# Forum Ads... (Ad free for Premier Members!)



## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

I'll start off by saying I understand the need for Ads and their place in websites.   But at what point is enough enough?  I am seeing on average 7-8 Ads per page:  Top and Bottom Banner Ads, Side Bar Ads, Multiple Mid thread Ads, "scroll to continue reading" Ads, Pop up Ads.  The loading and reloading of ads causes shifting of the page multiple times as there are different sized Ads.  My page has shifted three times in typing just this far...  Mobile usage is even more frustrating.  The pop up ads take up a third of the page and the "x" to close them is offset and almost impossible to click without hitting the ad and being redirected:











Again, I'm not saying there should be no Ads as they have their place in keeping the site open.  Is there an Ad Reduction that comes with being a paying member?  How much of an Ad reduction is there?  Can the Ad size be locked to certain pixel blocks to prevent shifting of the page?

Thanks in advance and yes I understand the irony of me asking this when I consume a lot of server space with my albums.  I am just trying to figure out what appropriate level of Paying Member works best for me and if any of them Ad Free or at least much reduced.

If this is just the way it is, just tell me to go back outside, cook something, and take pictures and be happy.


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## pc farmer (Jul 30, 2020)

You will not see any ads being a paid member.


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> You will not see any ads being a paid member.




Thanks 

 pc farmer
 that is great news!  Is that for all levels?


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## smokin peachey (Jul 30, 2020)

Check this out.





						SMF Premier Membership
					

We are now offering SMF Premier Memberships for those who have asked for this! As always, the forum is absolutely FREE and there is no requirement or expectation, but when you "chip in" it is greatly appreciated.  This forum comes at a cost and we try to offset this with ads and some affiliate...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


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## chef jimmyj (Jul 30, 2020)

Yep...Day 2, I became a Premier Member and turned off the Ads. Money well spent!...JJ


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

Re-Upgraded.  For some reason on my upgrade page it doesn't list any "perks".  

Definitely happy to pitch in.


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## chopsaw (Jul 30, 2020)

I recently got logged out . I dont know how anyone deals with the ads . Money well spent for sure .


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## SmokinAl (Jul 30, 2020)

Not only are you eliminating the ads, but you are helping to support this forum.
And the cost is quite small!
Al


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

SmokinAl said:


> Not only are you eliminating the ads, but you are helping to support this forum.
> And the cost is quite small!
> Al



Absolutely.  As an avid abuser of photo media storage, I'm happy to pay in. This is one of the forums that has been in my life the longest.  Mostly lurked in the first many years... But always had this place bookmarked as a go-to for knowledge and ideas.

I'm re-upped though and happily scrolling again without interruption.


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> I recently got logged out . I dont know how anyone deals with the ads . Money well spent for sure .



That it is.  The costs are very reasonable here. Plus some amazing recipes ta boot!


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## chopsaw (Jul 30, 2020)

Misplaced Nebraskan said:


> That it is. The costs are very reasonable here. Plus some amazing recipes ta boot!


If you divide the number of things you learn on here , into the membership price . It gets cheap pretty fast .


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> If you divide the number of things you learn on here , into the membership price . It gets cheap pretty fast .


Pretty sure my photo storage allocation exceeds a few membership levels   .

had to go check... I'm "only" at 609.3 MB.  I am behind on posting though...


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## Buttah Butts (Jul 30, 2020)

Just signed up well worth the price to support a great site


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Jul 30, 2020)

I'm in.


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## Steve H (Jul 30, 2020)

It's the only way to go. I perfectly understand the need for advertisements. But I hate them.  So it was a win, win for me to join up! No clutter, great people, great knowledge base.


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

I should change the title to "Sign up for Ad Free!"

Definitely a win/win 

 Steve H
 !


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## smokin peachey (Jul 30, 2020)

Misplaced Nebraskan
 was good you asked about this today. Was nice seeing the new membership numbers increased


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

smokin peachey said:


> Misplaced Nebraskan
> was good you asked about this today. Was nice seeing the new membership numbers increased


Worked out nicely!  That was really the main point of this, was finding out what all membership levels meant what for ads. Super happy it is included and it is oh so worth it.  Plus it helps support the site.


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## forktender (Jul 30, 2020)

I can see if you want to pay to play, I don't. Websites make money off of you with every post you make so in essence you are already paying to play just by posting on the forum. I support the forum every time I log onto it and send people to it. I'm against a pay to play site unless there are perks for paying members such as area's on the forum that only paying members can see. That is not the case here, so I won't be paying any time soon. I use ad blockers on my machine mainly to block out all the spam that you get bombarded with on the web these days, and they work just fine. People don't get that every single time they log into the forum they are supporting it with hits, hits are how forums make money, Ads are how they make  more money.

The poem/ haiku format is going to cause people to stop reading and posting as much as they normally would which will affect the hits the forum see's(how the forum makes money) That and the forum sells your personal info. IE: your email contact to make monies to keep the forum going.
A forum this size with as many hits as this forum gets sure as heck isn't hurting for money. Selling your info is only one way they make money they also make money from the Google ads.

Hopefully they have their IT people working on it because it sucks this way.

Best of luck.
Daniel Axlerod


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

forktender said:


> I can see if you want to pay to play, I don't. Websites make money off of you with every post you make so in essence you are already paying to play just by posting on the forum. I support the forum every time I log onto it and send people to it. I'm against a pay to play site unless there are perks for paying members such as area's on the forum that only paying members can see. That is not the case here, so I won't be paying any time soon. I use ad blockers on my machine mainly to block out all the spam that you get bombarded with on the web these days, and they work just fine. People don't get that every single time they log into the forum they are supporting it with hits, hits are how forums make money, Ads are how they make  more money.
> 
> The poem/ haiku format is going to cause people to stop reading and posting as much as they normally would which will affect the hits the forum see's(how the forum makes money) I hope they have their IT people working on it because it sucks this way.
> 
> ...




Gotcha.  I've got no experience running a site or knowledge of how it all works, beyond Ads = revenue.  Aren't the hits worth something because of the ads on the site?   Company X says they will pay you some amount of money based on number of hits on your site for running their ad?  Genuinely asking as this is not my area of expertise.  

What poem format
can you explain what you mean
sorry in advance

  

also genuinely sorry for that Haiku attempt


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## smokin peachey (Jul 30, 2020)

Misplaced Nebraskan said:


> Gotcha.  I've got no experience running a site or knowledge of how it all works, beyond Ads = revenue.  Aren't the hits worth something because of the ads on the site?   Company X says they will pay you some amount of money based on number of hits on your site for running their ad?  Genuinely asking as this is not my area of expertise.
> 
> What poem format
> can you explain what you mean
> ...


How about this poem?
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Not smoking meat every week will make you blue to!!
Enjoy your favorite brew 
And some bbq!


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## Misplaced Nebraskan (Jul 30, 2020)

smokin peachey said:


> How about this poem?
> Roses are red
> Violets are blue
> Not smoking meat every week will make you blue to!!
> ...


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## TulsaJeff (Jul 30, 2020)

Thank you for the feedback.. positive or negative, it's what I want and gives me insight into what the members are thinking.

I can't fix everything but I do what I can when I can as much as I can.

I can certainly appreciate the dislike for ads.. for what it's worth, I'm not sure how some websites make money from simple page hits as was mentioned. Never has worked for me. No ads.. no money.

We ONLY see money when we run ads and when members pay a small fee for a premier membership.

For those who want to pay a small fee, I am happy to turn those ads off for you. It's the least I can do. It's not pay to play. It's more like you donated to help pay the bills and I want to do something for you in return.

I do leave the ads on for myself although I have the option to turn them off if I want to. I do not.

Click HERE to turn the ads off for yourself. It is GREATLY appreciated!!

Let me know if you have further questions about this.


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## forktender (Aug 19, 2020)

Misplaced Nebraskan said:


> Gotcha.  I've got no experience running a site or knowledge of how it all works, beyond Ads = revenue.  Aren't the hits worth something because of the ads on the site?   Company X says they will pay you some amount of money based on number of hits on your site for running their ad?  Genuinely asking as this is not my area of expertise.
> 
> What poem format
> can you explain what you mean
> ...


The money advertisers/ Google are willing to pay is based on the number of hits.

I've added screenshots of what I mean by poem form.







Format problem has been the same for 3 weeks now, which clearly shows that the IT team needs outside help.

Any updates?


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## TulsaJeff (Aug 19, 2020)

forktender said:


> The money advertisers/ Google are willing to pay is based on the number of hits.
> 
> I've added screenshots of what I mean by poem form.
> 
> ...



Our internal IT team maintains the day today stuff however the formatting problem is part of the theme which we paid an outside developer to do for us. We are in the queue to have this fixed… hopefully very soon.

I understand your pain--it’s aggravating the snot out of me as well.


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## forktender (Aug 20, 2020)

I'm sure it is a coding pro


pc farmer said:


> You will not see any ads being a paid member.


Yes we understand that but how do you expect this site to grow and maintain its health if new people browsing the net can not even read what this site is all about.
Ads covering text is ridiculous and not a good marketing strategy, now is it? 

As I explained in another post I refuse to pay to view a site unless there are special forums that nonpaying browsers are not able to read, looser moderation or something along those lines. If a forum can't maintain health with the funds Google pays them to run "their" ads it's their own fault for living beyond their means or being greedy, it really is as simple as that. There are thousands of much larger forums on the web that operate on very little costs.


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## TulsaJeff (Aug 20, 2020)

forktender said:


> I'm sure it is a coding pro
> 
> Yes we understand that but how do you expect this site to grow and maintain its health if new people browsing the net can not even read what this site is all about.
> Ads covering text is ridiculous and not a good marketing strategy, now is it?
> ...





Thank you for the feedback.. I will try to touch on some of this--

I have the same goals for this forum that I had when I created it back in 2004:

It needs to be a place that is helpful and relieves the workload on me answering questions via email
It needs to be able to pay for itself via ads, premier memberships, etc.
Nothing has changed there.

We have maintained about 20-30 new members per day for the last umpteen years so those are the metrics and trends by which I decide if something has gone awry with the ability to read and/or view the forum.

I don't like the ads either but I also have goal number 2 that must be met. (for the record, you do not see a "Premier Member" badge next to my name in the forum. I use and view the forum with ads turned on just like many of you.)

The latest update, which was necessary, created some changes with the current theme but those are being worked on and while things don't happen as quickly as we like, they will happen soon. 

My last point is that premier memberships are something we did in response to those who don't like the ads and want to turn them off *however*, there is absolutely no obligation.. it's there if you want it, otherwise it can be ignored

Based on comments I see every week, most people who have decided to sign up for it love the browsing with no ads.

We now have given you the option to purchase memberships monthly as well as 1, 2 and 3 years or a lifetime membership.

Let me know if you have further questions about any of this and I will do my best to answer.

I appreciate all of you who help out day to day in this forum.. it is what SMF has always been about and will continue that way.

Peace out


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## dr k (Aug 20, 2020)

TulsaJeff said:


> Thank you for the feedback.. I will try to touch on some of this--
> 
> I have the same goals for this forum that I had when I created it back in 2004:
> 
> ...


I use my phone on SMF and there is only one ad that doesn't scroll away or is in the background. The Muesela ad is an ad that is in motion that grows up in the foreground over the up/down touch arrows and dispenses lotion obstructing the navigation of the site  in the screen shot below. I have no problems with ignoring ads.  I was wondering if you can select ads that don't obstruct/inhibit the navigation of SMF? So I don't have to down flick 10xs to get to the top of the page which is different than ignoring ads.


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## forktender (Aug 20, 2020)

dr k said:


> I use my phone on SMF and there is only one ad that doesn't scroll away or is in the background. The Muesela ad is an ad that is in motion that grows up in the foreground over the up/down touch arrows and dispenses lotion obstructing the navigation of the site  in the screen shot below. I have no problems with ignoring ads.  I was wondering if you can select ads that don't obstruct/inhibit the navigation of SMF? So I don't have to down flick 10xs to get to the top of the page which is different than ignoring ads.
> View attachment 459408


The same ad blocks out my screen when viewing on my phone. I totally get the decision to bring the google ad package onboard, the ads don't bother me just the ones/one that covers the whole post and won't let you scroll past it.
That one needs to go, there is a way to do I know this because the same thing was happening on one of the fishing forums I use. Besides that ad and the poem style formatting issues I love this site everyone is friendly and helpful and that is rare these days.

Thank you for the updates 

 TulsaJeff
 .

Dan


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## dr k (Aug 21, 2020)

forktender said:


> The same ad blocks out my screen when viewing on my phone. I totally get the decision to bring the google ad package onboard, the ads don't bother me just the ones/one that covers the whole post and won't let you scroll past it.
> That one needs to go, there is a way to do I know this because the same thing was happening on one of the fishing forums I use. Besides that ad and the poem style formatting issues I love this site everyone is friendly and helpful and that is rare these days.
> 
> Thank you for the updates
> ...


I'd rather ignore more ads but dump the one or two that interfere with accessing functions to navigate back to the top of the page. I was a premier member a year and that was to avoid the five virus scareware/malware embedded in an ad that redirected me to that message on my ph saying I have five viruses and to click to remove which I never did but had to become a premier member to get away from this redirecting. After a year when my premier membership expired it was resolved and I haven't been a premier member for a couple years and now just these newer one or two ads that cover function touch arrows, back to the top of the page keys. Like I mentioned I'd rather have this site packed with more ads and remove the rogue one that appears to be only with phone viewers.


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