Please stop the Pop Up!
Please stop the Pop Up!
Author
Discussion

TT Tim

Original Poster:

4,168 posts

268 months

Wednesday 8th December 2004
quotequote all
Just a small niggle but Ted, please don't start using pop ups. Every time I log into Pistonheads now I get a Mazda Pop up ad. Okay its just a click to put it away but its very ANNOYING.

Other than that this has to be one of the best places on the 'net, thanks Ted.

Tim

Edited: Oops, overlapping post: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=141271&f=24&h=0 But it needs saying anyway.

>>> Edited by TT Tim on Wednesday 8th December 19:19

PetrolTed

34,461 posts

324 months

Wednesday 8th December 2004
quotequote all
I haven't started using popups. I've been using them for about 18 months. However I turn away most requests for popup ads which is why they are so infrequent.

Popup FAQ

I don't think it's too much to ask in return for providing the service...

rico

7,917 posts

276 months

Wednesday 8th December 2004
quotequote all
I fully back Ted on this...

the average user on PH must click their mouse every few seconds... whats one more click?

Mazda are helping pay for Pistonheads... it would scare me to know what Ted has to pay in bandwidth.

Pistonheads is free... put up with a small little hassle.

[/rant]

andy4200

5,103 posts

294 months

Wednesday 8th December 2004
quotequote all
Popups???? Never seen one on PH.

I guess Norton is doing it's stuff then.

GreenV8S

30,996 posts

305 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Popups are one of my pet hates, but I fully respect Ted's right to use them as he sees fit and it does seem a small price to pay for the right to PH. At least the current ones are shown in the main window and don't open new frames, that *really* pisses me off. Personally I'd be willing to pay a small subscription to avoid the more intrusive adverts, especally if it came with any other perks.

TT Tim

Original Poster:

4,168 posts

268 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Okay, now I feel guilty!

I do appreciate the what this site must cost to keep 'up'.

Pop Ups are just a pet hate of mine, along with the fact that some 'clever' programming normally goes t**s up when translated onto a Mac platform. The AA ad on Autotrader is a good example of this.

Personally I'd happily pay a sub to use Pistonheads, as has been said, every little helps.

Tim

PetrolTed

34,461 posts

324 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I have considered a subscription option many times but it's fraught with hassles. At the moment if I can't provide you with a service then it's just one of those things.

If you're paying me to be here then the emphasis shifts and I'll suddenly have hundreds of 'members' who have a right to demand a more personal attention/service. Given the low headcount in PH HQ that's not a scenario I'm keen to create.

There may be a halfway house though. I need better demographic info about people to be more creative with the ad sales. I may create an option on profiles whereby if you are prepared to reveal some info sex/age/job/income type stuff then I can block popups for you. Make sense?

JonRB

79,075 posts

293 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Hmmm. Interesting argument.

However, surely if it were made clear that the subscription (or donation, perhaps) was solely for opting out of advertising, then you could avoid the implied SLA that you are worried about creating.

tonyhetherington

32,091 posts

271 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
PetrolTed said:
prepared to reveal some info sex/age/job/income type stuff then I can block popups for you


I'd suggest probably not income, Ted, but certainly all the other info (age/sex/location/employment) I'm sure many would be happy to divulge.

JamieBeeston

9,294 posts

286 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
JonRB said:
Hmmm. Interesting argument.

However, surely if it were made clear that the subscription (or donation, perhaps) was solely for opting out of advertising, then you could avoid the implied SLA that you are worried about creating.


Or just have lots of BTaP events to cover costs

Should be fun..

hehe

JonRB

79,075 posts

293 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
JamieBeeston said:
Or just have lots of BTaP events to cover costs


My wife was just last night commenting that 12 months is too long to wait for the next one and that even PistonFest was too far away.

Liszt

4,334 posts

291 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Ted,
How about those on a "advert email" mailing list don't get the popups?

It doesn't bother me, just trying to help with alternatives

PetrolTed

34,461 posts

324 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
At the end of the day, these companies will pay a hell of a lot to be on the site. Trying to raise similar amounts via other means is almost impossible.

That's basically why I'll put up with earache about it.

I could do it more often but I don't. Asking people to view one ad a day for a week or two every few months (that's how it's capped - if you're getting it more often then check your cookie settings) doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

JonRB

79,075 posts

293 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Fair point, Ted.

dern

14,055 posts

300 months

Saturday 11th December 2004
quotequote all
JonRB said:
Fair point, Ted.
Indeed, no matter what our personal views on pop-ups are, this is Ted's business and the thing that should be respected is that this is a top site which manages to combine varied motoring news (and, rather bravely, encourages us to provide feedback on not only the content of the story but also by engaging in discussion about editorial direction) with an incredibly active forum which combines so many points of view on so many subjects that if the pop-ups are what makes it possible for Ted to make a living and for us to have this great site then they're a necessary evil.

Oooo... time for a pint

Mark