Ad reporting functionality

[siframe]

I'd just like to say that I surf the site a lot on mobile, and the Google play store ads are out of control today on the FO4 site. I'm not even sure which specific ones are triggering as it's trying to open the play store app which I'm not allowing it to. If keeping your site open depends on me seeing ads then I'll gladly play my part in that, but hardly being able to open a page for more than 5 seconds after its loaded before my browser is totally redirected is a pain. I'd rather have ads and consistently be a part of funding the nexus than pay the tiny amount you guys ask for ad removal, seems to me you'll make more from me that way even in fractions of fractions of a penny a time.

Anyway, I wish you guys luck in stamping this stuff out, the advertisers do need to be taught where the line is drawn at the moment, and I applaud your attempt to be part of the front line of this battle. If you lose I'll just have to become a regular contributor to salve my conscience I suppose!

[Khumak]

It does seem like the ad situation has improved somewhat. Usually without an ad blocker enabled I was getting loud and obnoxious auto play audio and video ads on a constant basis. I tried disabling it again today and while the site is still slow and freezes pretty regularly due to ads, I'm at least not getting the loud ads anymore. I do love this site so I can endure sluggish performance and occasional freezes to support the site as long as the loud ads and the redirects stay gone.

[princeforte]

Until I can be reasonably assured that my experience without using adblock will not be drastically different than my experience using adblock, I will keep it active.

 

Which is to say, it's going to stay on. Permanently. I'm sorry. I love Nexus, I really like this attempt at positive incentives, but at the end of the day, ad-makers have no scruples and they cannot be trusted to follow the rules, ever. Even with ad reporting, the end result remains the same, because ad providers simply do not care. It doesn't matter which supplier you go with, they're all out to make money by any means necessary, and they will simply make new obnoxious ads to replace the ones that get reported or blocked.

 

And on my end, I end up having to reload the page more than three times as often because one stupid little ad didn't load properly, or at all, and is holding up everything else on the page, which has already loaded and is simply hanging in limbo because you didn't get to shove your commercial down our throats.

 

That being said, I use Adblock Plus, which has the white-listing capability for non-instrusive ads. Your move, Nexus.

Edited March 28, 2016 by princeforte

[Indiwolf14]

There is an ad for the game Overwatch that fills the entire background of the page. It causes extreme slowdown, (can barely even type right now because of it), it's really easy to accidentally click, and it obscures the "report this ad" button.

Links to a mb.zam.com

Is there anyway I can report it without access to the report button?

Edited March 28, 2016 by Indiwolf14

[doomknightofchaos]

In response to post #35952445. #35957755, #35970875, #35986150 are all replies on the same post.

DAOWAce wrote: I started using an adblocker (along with noscript) about 7 years ago after I was infected by a malicious ad on a site I trusted. It resulted in me getting an important account compromised, twice, which included a leak of all my real personal information (instead of just my online alias' information; a practice I started using due to site hacking becoming prevalent). I was forced to reinstall Windows and start a completely fresh browser install (instead of continue with my old history I keep as I'm an archivist).

I go out of my way to block ads, because I will never risk something like that happening ever again.

Since then, I've never been infected by anything; and I don't use an anti-virus.

That said, I'm a supporter of the site, so this is moot here, but I just wanted to speak out on why I personally use an adblocker, and will for the foreseeable future.

Bob100 wrote: not using an anti-virus is why u had to reinstall windows u never use a pc without a anti-virus

zeta0134 wrote: Oh please. I've seen loads of people come through my IT helpdesk with multiple antivirus programs installed and configured correctly, and they still clicked on the popup, called the 1-800 number, spoke to the nice man in India claiming to be from Microsoft, gave him their credit card info, let him log into their computer and encrypt all their files... etc etc. Antivirus can't protect the user from themselves.

If you're smart, you can avoid infection by applying good security practices. Antivirus is a tool, nothing more. It is a very useful tool, especially if you like to download new software regularly, but it is hardly foolproof. There's no substitute for your gray matter.

Ianana wrote: I too am in I.T. and have seen my staff do the same. We have been hit by Crypto locker (In several of it iterations) several times in the past year and I can tell you even current updated AV solutions have big trouble keeping up with it. But AV solutions are important and so are Malware solutions. Ads are a primary cause of some of the Crypto issues out there. Even from good normally safe sites. Just bad ads. Lots of users do not use AV solutions as DAOWace (he is well known on Widescreen forums and sites and I am sure he knows why he does not and I will not fault him for that at all as I have often wondered myself about the chicken and the egg) and have never been compromised as they know where they surf and are extremely careful. But most people are not that careful or they live with others that have no sense or are not savvy.

There have been of late some ads here that annoyed me playing loud bangs and then loud music or loud talking. If you have several Nexus pages open at once and the background page all of a sudden makes a loud bang, well I jumped in my chair. Robin, I understand the need to run ads. Income to support this site is necessary. I am guilty of using the Nexus for years and not having become a Premium member. But now just a small amount to be a Supporter for life...seems like a real deal. But I think becoming a Premium member is worth it to me since I use this site so much and have gotten much help from others here and well the wonderful mods. If those of us that can afford to become Premium members do that then that would really help with this. So I am going to do it because well it feels right to me.

Thanks.

It is true that an antivirus cannot stop all viruses and malware. But, it can sometimes prevent viruses from functioning properly once they get on your machine. For example, I got hit by a virus called "reannewscomm" that got onto my computer from a malicious ad from Youtube of all places. Even though it was on my machine, it couldn't activate itself as my antivirus blocked it from functioning. So I'd get a "virus detected" every 10 seconds, but I could still use the computer to go to my antivirus' forum and get assistance. They walked me through it and managed to get rid of it. However, if I didn't have an antivirus, then the virus would have activated immediately and be many times harder to remove.

So, yeah, use an antivirus. I suggest Avast; its proven the most reliable antivirus and I've tried a lot of different antivirus scanners.

[doomknightofchaos]

In response to post #35656147. #35658747, #35659277, #35877985, #35895280 are all replies on the same post.

gromulos wrote: I seriously think in the list of ads to be reported should include

* any adds that feature adult material.

I distinctly remember seeing 2 ads back to back when I first joined the nexus that I found very disturbing. The first add had to do with material related to erectile dysfunction and the 2nd add that showed right after it had to do with breast enhancement.

My first thought when I saw those 2 ads displayed was " Is this really material that should be on a games website?"

aggressor27 wrote: It's an unfortunate part of modern day targeted advertising, which generates content based on the viewer's browsing habits. And it's not going away because companies strongly believe it's an effective means.

gromulos wrote: So what you're saying is because I go to WEBMD and look up my mothers prescriptions who I care for, i get ads like that?? O_o lol

aggressor27 wrote: Yeah, but consider what other words might accompany "WebMD" in a Google search, and at what frequency. The scope of Internet advertising is broad, if not lazy.

bubbanole91 wrote: I don't understand whats so disturbing or "Adult" about that, it's just biology. And certainly isin't pornographic. "My first thought when I saw those 2 ads displayed was " Is this really material that should be on a games website?" You do realise this site host pornographic material right? I fail to see the surprise you experienced.

Same thing could be said about porn. Its only an act of exchanging biological fluids :P

Yes, it hosts pornographic material, but you need an account to see it normally, and you need to set your account to view it. Otherwise you don't see any of it, which is his/her point. If you lack the account to view that stuff you shouldn't see those kinds of ads.

[doomknightofchaos]

Sometimes when reporting ads, it doesn't solve the problem.

 

For example, I just reported an auto-playing video that was really slowing down the browser and then it was replaced by autoplaying audio. Then the ad disappeared after reporting it but the audio kept playing and had to refresh the browser to get rid of it.

[dariuswolfe]

I appreciate the efforts ya'll're taking. I just reinstalled an Adblocker on my browser (for whatever reason, I uninstalled one a couple years ago) and saw the filler image you guys have. I turned off the Adblocker, then remembered that I'd seen this post, and came to read the rest. I appreciate the hell out of the Nexus, and I don't pay a thing for the services y'all provide, so I'm perfectly okay with ads, so long as they're not disruptive (which, as others have mentioned, they sometimes are).

 

So, I'm definitely gratified to hear that I'll be getting a boost to my download speed, absolutely free.

[Peacimowen]

I disabled ad blocking for a bit following this article, but after being bombarded with distracting animated (normal animation, not epilepsy-inducing, so not on reportable list) ads for various games you'd have to pay ME to even consider looking at, let alone play, I re-enabled my adblock.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Peacimowen

[sajuuk17]

I disabled my adbblocker, but I still don't see any ads. The only change is an empty gray area where the placeholders were.