Advertising on Nexus Mods. The how, what and why, and what to do when it goes wrong.

[ShaleK111]

In response to post #45635210. #45635390 is also a reply to the same post.

ShaleK111 wrote: Here are my issues with Ads:
Depending on the ad, be it video, audio, strictly text and the sheer number of ads on a site, it can, quite literally take 4 to 5 times longer to load a page. And while an extra 4 or 5 seconds may not sound like much, multiply that by however many pages a person clicks thru in a given session and that time ads up quickly. I personally tend to spend 30 minutes to an hour browsing thru mods and tutorials on any given day.
Not only can ads slow your loading time but for those who are browsing via mobile they eat up tons of data and even for broadband connections that can take up enormous amounts of bandwidth (fortunately not a problem on this web site) so much so that you often can't even open another webpage while you wait for the first to finish.
Add to this what I consider the plague of the advertising industry the auto-play video adverts. Long loading time, tons of data and bandwidth often with no way to pause or skip and some constantly pull the focus of the webpage to the ad forcing you to watch it until it runs it's course (I encounter that one on this site far to often when I browse from my work PC which has no ad blocking software).
And then there is the concern with cookies. While they *may* not contain any personally identifiable information, they can do other things. Many if not most internet security agencies routinely warn people to clear their cookie cache between websites when browsing for travel plans as it has been shown many times that quite a few companies do in fact increase the price of fares and accommodations for users with travel site cookies still in their cache. And while I seriously doubt there's any company or organization that feels they need to charge me more/differently because I'm comfortable enough with technology to mods games you never know, some tech site or software agency may one day decide to. There are already conspiracy theories that Microsoft is slowly changing Windows in an effort to thwart/break Steam so it's not *really* too far outside the realm of possibility.
I do see the need for sites to post adverts and I understand that they have a need and purpose. However, the bottom line is that I value my time and my privacy (not to mention my computer) more. If a less intrusive way could be found to place the ads then sure I'd give it a go but until they stop forcing their way to the forefront of what I'm trying to find/do online then I don't see an end to the cycle.

Athralsatar wrote: Then pay for premium. I'm not sure if you realize but this site costs them a lot of money to run. Ads are one way to pay for it. The other is subscriptions. When you have a nexusmods subscription the ads are gone.

Not sure what you mean by subscription but I did become a supporter about 5 seconds after writing my initial post, figured I needed to put my money where my mouth was.

[Motherfudger666]

I had Adblock turned off for this site for a good while. Then there was an ad on every time that was enlarged and BLOCKED all the link buttons and made navigating the site almost impossible. I reported the ad several times and it still kept coming up for a week or two. So I turned Adblock back on. I might turn it off again and see how it goes, but if I can't actually use the site then back on it'll go...

[lux113]

In response to post #45634790. #45635625, #45643415, #45644335, #45645145, #45649400 are all replies on the same post.

MrJohn wrote: Interesting article, much better content than the others I would commend.

The problem I have with the advertisements are mostly their annoyance. As far as I knew, you had removed the "lifetime membership" option back when you announced the "final sale" of them. But my opinion is not gained a positive spur from this article.

Viewing picture 5 and 6, I would like to say a few things. Beginning with picture 5, the banner advertisements aren't too bad. The bright background mitigates my first issue, which is contrast. The second square ad really breaks this. The first thing that pops up on the site is a bright white box, clearly disrupting the otherwise gray and pleasant to look at information, trying to squeeze my eyes to look at it, interrupting my viewer experience to push their product. It doesn't fit, and thereby becomes an anomaly in an otherwise good site.

We scroll down, and see what you see in picture 6. Not too bad. Banner ad holds the color of the page, it can be ignored successfully. But there it is again. Bright colors, clearly attempting to gut at you. "Look at me!!!!" it screams.

Which is the purpose of an advertisement, to gain attention. But right now my attention wants to be on modding.

Which brings me to the 2nd point, targeted advertisement. I am not condoning the art of cookie tracking, am quite strongly against it and any form of advertisements, even though their "wooo eviiiiil" is necessary. But there are a few simple steps that could help. Using your examples for picture 5 and 6, only one advertisement could be uniformly helpful to anyone viewing your site. The first banner ad, Discord. Something for the gamers. The rest are about christmas presents or traveling, nothing that you would come to the Nexus for. I doubt Github would have as much success putting up ads for puppies as you would for traveling. Understandably, you do not control the ads yourself as you've said, but it doesn't help.

A minor tweak would be to add more focus on gaming related advertisement, or to push your ad-provider for more things closer to home. Gaming equipment (keyboards, mice, Logitech/Razer etc.), computers (such as Origin PC), games or games media. These things would be interesting to your demographic (gamers/modders), and would maybe persuade more to help out. What I would rather fear is that it would cost your bottom line to restrict advertisement content. As far as I am concerned, most of these ads are just as bad as any other "bad ads", only "less frowned upon" so to speak.

I can only speak for myself of course. Generally, pages without ads are just better, cleaner and smoother. Less bandwidth is used, if you are on a metered connection, than if not. It all eventually boils down to ethics and morals.

What gives you the right to show us ads? Because you own the site? It is an open internet and you've made this site as a free resource. Some people pay for their bandwidth (such as mobile internet), and would probably not want to pay for the advertisements themselves given the choice. Is it right to push advertisements on them? And if we have the magic switch that says "no thanks", is it right for others to slander them because they don't give out money instead? Should we be expected to hand out cash for sites in exchange for ad-free nature? Ads that they push themselves.

In closing, I commend you for this article. The look into the backside of Nexus is always interesting, not always positive, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy them. You also avoided the "we needs monies, pls help" side of the story, though whenever a site mentions the "ads", they usually want to spark some feeling of "Maybe I should help", which is quite cheap. Personally I am torn on the issue regarding finances, as I know it is difficult.

Ethreon wrote: "What gives you the right to show us ads? Because you own the site?"

Exactly. He owns it, and he would have to pay for it from his pocket. Even if he'd be a rich man, doubt you'd get the same amazing offer if there were no ads. Rest of your argument might be based and intelligent, but that there is a dumb statement.

MrJohn wrote: A fair point. But there are other variables than just ownership. Consider it an open house. To enter you need to bring posters. But the house is open for all. No entry fee. So you arrive without grabbing that poster. Does he have the right to smack you for not taking the poster? The house is open, after all. He could plead you to bring the poster. A form of begging, if you are cynical.

But the fact is this that the road you use to travel to said house, the car/transport you use and so forth you cover yourself. Only the end-point is "owned", so to speak. But ads are like a baggage that rides along with you. Like a poster you need to bring with you.

This boils down to opinions, but really I don't think ownership of a site would also give you right to force ads people do not want to see. What would be a great idea would be choice of ads, where you could see the ad options and tailor the ads based on color, contrast, type and so forth, to actually give a personalized ad service that could be unintrusive and maybe even helpful.

I don't blame the users of ads, but rather the ads themselves. It's like producers like EA f*#@ing companies over, the same as advertisers f*#@ the companies using them over. It's all greed.

Elianora wrote: > What gives you the right to show us ads?

^ The fact that he spends hundreds of thousands of monies a year to provide the service free for ungrateful people like you and hired a team of professional people to keep the site running as great as it can.

Elta1 wrote: @MrJohn Its more like having someone else drive you around and they are willing to do it for free if you occasionally look at their crappy paintings. That person still has to maintain the car and put gas in it and you don't.

Aireal2 wrote: As one of those people that pay's for my band width ( my cell phone IS my internet connection) Personally I don't mind paying to keep the AD's off...I go out of my way to not go to sites with a lot of AD's... but those that I do go to that have them.. I either pay to not have to view them.. or it's a site I don't visit often..

As a retail manager I understand running costs.. I'm not rolling in money.. but I prefer to spend it where I want...and that's not more on my phone bill.

Any Service is going to come with a "fee".. it's all in how it's paid for..

Can't believe you even said this.

"It is an open internet and you've made this site as a free resource."

???? It's a domain (website) that someone purchased. The resources are given by members of the site, but honestly nothing about the site itself is "free".

It's no different than purchasing a chunk of land and having a place where people can exchange items with other customers for free. Someone still has to maintain the building, someone still has to pay for the electricity - but you should still count yourself lucky that they are providing that service to you, FREE of charge. You're unhappy cause they have the Marlboro man on the door and a neon Coca-Cola sign.

And if, by chance, they are able to make a little scratch in the process -- well why shouldn't they? They didn't build the site and maintain it simply for charity. Myself, I hope, and expect they are turning a profit - also because that makes it much more likely that the site won't disappear.

------------
That being said... I have run into some shady ads on the site from time to time, ones that stated "you need to update flash", ones that would cause the page to crash, and obnoxious video that would play -- so I really appreciated the info on how the whole ad vetting process works. I hold the site staff a bit less responsible now. Edited December 15, 2016 by lux113

[lux113]

In response to post #45637070. #45640620, #45643730 are all replies on the same post.

soupdragon1234 wrote:

What gives you the right to show us ads? Because you own the site? It is an open internet and you've made this site as a free resource. Some people pay for their bandwidth (such as mobile internet), and would probably not want to pay for the advertisements themselves given the choice. Is it right to push advertisements on them? And if we have the magic switch that says "no thanks", is it right for others to slander them because they don't give out money instead? Should we be expected to hand out cash for sites in exchange for ad-free nature? Ads that they push themselves.

 

Yes, because he owns the site. Secondly, it has to be paid for. What you think stuff like this comes for free? Really? The mobile argument might have some value if they paid for this site as well as their internet service but they didn't, and since when did you last contribute anything towards this site, its maintenance or its content?

 

Because from where I'm sitting you're a freeloader and I'll tell you this, when the balance of costs vs. advertising reaches a tipping point that more people use adblock than not, when those expenses can no longer be covered, it'll mean either the end of free sites like this or they'll become a paid up subscription model membership only. Its only the ads that pay for peoples free membership and the hosting costs of free mods and the law of ever diminishing returns applies here. :ermm:

memlapse wrote: edited: I should have read the whole post. I took it out of context.

MrJohn wrote: I see your point. I know the site has to be paid for, but again. Sure he owns it, but he has opened it freely to the community. Running ads is a way to monitize, and I don't have a problem with it per se. I have not contributed to the site in any sort of way (other than trying to be a helpful mod user), but then again I am not hired by the site for any sort of job.

And we are not taking advantage of Nexus by "Being freeloaders". I never imposed on Dark himself asking for it. Thereby calling us freeloaders for going to a page open for all without giving back is sort of what I have a problem with.

Your concern about paid membership and restrictions are valid, and you could use your argument as "we helping, you freeloading", but expecting people who aren't directly involved to contribute is, well. Ludacris sorta. You could drive people around who need it for free, and someone might give you a few bucks. But then turning on those not giving you cash would be quite unreasonable.

And is the site really free if you have a hidden payment every time you visit? What of those on restricted, mobile or otherwise paid broadband who directly pays for the bandwidth used, including the ads they wouldn't take if they chose? Ads are already the end of a "free site".

Consider the ads donations, and premiums are paid products. Not everyone donates, and trying to pressure someone to donate because "it's the right thing to do" or to "help out" is really not the way to go.

"Ads are already the end of a "free site"."

Seriously man.. the site costs money. It also takes work. Lots of it. What are you not getting about that?

If there were no ads, there would be no site.

Here's your choices:

1) Paid membership only - no ads
2) ads
3) no nexus.

Pick.

[jimmulvaney]

Jus so yall know, I turned off ABP a long time ago, and have not had any issue with intrusive ads. Besides turning off ad blockers, what exactly can we do to help out?

[CreeperLava]

In response to post #45658465.

jimmulvaney wrote: Jus so yall know, I turned off ABP a long time ago, and have not had any issue with intrusive ads. Besides turning off ad blockers, what exactly can we do to help out?

Buying premium or support (2€). It removes ads for you, for life and gives them more money than they'd ever get from ads shown to you. So a win-win situation.
Edit : Should have seen that you're already a supporter :). Still, the above is still true for other users. Edited December 15, 2016 by CreeperLava

[Deleted16896079User]

First I'd like to say thank you to Dark0ne and the Nexus team. Thank you for your hard work, your candor, and for the fact that you put up with us end users. I'm sure that I'm not alone in appreciating what you contribute to the modding community.

 

I also appreciate the information contained within this article. It sheds some light upon the current advertising situation on the internet. I take my online privacy and security seriously. Malware and so called "zombie cookies" are examples of things that I don't like to take a risk on. However, I don't want to punish the good sites that both need and deserve monetary compensation for the services they provide.

 

The trust and respect that I have in the people and policies of Nexus Mods is why I both whitelisted the site and have a premium membership. The hope is that whether I'm logged in or not I can contribute financially to the site and community. No matter how small my impact is at least I know that I did something to help.

[jojohnon]

In response to post #45658465. #45658735 is also a reply to the same post.

jimmulvaney wrote: Jus so yall know, I turned off ABP a long time ago, and have not had any issue with intrusive ads. Besides turning off ad blockers, what exactly can we do to help out?

CreeperLava wrote: Buying premium or support (2€). It removes ads for you, for life and gives them more money than they'd ever get from ads shown to you. So a win-win situation.
Edit : Should have seen that you're already a supporter :). Still, the above is still true for other users.

Hello i have been a member for quite some time but i have never really participated much in the forums or comment sections. I do not use adblockers on this site but i have some advice for those who do because they dislike certain ads. My memory is not the best so take what i say with a grain of salt. If i remember correctly many adblockers lets you block specific ads. You can also in many cases find a settings page on many ad networks that lets you to some extent set what ads you want to see.

[ZZZ02]

Umm I disabled my adblocker after reading this but the site crashed now I am getting the no one likes adds banner even though it is still disabled WTH???

[zarrazee]

I've read this article and it makes sense.

 

However, I hate adverts and do my utmost to avoid them

1) They are intrusive

2) They waste my time

3) They are unnecessary

4) They are annoying

5) I do not buy newspapers

6) I do not use web sites where adblock doesn't work

7) I delete all spam email without reading it

8 ) I close my eyes at cinemas when the ads come on

9) I skip ads on youtube after 5 secs

10) I do not have a facebook account

11) I throw away junk post without reading it

12) I don't answer phone calls from any number that is not on my contact list

13) I usually only watch BBC (no ads) and listen to BBC radio (no ads)

14) When I watch "live" TV which have ads, I pause the box when an advert comes on. I go make a cup of tea then fast forward through them.

 

The older I get, the more I see materialism everywhere and adverts just fuel societies' "I want" mentality.

 

No, I'm not a grump, fuddy duddy, tight-wad, kill-joy, fun police or any of these things. I am happy go lucky guy, But adverts? No thanks Nexus, I'd rather remain a premium member and pay to disable them. Take care.

Edited December 15, 2016 by zarrazee