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Ad Blocker Whitelisting Prompt

John Pierce

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 5, 2006
Messages
1,777
Those of you who are running ad blocking software and who have not yet whitelisted the OCDO forum will now get a gentle, pleading reminder every few days asking you to support the forum by whitelisting the site.

I run ad blocking software myself and get infuriated by the obtrusive ads that many sites have. But I like to think that we are different.

Here at OCDO we have simple banner ads from forum sponsors, and unobtrusive Google Adsense ads at the top and bottom of each page.

We NEVER have popup ads, popunder ads, or ads with sound. They never move around the page or block the content. We have blocked all categories of ads that we feel would not be family-friendly.

We try very hard to minimize the impact on our members while still generating enough revenue to support our hosting bill.

I hope you understand why we are asking.


John
 
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color of law

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
5,936
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Some of us are not computer gurus. What is Whitelisting???? I use firefox ghostery and it is no help as far as I can tell in permanently unblocking a particular site.
 

MamaLiberty

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
894
Location
Newcastle, Wyoming, USA
Ghostery only blocks tracking cookies, far as I can tell. If you run ad-block, that's a separate thing.

If you can see ads, you don't have it. If you can't see ads, you have some version of it. There is usually an icon on the top of your browser screen that will give you options. The icon on my screen is a blue shield and has the initials ABE in it. Click on that, and your options are in a drop down menu.
 

Va_Nemo

Member
Joined
May 1, 2016
Messages
654
Location
Lynchburg
Those of you who are running ad blocking software and who have not yet whitelisted the OCDO forum will now get a gentle, pleading reminder every few days asking you to support the forum by whitelisting the site.

John


Well, you are from Bristol Va and my wife is from Bartow. I am a good Va boy also. I run both Adblock and Ghostery always. Based on the reasons and requests I will shut them off before I come here. Will not whitelist but will let the ads do as they do. Unless the ads are overwhelming and then I will let AdB and Gho. stay on while here.

If that is necessary I will tell you and you tell me where to mail a Jackson and he is headed your way.

Sound reasonable?

Nemo
 
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deepdiver

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
5,820
Location
Southeast, Missouri, USA
I've always whitelisted opencarry.org. The ads have been kept unobtrusive and it's just one little way to help this forum which has been of such value to many of us and the entire OC community.
 

Va_Nemo

Member
Joined
May 1, 2016
Messages
654
Location
Lynchburg
Well they are not nice but I can deal with them so far. Still dislike them but can deal with them.

Nemo
 

357SigFan

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
150
Location
STL MO, USA
The problem is the 'simple banner ads' and 'unobtrusive Google Adsense ads' contribute to the gunking up of already junky browsers (ALL of the current browsers suck). I have to routinely end task on Firefox in order to get it back to responding right, as it does stupid things with CPU resources and goes out of control sucking up memory, becoming slow, not being able to play video right/smooth (such as youtube) and even becoming unresponsive - and this is on a Ryzen 1800X with 32GB RAM! Since I started using an AdBlocker, I've noticed that I've had to do this less frequently, although I still have to do it from time to time becasue Firefox sucks. But even with my AdBlocker, there are still a few banner ads here - Right now I have one for Crossbreed and one for AlienGear. And let's also remember that they track your travels (Maybe not the 'banner ads' {which by the way are a popular way to nail you with malware by hijacking them and when the hijacked ad rolls up - BAM, you're pwned}, but DEFINITELY the Google ads).

These ads may be a good source of some revenue, but they are also a potential liability.
 

color of law

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
5,936
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
California-based Google, which has seen a slew of companies withdraw ads fearing placement alongside extremist content, said this week it is introducing new tools to give firms greater control. "We know advertisers don't want their ads next to content that doesn't align with their values," Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler said in a blog post.

https://phys.org/news/2017-03-google-ad-boycott-aim-ire.html

Meanwhile we consumers are expected to be tolerant of what ever commercial content is served.
We have lived with whatever advertisements thrown at us on TV from the beginning of time. The only choice you have is change the channel or mentally block it out. So, what's the difference Joe?
 

echofiveniner

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Messages
49
Location
Texas
Whitelisted. As long as you guys keep ads from making noise, creating dialogue boxes, and autplaying anything I'm good
 

KBCraig

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
4,886
Location
Granite State of Mind
Whitelisted. As long as you guys keep ads from making noise, creating dialogue boxes, and autplaying anything I'm good

Exactly. I had no problem turning off my adblocker for OCDO, because the ads are inline, don't pop up/out/over, and don't blast audio.

Now if John and Mike would take an active role in the forum again, that would be worth some money.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
Exactly. I had no problem turning off my adblocker for OCDO, because the ads are inline, don't pop up/out/over, and don't blast audio.

Now if John and Mike would take an active role in the forum again, that would be worth some money.
Both John and Mike are quite active on the forum, just not always highly visible.

Changes coming in vBulletin - will be a learning curve.

I would not be adverse to a small annual fee, but don't think that is likely and would present problems.
 

Firearms Iinstuctor

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
3,428
Location
northern wis
Exactly. I had no problem turning off my adblocker for OCDO, because the ads are inline, don't pop up/out/over, and don't blast audio.

Now if John and Mike would take an active role in the forum again, that would be worth some money.

I have no problem with the adds here unlike some sites.
 

SFCRetired

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
1,764
Location
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Ads

I finally gave in and white listed this page. And what do I see? Mostly ads for concealed carry equipment and the concealed carry association. No ads concerning open carry? Seems rather strange to me.
 

color of law

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
5,936
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
I finally gave in and white listed this page. And what do I see? Mostly ads for concealed carry equipment and the concealed carry association. No ads concerning open carry? Seems rather strange to me.
Not strange at all. When sales are slipping you try to recruit converts. As open carriers we are happy to take their money.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
I finally gave in and white listed this page. And what do I see? Mostly ads for concealed carry equipment and the concealed carry association. No ads concerning open carry? Seems rather strange to me.

Not strange at all. When sales are slipping you try to recruit converts. As open carriers we are happy to take their money.
Advertising for hand guns, holsters, and belts is hardly restricted to CC as are generic products not so limited.

That organizations like Concealed Carry Association hit us so heavy is testament to the depth of our influence.
 
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color of law

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
5,936
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Advertising for hand guns, holsters, and belts is hardly restricted to CC as are generic products not so limited.

That organizations like Concealed Carry Association hit us so heavy is testament to the depth of our influence.

And, here I thought it was your sparkling personality.
 
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