"Banner Ads Gone For Now" Topic

Adsense has disabled advertising for TMP, due to content which they consider to be "pornographic."

I have explained that the photos are part of a painting tutorial, and are not pornographic. I have also flagged those photos for our site filter.

We await the Adsense ruling.

Yeah, this site is pure filth compared to most of the internet.

I like it better without the ads.

I suspect this could also be down to a certain board….

The specific problem is that the figure is multi-part, and one of the components is "topless." (The assembled figure is NOT topless.)

I suppose, at stages during assembly, they can also be legless. A condition, I'm sure, TMP does not encourage or condone.

I like it better without the ads.

Easily done: TMP link

You might want to consider this adserver, which is what we have used for years in its various incarnations: revive-adserver.com/. A little complicated to setup, but once done you can replicate your current ad setup without using Adsense. As I understand it you are moving to PHP and MySQL for version 4 of TMP so this should work well for you.

Also, an observation of adsense having been an adsense publisher for over 10 years – it won't generate the kind of revenue you're currently enjoying based on some back of napkin calculations. The industry fact is that most hobby game advertisers are not particularly savvy in terms of keyword selection, site selection, or general use of adsense – you will likely see very low bids from online discounters scooping up cheap ad space because they have low competition, or very generic, irrelevant advertising that is shotgunned all over the Internet.

Slap, Slap, Slap, Slap, Slap…

And your troubles have only just begin. Do yourself a favor and turn Adwords off and pretend you never saw them before.

Step away from google and nobody gets hurt.

OMG, a nude figure?

What will become of the world?

Horrific?

Look how things have spiraled out of control around the globe, since those nude Roman statues were made eons ago, and centuries ago, during the renaissance.

Perhaps those that object need to just press the computer off button, if they are so shocked.

So what happens if they see all the manufacturers who do nekkid, half nekkid and gentlemans collectables, do you have to drop that advertisers to keep adsense?

For those of us that pay for Banner Ads, I am concerned that this will be a huge problem. Bill, is this all ads, or just the ones they consider inappropriate?

Oh America the prude, the puritan…
horror a naked woman! but tons of death and killing and "the bad guys" getting their "just reward" on tv by the dozen, in a few slugs is good. And the F word with that initially funny then utterly ridiculous bleep…

Note I have nothing against both, personally. Only if the excuse is for kids education then…

For those of us that pay for Banner Ads, I am concerned that this will be a huge problem.

The paid-for banner ads are still there.

Thanks Major B, I see that now.

Hmmmh, spoke with our "IT Expert" at work. His opinion was that if Google has identified the site as "pornographic" then Google also shares that information and if your company has a firewall, which it will have, then might block your access from work.

Just a warning if you get a warning.

duncanh (at home).

Oh America the prude, the puritan…

Only thirteen posts before one of these. Oh, joy.

Well, without wishing to stoke the fires, the US of A does seem a tad more puritanical re sex than it does violence, compared to us founding fathers here in the UK. Which is strange, as I would rather my children saw sex than violence, but neither really freak me out if both are within acceptable levels. But weird when an ad company takes offence over our hobby.

Adsense has disabled advertising for TMP, due to content which they consider to be "pornographic."

Oh, the delicious irony.

It's just my opinion and I'm just one guy, but I feel that the editor needs to revisit that statement of purpose and do what the OFM has suggested elsewhere to bring TMP back.

TMP has been molded by the community of gamers who come here. Boards have been added by community vote, and sometimes renamed or taken away. If you think something should be changed, you know the process… bring it up for a vote!

This is not meant to be an off-handed remark at the current asst editors, but making sure he has paid staff who have some knowledge about the subject matter of the site would be a big help too (I apologize, especially to the current assistant editors especially, but I think the point is important).

Formatting text or updating a database does not require a great deal of esoteric gamer knowledge.

I could care less either way about the ads. If they bring revenue to the editor then they're a good thing. Yay capitalism!

However, the way they are right now means my computer doesn't show anything I click on as being read, so it won't mark them on my computer so I have to re-read everything to find a post I enjoyed yesterday. Bummer.

However, the way they are right now means my computer doesn't show anything I click on as being read, so it won't mark them on my computer so I have to re-read everything to find a post I enjoyed yesterday. Bummer.

That's very odd, I don't know why the banners would interfere with your browser knowing you'd read a particular webpage.

Ah yes, how well I remember being given a vote on the introduction of Google ads ;-)

You voted with your wallet.

That's very odd, I don't know why the banners would interfere with your browser knowing you'd read a particular webpage.

Some computer security software may react poorly to Adsense's collection and storing of information, which could interfere with the browser tracking what is seen or not seen. I have seen this as emergent behaviour in some cases, but would not have predicted it to happen in this case. Oh, well, that's emergent behaviour for you…

It just got foisted on us with no warning

And was removed without warning either. Plus the statement that we "voted with [our] wallet" is absurd, because it is based on the idea that we sign up for membership to avoid ads, when we in fact sign up for many reasons. How many people here bought memberships because they wanted to avoid theoretical Google Ads that might appear in the future?

So, now it's the fault of those of us who have not (yet) bought Supporting Membership that you were 'forced' to supplement your income with these adverts?

So why no prior discussion/explanation of the situation to encourage us to sign up?

And how many 'basics' have now installed adware blocking software, which will p&ss off the banner advertisers?

And how many people bought Supporting Membership to avoid the adverts, only to find that it wasn't actually necessary?

And how many of the 100 free memberships went to those who complained the most?

The daft thing is, had the whole advert issue being properly presented in advance, all of these recriminations could have been avoided. I have no problem with the idea that TMP has a two-tier membership, in which the paid up membership are spared the (not very intrusive) non-hobby related adverts that the occasional users see but, sorry to say, you botched it again, at a time when 'critics elsewhere' are happy to highlight every mistake and probably drop you in it with the Google 'image/purity police' at the first opportunity.

"Google also shares that information"

I'm not going to *promise* that the data isn't exported somehow, but I'm struggling to see why it would habitually be. It's commercially sensitive information regarding Google customers and that's locked away quite tightly.

It's more likely that the web-filter supplying companies' own spiders will find and tag the images.

Are you saying the whole Adsense thing was a means to encourage more members to subscribe to avoid the ads?

Just an observation that, if more people had been Supporting Members, there wouldn't be any reason to have ads for Basic Members. There wouldn't be any economic incentive.

And how many will not renew their supporting memberships because of the Google Ads ???

If they are Supporting Members, they may not even be aware of the Google ads.

So, now it's the fault of those of us who have not (yet) bought Supporting Membership that you were 'forced' to supplement your income with these adverts?

I'm simply pointing out the obvious – the Adsense ads would make no money, if there wasn't a large number of Basic Members to show them to.

And how many 'basics' have now installed adware blocking software, which will p&ss off the banner advertisers?

Apparently very few, or the Adsense revenue would have dropped significantly.

And how many people bought Supporting Membership to avoid the adverts, only to find that it wasn't actually necessary?

I imagine the Adsense ads will be back soon.

And how many of the 100 free memberships went to those who complained the most?

None. As I have said before, the editors chose the recipients before the ads were initiated.

If they are Supporting Members, they may not even be aware of the Google ads.

We have to log in to our accounts somehow, and those ads appeared on the home page.

We have to log in to our accounts somehow, and those ads appeared on the home page.

I think most users have their own computers/devices, and stay logged in all the time.

You only need to log in if you're not on a private system, or if your browser/security software is deleting or blocking your cookies.

I think most users have their own computers/devices, and stay logged in all the time.

I liked to occasionally purge cookies on my old laptop (since they add up after a while), and I do not see any reason to stop that habit on my new computer. And occasionally my phone browser crashes or has to have its limited cache purged. So the login screen appears quite frequently.

So the login screen appears quite frequently.

But you would have to scroll down to see the Adsense banners, wouldn't you?

But you would have to scroll down to see the Adsense banners, wouldn't you?

Not that far.

I don't know how you have your homepage configured, but for most people, the "log in" button is on the top right.

To see the Adsense side banner, I found I would have to scroll down seven screens.

To see the Adsense bottom banner, I would of course have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.

It seems to me you can easily log in without viewing the Adsense banners.

"That's very odd, I don't know why the banners would interfere with your browser knowing you'd read a particular webpage."

The spot where the banners were is still showing on the side of the page and I'm guessing my computer is waiting for them to come up. When they don't it considers the page as not read.

As for the rest of this thread…OMG what is wrong with people? Does change scare people so much they have to complain about anything/everything Bill does? After a while it gets tedious hearing the gnashing of teeth and rending of cloths whenever ANYTHING changes. Jeesh.

Does change scare people so much they have to complain about anything/everything Bill does?

Change is fine if it is a change for the good. Shotgunned ads instead of focused ads are always bad.

The spot where the banners were is still showing on the side of the page and I'm guessing my computer is waiting for them to come up. When they don't it considers the page as not read.

That is possible, but not likely. The most likely case is your browser doesn't consider the "ads" to be part of the "page" that you are reading. When your system requests a page from TMP, the server TMP is on sends the page. The ads (and for TMP, the pictures) are not a part of the page. When your browser starts rendering the page you are viewing, it runs into instructions like "got get this picture from here" and "go send that data to a script on the ad server so it can look up and send back some content into this reserved blank space".

Again, not absolutely certain, but its highly highly highly likely that your browser has already completed downloading the page (what it is tracking) before it gets to the point of asking the other server for the ads.

"Change is fine if it is a change for the good. Shotgunned ads instead of focused ads are always bad."

How so? Does it hurt you in any way whatsoever? I'm guessing not, but what it does do is bring in revenue for the editor and make it possible for him to continue the page. One thing I've learned from TMP is that people will complain about anything, even if it's great and free.

"Again, not absolutely certain, but its highly highly highly likely that your browser has already completed downloading the page (what it is tracking) before it gets to the point of asking the other server for the ads."

I have no idea and am so lacking in computer knowledge to not know the difference. All I know for certain is that there's a gray box where the ads were, and my computer doesn't show the page as read. :)

How so?

Because it hurts the image of TMP, turning it into just another website sucking at the teat of Adsense. And the ads are visually unappealing.

Does it hurt you in any way whatsoever?

They increase the bandwidth required to load the page, since flash ads are not small. Plus they cause me to question my policy of whitelisting TMP in my adblocker.

even if it's great

The whole point is that it isn't great. It is terrible. A good, focused, ad will cause me to stop and contemplate whether it is a product I could need and use if it is relevant to my needs and to the page I'm reading. An ad for a company selling 15mm minis on a page related to ancient gaming will catch my eye in a good way and perhaps lead me to clicking and buying. A bad ad (like a dating ad or a computer game ad or a travel agency ad or an online school ad) on a page related to ancient gaming will also catch my eye in the same way that an obese person at a nude beach will catch my eye. My only reaction will be to figure out how it slipped past the adblocker.

All I know for certain is that there's a gray box where the ads were…

That's just because Adsense has turned off the ads for now.

"Does it hurt you in any way whatsoever?"

"They increase the bandwidth required to load the page, since flash ads are not small. Plus they cause me to question my policy of whitelisting TMP in my adblocker."

So the answer is 'no' it doesn't hurt you in any way.

"The whole point is that it isn't great. It is terrible."

I was referring to TMP as a whole. A great website full of wonderful information and a great base of knowledge easy to draw on. Yet something as minor as some ads on the side of the page has drawn all this ire and chest thumping. Even my ancient system has no problem running the pages with the ads on them.

I've never seen so many business experts in one place. Several have chimed in saying what a bad business decision these ads are and how they hurt the website and TMP as a whole. Guess what? If it really is such a bad business plan, you know trying to make money, then revenue will go down and Bill will try something else. That's how capitalism works. As a matter of fact, since so many experts have jumped in to give their opinion, by all means show us how superior you really are when it comes to running a business. Start a rival website and run Bill out of business, easy peasy.

I'm not seeing any ire or chest thumping the only person getting excited is you.

Some folk here do run businesses all know what they find desirable in a wargames site. Feedback is important for business.

I currently pay for a supporting membership as I value TMP for its international mix in my opinion the new adverts will have a negative impact on traffic and paying membership/advertisers.

Its not my call but I do get to express an opinion and should I wish as the Editor calls it 'vote with my wallet'.

That's how capitalism works.

Capitalism works based on demand. If demand changes because consumers do not like the product, then the product must change. That is the purpose of the feedback forums, to let Bill know we do not approve of the new product.