while.

I normally use Safari on a Mac and have not seen a single one of these ads. I switched to using Chrome because several users said they were using that. I still have not seen one of these ads. Had I not seen this thread and anyone asked me, I would say we don't have a problem with ads. I know this is not the answer that you want to hear, but I'm just being honest.


Do you have ad blocking software? I am on Chrome and I am getting these on both my Mac at home and my Dell at work, so I don't understand how you're avoiding them. They're rendering the site basically unusable for me. I don't even mind ads, but these can't be closed and take up the whole screen!


No, of course I don't have ad blocking software. I want to see the ads on my website. Could you try clearing your cookies and see if that makes a difference? I learned yesterday that advertisers have an easier time targeting Chrome than Safari, so you might be getting these ads because it is easier to target you. I have found that once you get an ad, you keep getting them. So far, however, I haven't got one.


This is in no way meant to be disrespectful, you built a successful platform and deserve revenue, but it’s strange that you never see the invasive ads. You do monitor ads on your website, just not seeing the ads being reported here? You use safari on Mac and Dell and don’t see the ads. Do you see them on your mobile devices? It’s not only St. Augustine. It’s many more. You keep asking for screen shots and telling us to continue using the audit and report feature, but it’s just an exercise in futility. It’s been a problem for a long time. Fire your ad manager. You truly deserve better. They’ve essentially ruined the user experience.


I agree that it is strange that I don't see the full page ads. In the past I have seen unwanted ads, but not this current version. Not only me, but my wife Maria has also not seen them. I don't have a Windows computer to use, I only use Macs. I normally use Safari but I have been using Chrome a lot to see if that makes a difference. If I would see one of these ads, I could capture the traffic and trace it to its source fairly quickly. I would much rather do that then have posters like you constantly upset. But, since I don't see the ads, I can't do that.

On my iPhone and iPad, I have seen unwanted ads that are the type called "interscrollers". These are ads that as you scroll down a page, the ad expands and takes up the entire page but then shrinks as you continue scrolling and eventually scrolls off. I have been reporting these with the "#audit" tool and providing our ad partner with screenshots. I am routinely told the ads have been blocked but then they show up again later. I don' like the interscrollers and I am very frustrated that they continue to appear, but they are not as bad as you guys make the full page ads sound.

This entire experience has been very frustrating for me. I read complaints such as yours but can't do anything other than tell our ad provider. They keep trying different strategies. For instance, I agreed this week to drastically limit the types of ads that can be provided in hope that would solve the problem. That strategy had a significant impact on revenue and we have seen revenue drop by hundreds of dollars a day. I made this sacrifice even though I have not seen these ads and it has entered my mind that all of you are punking me. But you are correct, if our current ad partner cannot solve this issue, we will have to move on. That is not easy for a number of reasons.


The interscroller is also my greatest annoyance. It would be tolerable to just scroll past it, but it behaves badly. Sometimes it blanks out screen. It always forces the user to lose their spot even within a thread. After I posted above, I decided to visit my interscroller website externally (did not click from DCUM). It wasn’t a placeholder type ad. In fact, it was one of my utility companies! This is getting personal lol. I went to the site and unsubscribed. Called the company, got a live person, and had them remove me from 3rd party lists. It’s IP based. I pay my ebills only from iMac. I never use iMac for DCUM. A long time ago I was also getting ads from a large local realtor. They were at the top of every page. It was annoying, but hilarious to see my neighbors names and headshots. Those were the those days

I’m the poster that suggested a few times about getting a young tech student to troubleshoot. Contact career center at GMU. Call this week while campus offices are still open. You can email them a job description. They’ll post it on their site page and include in email updates with new 🆕 internship postings. Plenty of students would jump at the opportunity. They work well remotely, and can manage classes and side gigs. You need the young tech guns. The startup gang. They will serve you well. You should not be losing hundreds of dollars a day!


Students would have the same issue that I have. If you don't see the ad, you can't block it. I have been blocking ads for over 15 years so it is not a question of expertise. I just have nothing with which to work without seeing the ads.
jsteele
Post 05/11/2024 14:01     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Anonymous wrote:Can you just tell the advertiser not to allow ads from Inspira Financial. Those are the only problematic ads I see. Literally the only ones. Just happened to me again. Its tiring to keep reporting them.


If you would please provide a screenshot of the ad, which you can email to me at admin at dc urban mom dot com, it will be a lot easier to block. The way the ads work, going through many redirects, hides the final domain. So, blocking Inspira Financial here would not stop the ads .We have to block the upstream source of those ads.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 11:58     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How long after an ad is reported, does it go away? I think we had a spate of these earlier, and they went away for a while, only to come back again. At least one of them is a repeat offender (the one with the dog).


If I can provide something that can be used to identify the problematic ad, normally it is removed within a couple of days. This time, posters have described a number of ads, but only two screenshots have been provided. So, other than those two, it may take a while.

I normally use Safari on a Mac and have not seen a single one of these ads. I switched to using Chrome because several users said they were using that. I still have not seen one of these ads. Had I not seen this thread and anyone asked me, I would say we don't have a problem with ads. I know this is not the answer that you want to hear, but I'm just being honest.


Do you have ad blocking software? I am on Chrome and I am getting these on both my Mac at home and my Dell at work, so I don't understand how you're avoiding them. They're rendering the site basically unusable for me. I don't even mind ads, but these can't be closed and take up the whole screen!


No, of course I don't have ad blocking software. I want to see the ads on my website. Could you try clearing your cookies and see if that makes a difference? I learned yesterday that advertisers have an easier time targeting Chrome than Safari, so you might be getting these ads because it is easier to target you. I have found that once you get an ad, you keep getting them. So far, however, I haven't got one.


This is in no way meant to be disrespectful, you built a successful platform and deserve revenue, but it’s strange that you never see the invasive ads. You do monitor ads on your website, just not seeing the ads being reported here? You use safari on Mac and Dell and don’t see the ads. Do you see them on your mobile devices? It’s not only St. Augustine. It’s many more. You keep asking for screen shots and telling us to continue using the audit and report feature, but it’s just an exercise in futility. It’s been a problem for a long time. Fire your ad manager. You truly deserve better. They’ve essentially ruined the user experience.


I agree that it is strange that I don't see the full page ads. In the past I have seen unwanted ads, but not this current version. Not only me, but my wife Maria has also not seen them. I don't have a Windows computer to use, I only use Macs. I normally use Safari but I have been using Chrome a lot to see if that makes a difference. If I would see one of these ads, I could capture the traffic and trace it to its source fairly quickly. I would much rather do that then have posters like you constantly upset. But, since I don't see the ads, I can't do that.

On my iPhone and iPad, I have seen unwanted ads that are the type called "interscrollers". These are ads that as you scroll down a page, the ad expands and takes up the entire page but then shrinks as you continue scrolling and eventually scrolls off. I have been reporting these with the "#audit" tool and providing our ad partner with screenshots. I am routinely told the ads have been blocked but then they show up again later. I don' like the interscrollers and I am very frustrated that they continue to appear, but they are not as bad as you guys make the full page ads sound.

This entire experience has been very frustrating for me. I read complaints such as yours but can't do anything other than tell our ad provider. They keep trying different strategies. For instance, I agreed this week to drastically limit the types of ads that can be provided in hope that would solve the problem. That strategy had a significant impact on revenue and we have seen revenue drop by hundreds of dollars a day. I made this sacrifice even though I have not seen these ads and it has entered my mind that all of you are punking me. But you are correct, if our current ad partner cannot solve this issue, we will have to move on. That is not easy for a number of reasons.


The interscroller is also my greatest annoyance. It would be tolerable to just scroll past it, but it behaves badly. Sometimes it blanks out screen. It always forces the user to lose their spot even within a thread. After I posted above, I decided to visit my interscroller website externally (did not click from DCUM). It wasn’t a placeholder type ad. In fact, it was one of my utility companies! This is getting personal lol. I went to the site and unsubscribed. Called the company, got a live person, and had them remove me from 3rd party lists. It’s IP based. I pay my ebills only from iMac. I never use iMac for DCUM. A long time ago I was also getting ads from a large local realtor. They were at the top of every page. It was annoying, but hilarious to see my neighbors names and headshots. Those were the those days

I’m the poster that suggested a few times about getting a young tech student to troubleshoot. Contact career center at GMU. Call this week while campus offices are still open. You can email them a job description. They’ll post it on their site page and include in email updates with new 🆕 internship postings. Plenty of students would jump at the opportunity. They work well remotely, and can manage classes and side gigs. You need the young tech guns. The startup gang. They will serve you well. You should not be losing hundreds of dollars a day!
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 11:32     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Can you just tell the advertiser not to allow ads from Inspira Financial. Those are the only problematic ads I see. Literally the only ones. Just happened to me again. Its tiring to keep reporting them.
jsteele
Post 05/11/2024 10:30     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How long after an ad is reported, does it go away? I think we had a spate of these earlier, and they went away for a while, only to come back again. At least one of them is a repeat offender (the one with the dog).


If I can provide something that can be used to identify the problematic ad, normally it is removed within a couple of days. This time, posters have described a number of ads, but only two screenshots have been provided. So, other than those two, it may take a while.

I normally use Safari on a Mac and have not seen a single one of these ads. I switched to using Chrome because several users said they were using that. I still have not seen one of these ads. Had I not seen this thread and anyone asked me, I would say we don't have a problem with ads. I know this is not the answer that you want to hear, but I'm just being honest.


Do you have ad blocking software? I am on Chrome and I am getting these on both my Mac at home and my Dell at work, so I don't understand how you're avoiding them. They're rendering the site basically unusable for me. I don't even mind ads, but these can't be closed and take up the whole screen!


No, of course I don't have ad blocking software. I want to see the ads on my website. Could you try clearing your cookies and see if that makes a difference? I learned yesterday that advertisers have an easier time targeting Chrome than Safari, so you might be getting these ads because it is easier to target you. I have found that once you get an ad, you keep getting them. So far, however, I haven't got one.


This is in no way meant to be disrespectful, you built a successful platform and deserve revenue, but it’s strange that you never see the invasive ads. You do monitor ads on your website, just not seeing the ads being reported here? You use safari on Mac and Dell and don’t see the ads. Do you see them on your mobile devices? It’s not only St. Augustine. It’s many more. You keep asking for screen shots and telling us to continue using the audit and report feature, but it’s just an exercise in futility. It’s been a problem for a long time. Fire your ad manager. You truly deserve better. They’ve essentially ruined the user experience.


I agree that it is strange that I don't see the full page ads. In the past I have seen unwanted ads, but not this current version. Not only me, but my wife Maria has also not seen them. I don't have a Windows computer to use, I only use Macs. I normally use Safari but I have been using Chrome a lot to see if that makes a difference. If I would see one of these ads, I could capture the traffic and trace it to its source fairly quickly. I would much rather do that then have posters like you constantly upset. But, since I don't see the ads, I can't do that.

On my iPhone and iPad, I have seen unwanted ads that are the type called "interscrollers". These are ads that as you scroll down a page, the ad expands and takes up the entire page but then shrinks as you continue scrolling and eventually scrolls off. I have been reporting these with the "#audit" tool and providing our ad partner with screenshots. I am routinely told the ads have been blocked but then they show up again later. I don' like the interscrollers and I am very frustrated that they continue to appear, but they are not as bad as you guys make the full page ads sound.

This entire experience has been very frustrating for me. I read complaints such as yours but can't do anything other than tell our ad provider. They keep trying different strategies. For instance, I agreed this week to drastically limit the types of ads that can be provided in hope that would solve the problem. That strategy had a significant impact on revenue and we have seen revenue drop by hundreds of dollars a day. I made this sacrifice even though I have not seen these ads and it has entered my mind that all of you are punking me. But you are correct, if our current ad partner cannot solve this issue, we will have to move on. That is not easy for a number of reasons.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 10:10     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How long after an ad is reported, does it go away? I think we had a spate of these earlier, and they went away for a while, only to come back again. At least one of them is a repeat offender (the one with the dog).


If I can provide something that can be used to identify the problematic ad, normally it is removed within a couple of days. This time, posters have described a number of ads, but only two screenshots have been provided. So, other than those two, it may take a while.

I normally use Safari on a Mac and have not seen a single one of these ads. I switched to using Chrome because several users said they were using that. I still have not seen one of these ads. Had I not seen this thread and anyone asked me, I would say we don't have a problem with ads. I know this is not the answer that you want to hear, but I'm just being honest.


Do you have ad blocking software? I am on Chrome and I am getting these on both my Mac at home and my Dell at work, so I don't understand how you're avoiding them. They're rendering the site basically unusable for me. I don't even mind ads, but these can't be closed and take up the whole screen!


No, of course I don't have ad blocking software. I want to see the ads on my website. Could you try clearing your cookies and see if that makes a difference? I learned yesterday that advertisers have an easier time targeting Chrome than Safari, so you might be getting these ads because it is easier to target you. I have found that once you get an ad, you keep getting them. So far, however, I haven't got one.


This is in no way meant to be disrespectful, you built a successful platform and deserve revenue, but it’s strange that you never see the invasive ads. You do monitor ads on your website, just not seeing the ads being reported here? You use safari on Mac and Dell and don’t see the ads. Do you see them on your mobile devices? It’s not only St. Augustine. It’s many more. You keep asking for screen shots and telling us to continue using the audit and report feature, but it’s just an exercise in futility. It’s been a problem for a long time. Fire your ad manager. You truly deserve better. They’ve essentially ruined the user experience.
jsteele
Post 05/11/2024 08:53     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Anonymous wrote:Havent read the thread but agree with the title. Please fix Jeff


I am doing all that can which, unfortunately, is almost nothing. Since I have never seen one of these ads myself, I can't track them myself. All I can do is complain to our ad partner which I have been doing incessantly. Unfortunately, I don't think any progress will be made over the weekend.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 08:31     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Havent read the thread but agree with the title. Please fix Jeff
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2024 08:11     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm on edge on my desktop and I get the ad all the time. But I don't use Chrome or Safari to browse the internet.


Are you getting it today?


Yes- I'm the PP. I get the giant St Augustine with the woman in the pool on every other thread. Edge on desktop. I also get it occasionally on my ipad running safari.


I'm getting that St Augustine ad with the woman in the pool again too. Cleared cookies and I get it on both Edge and Chrome. Windows 11 on Surface.


Our ad partner thought that they had tracked this ad down, but I guess not.


Definitely not. I'm the PP who posted the original 3 photos of the St Augustine ad. I am on my work computer today (I normally don't read on my work computer). I have gotten the St Augustine ad about 6 times in the last 20 minutes. Very disruptive.


I just contacted our ad partner again to emphasize the importance of resolving this. I am completely baffled by how you get these ads under any variety of circumstances and I don't get them at all. If I would get them, I could probably track them down very quickly. But I just don't get them.



DP but maybe do some Google searches on st
Augustine and you will start getting them?
jsteele
Post 05/10/2024 16:39     Subject: These ads are so huge and annoying!

Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm on edge on my desktop and I get the ad all the time. But I don't use Chrome or Safari to browse the internet.


Are you getting it today?


Yes- I'm the PP. I get the giant St Augustine with the woman in the pool on every other thread. Edge on desktop. I also get it occasionally on my ipad running safari.


I'm getting that St Augustine ad with the woman in the pool again too. Cleared cookies and I get it on both Edge and Chrome. Windows 11 on Surface.


Our ad partner thought that they had tracked this ad down, but I guess not.


Definitely not. I'm the PP who posted the original 3 photos of the St Augustine ad. I am on my work computer today (I normally don't read on my work computer). I have gotten the St Augustine ad about 6 times in the last 20 minutes. Very disruptive.


I just contacted our ad partner again to emphasize the importance of resolving this. I am completely baffled by how you get these ads under any variety of circumstances and I don't get them at all. If I would get them, I could probably track them down very quickly. But I just don't get them.