Political Ads

kb4blu · March 2016

I have noticed recently that this site now has ads for non-game related products. That is bad enough, but I have seen ads for political candidates. Please STOP.

Is there no escape from these crooks, liars, reprobates ?

Kyleran · March 2016

I haven't seen any political ads, but seriously, relax, not all politicians fall into such extremes, I actually have known some and can verify this to be true.

BillMurphy · March 2016

The new ad network targets based on user. So it's likely something you've searched, or something like that. We've informed Craig, and hopefully he has some option on what to filter out. But as an aside, the non-gaming stuff is a nice change of pace in my book - less really terrible free browser games, more stuff that's actually relevant.

As an example, I just got an ad for the Cleveland Clinic's children care. I'm more liable to click on that than the newest Chinese import self-playing "MMO".

NeverForgetLove · March 2016

People often forget that politics is business, too.

Wizardry · March 2016

I think what you may be seeing is the way ads work,similar to other sites.Example i go to to POGO operated by EA and in the USA yet i often see adverts related to my home town.This is actually the purpose of how and why cookies are there.

However it would not be the first time his site has shown a hypocritical side of operating the business and avoiding their own rules they expect users to abide to.

kb4blu · March 2016

BillMurphy said:

The new ad network targets based on user. So it's likely something you've searched, or something like that. We've informed Craig, and hopefully he has some option on what to filter out. But as an aside, the non-gaming stuff is a nice change of pace in my book - less really terrible free browser games, more stuff that's actually relevant.

I don't know what I did to deserve seeing a political ad ? I never search or goto any site that has anything to do with politics.

I realize your site needs revenue to keep going and I respect that but how are ads for politics relevent to gaming ??

CrazKanuk · March 2016

Wizardry said:

I think what you may be seeing is the way ads work,similar to other sites.Example i go to to POGO operated by EA and in the USA yet i often see adverts related to my home town.This is actually the purpose of how and why cookies are there.

However it would not be the first time his site has shown a hypocritical side of operating the business and avoiding their own rules they expect users to abide to.

Wow, someone is a Debbie Downer today. What the hell is hypocritical? The fact that they use a third party ad network or the fact that someone complained about political ads delivered through an contextual ad service, meaning that they probably spend most of their time online bitching about politics anyway?

Geez! I'm surprised you're not on here complaining about all the Midol advertisements.

BillMurphy · March 2016

kb4blu said:

BillMurphy said:

The new ad network targets based on user. So it's likely something you've searched, or something like that. We've informed Craig, and hopefully he has some option on what to filter out. But as an aside, the non-gaming stuff is a nice change of pace in my book - less really terrible free browser games, more stuff that's actually relevant.

I don't know what I did to deserve seeing a political ad ? I never search or goto any site that has anything to do with politics.

I realize your site needs revenue to keep going and I respect that but how are ads for politics relevent to gaming ??

Where do you live? The ads often target location based on IP address as well. It's likely you have a primary coming up, which would explain why. The ad network feeds ads to the user based on a number of categories, not something we select specifically. But I have asked Craig (the owner) to see if we can select/deselect certain types. We've done so in the past with other ad networks, and gold selling ads.

And the precise purpose of this new ad network is to offer both gaming and non-gaming ads. We know some folks might not like that, but by and large seeing ads for hospitals, cell networks, trucks, or movies is far more tolerable (to me) than seeing bogus ads for a new crappy browser game with bad translations.

Sovrath · March 2016

BillMurphy said:

The new ad network targets based on user. So it's likely something you've searched, or something like that. We've informed Craig, and hopefully he has some option on what to filter out. But as an aside, the non-gaming stuff is a nice change of pace in my book - less really terrible free browser games, more stuff that's actually relevant.

As an example, I just got an ad for the Cleveland Clinic's children care. I'm more liable to click on that than the newest Chinese import self-playing "MMO".

I have to say that I don't want to see non-gaming ads.

I get that from other sites it's nice not to be subject to such things on a gaming site.

It's like when I go to the movies. I used to just see ads for movie related products and services. Suddenly, "one day" I was seeing car commercials.

I have never used ad block on any game site but if I start seeing advertisements for furniture or something equally distasteful I would very strongly consider it.

Which of course then leads you guys to react to people with ad block.

Here is the thing, you want to give us reasons not to use such tools. The more you create a distasteful environment the more your viewers are going to react which will then cause you to react as well.

BillMurphy · March 2016

Sovrath said:

Here is the thing, you want to give us reasons not to use such tools. The more you create a distasteful environment the more your viewers are going to react which will then cause you to react as well.

This ad network services game ads just as much as it services non-game ads. Craig's on top of it, and will adjust the filters as necessary. There's nothing "distasteful" about non-gaming ads, though. Perhaps you meant personally undesirable? I just saw an ad for Disney On Ice. I have a toddler. To me, that's perfect targeting, and something I'm actually interested in. Not everyone will agree with you or I, but the truth of the matter is that this new ad network has better margins, better selections, and once we reign in all the stray selections will be better for all of us.

Ikeda · March 2016

Which is hilarious, because I'm reading political articles ALL THE TIME... have a Primary next week.... and all I see are BDO (which I thought was terrible) and Hearthstone (which was ok for what it was) ads. Oh, also "Smuggler's Bounty" which is straight to my heart because I love loot boxes, just not that one.

So weird how Google compresses us into little ad regions.

Sovrath · March 2016

BillMurphy said:

Sovrath said:

Here is the thing, you want to give us reasons not to use such tools. The more you create a distasteful environment the more your viewers are going to react which will then cause you to react as well.

This ad network services game ads just as much as it services non-game ads. Craig's on top of it, and will adjust the filters as necessary. There's nothing "distasteful" about non-gaming ads, though. Perhaps you meant personally undesirable? I just saw an ad for Disney On Ice. I have a toddler. To me, that's perfect targeting, and something I'm actually interested in. Not everyone will agree with you or I, but the truth of the matter is that this new ad network has better margins, better selections, and once we reign in all the stray selections will be better for all of us.

Well, of course I meant "personally distasteful".

I absolutely don't want to see ads for disney on ice.

Keep in mind, this is not about you guys or the site but players want to be in an environment that is interesting and supports their interests.

I do look at furniture. Imagine my surprise when once, on another site, I started seeing ads for the exact furniture I had been looking at.

It started following me everywhere. It was very a annoying and in truth I found it intrusive.

The truth of the matter, no "matter" how you guys or your ad companies mean to offer ads, players are going to have their own take on it.

If this site starts including ads that players don't want to see, no matter how well meaning ya'll are, they are going to have their own opinions and will react accordingly.

What mmorpg.com absolutely doesn't want to do is become a website that players don't want to go to.

Now maybe I'm in the minority and that's fine. But I would probably make sure that your viewership is "ok" with showing different types of ads.

Konfess · March 2016

kb4blu said:

BillMurphy said:

The new ad network targets based on user. So it's likely something you've searched, or something like that. We've informed Craig, and hopefully he has some option on what to filter out. But as an aside, the non-gaming stuff is a nice change of pace in my book - less really terrible free browser games, more stuff that's actually relevant.

I don't know what I did to deserve seeing a political ad ? I never search or goto any site that has anything to do with politics.

I realize your site needs revenue to keep going and I respect that but how are ads for politics relevent to gaming ??

Have you read / watched ANY news online? That's all it takes.

I've been getting World Wildlife Fund (WWF), guess I watch too many funny pet video. I actually never had a pet and hate dog and cats owners that don't clean up after them. Or owners that feel my yard makes a better shitter for their pets, than theirs.

MikeB · March 2016

Sovrath said:

BillMurphy said:

Sovrath said:

Here is the thing, you want to give us reasons not to use such tools. The more you create a distasteful environment the more your viewers are going to react which will then cause you to react as well.

This ad network services game ads just as much as it services non-game ads. Craig's on top of it, and will adjust the filters as necessary. There's nothing "distasteful" about non-gaming ads, though. Perhaps you meant personally undesirable? I just saw an ad for Disney On Ice. I have a toddler. To me, that's perfect targeting, and something I'm actually interested in. Not everyone will agree with you or I, but the truth of the matter is that this new ad network has better margins, better selections, and once we reign in all the stray selections will be better for all of us.

Well, of course I meant "personally distasteful".

I absolutely don't want to see ads for disney on ice.

Keep in mind, this is not about you guys or the site but players want to be in an environment that is interesting and supports their interests.

I do look at furniture. Imagine my surprise when once, on another site, I started seeing ads for the exact furniture I had been looking at.

It started following me everywhere. It was very a annoying and in truth I found it intrusive.

The truth of the matter, no "matter" how you guys or your ad companies mean to offer ads, players are going to have their own take on it.

If this site starts including ads that players don't want to see, no matter how well meaning ya'll are, they are going to have their own opinions and will react accordingly.

What mmorpg.com absolutely doesn't want to do is become a website that players don't want to go to.

Now maybe I'm in the minority and that's fine. But I would probably make sure that your viewership is "ok" with showing different types of ads.

I'm going to just be real with you: do you want us to have a website at all? Because that's essentially what's on the line here. It's not hyperbole.

We've had nothing but gaming ads forever, yes, but the environment right now for ad supported websites is extremely tough and we're feeling the pain as many other sites are. We decided to investigate expanding the subject of ads we show to broaden our revenue options without compromising on the types of ads we are willing to utilize.

We're still maintaining our ad policy in order to preserve the quality of the user experience here on MMORPG.com, but you're going to have to cut us some slack on gaming vs. non-gaming ads. We're doing our best to balance it all out so we can keep the lights on and continue to provide you with the content you expect from us for many years to come, but we are going to have to adapt in order to do that. Hope you can understand and thanks for your feedback! As Bill said, we'll look into the political ads and see if that's something we can disable.

Admin · March 2016

I have contacted our network and they already have us flagged to not get adult, gambling or political ads. They need to have a screen shot of the ad(s) in question. If anyone can make this appear can you give us a screen shot here or email it to me at admin [ at ] mmorpg.com?

Sovrath · March 2016

MikeB said:

I'm going to just be real with you: do you want us to have a website at all? Because that's essentially what's on the line here. It's not hyperbole.

Oh, I strongly suspected that this is what was going on. And in some ways it makes sense.

However, I would much prefer to subscribe to the site over looking at ads. I'm not sure if others would be on board with that but it might be worth looking into to. I think there are sites that offer viewers that option or offer their viewers/members some sort of perks.

the Nexus sites have something like this.

Amathe · March 2016

Waaaaaait a minute. I assumed that pirate for the Black Desert online ad was just random art. But now on closer inspection I see its Marco Rubio! Very sneaky.

Ikeda · March 2016

Honestly, I'd almost be willing to sub to this site. It's all cost v. content. Right now, some of the content is lacking. I personally find @Grakulen post pretty good and you know I'm always up to read a @BillMurphy ;
article.

Grakulen · March 2016

Thanks @Ikeda I appreciate that.

Astropuyo · March 2016

Ok this is something I am actually somewhat a journeyman on.

Given it's my industry by trade.

It's retargetting.

Sometime in the last few days you have actively clicked something that had a retargetting cookie/pixel tossed on your computer.

So if you look up DRAINO on Amazon it will feature it here.

It has nothing to do with the site. This has to due* with the publisher and the use of exchanges etc.

All in all get used to it because that's the only way we can predict what users may want now.
Hope this helps relieve some fury.

Edit: *do . Sorry thinking about payments due today lol.

kb4blu · March 2016

Admin said:

I have contacted our network and they already have us flagged to not get adult, gambling or political ads. They need to have a screen shot of the ad(s) in question. If anyone can make this appear can you give us a screen shot here or email it to me at admin [ at ] mmorpg.com?

Here you go. So much for the being flagged.

Nanfoodle · March 2016

I dont care what banners you have as long as they are family friendly. I like the new ads over some of the gaming ones you have had. Some bordered on over sexual. So I would rather see an ad for an election over some of the game ads you have had in the past. Currently this site is the only one I have whitelisted.

Sovrath · March 2016

Astropuyo said:

Ok this is something I am actually somewhat a journeyman on.

Given it's my industry by trade.

It's retargetting.

Sometime in the last few days you have actively clicked something that had a retargetting cookie/pixel tossed on your computer.

So if you look up DRAINO on Amazon it will feature it here.

It has nothing to do with the site. This has to due* with the publisher and the use of exchanges etc.

All in all get used to it because that's the only way we can predict what users may want now.
Hope this helps relieve some fury.

Edit: *do . Sorry thinking about payments due today lol.

Yeah but the issue here is that if I clicked on Drano then I already decided to buy it or I have made the decision not to buy it.

Why advertise something that I already know about and have already made a decision about? It's like the furniture ad I mentioned. I purchased some furniture for work and then for a week was followed around by the exact same piece of furniture.

I'm amazed that people who create/run ads haven't come to the conclusion that maybe they should ask us?

I never mind seeing ads that pertain to my actual interests or might show me something new in the same field. So with the Drano example, instead of Drano what about an alternative? Something I haven't clicked on but clearly was searching for something similar.

I could go to a site and then a popup or screen comes up saying "what are you interested in seeing/are you interested in seeing products from the same company or products in the same category.

One of the things I like about youtube is that it will make suggestions based off things I've watched and not just give me "the same things I've watched". I've spent far more time than I normally would have on youtube because they keep feeding me related things and since I haven't seen them and they are of interest I watch.

Work that into your advertising and you might have something.

Until that time I'll just enjoy the lovely VistaPrint ad I keep seeing here as I did a search for promotional products for someone at work.

Nanfoodle · March 2016

Sovrath said:

Astropuyo said:

Ok this is something I am actually somewhat a journeyman on.

Given it's my industry by trade.

It's retargetting.

Sometime in the last few days you have actively clicked something that had a retargetting cookie/pixel tossed on your computer.

So if you look up DRAINO on Amazon it will feature it here.

It has nothing to do with the site. This has to due* with the publisher and the use of exchanges etc.

All in all get used to it because that's the only way we can predict what users may want now.
Hope this helps relieve some fury.

Edit: *do . Sorry thinking about payments due today lol.

Yeah but the issue here is that if I clicked on Drano then I already decided to buy it or I have made the decision not to buy it.

Why advertise something that I already know about and have already made a decision about? It's like the furniture ad I mentioned. I purchased some furniture for work and then for a week was followed around by the exact same piece of furniture.

I'm amazed that people who create/run ads haven't come to the conclusion that maybe they should ask us?

I never mind seeing ads that pertain to my actual interests or might show me something new in the same field. So with the Drano example, instead of Drano what about an alternative? Something I haven't clicked on but clearly was searching for something similar.

I could go to a site and then a popup or screen comes up saying "what are you interested in seeing/are you interested in seeing products from the same company or products in the same category.

One of the things I like about youtube is that it will make suggestions based off things I've watched and not just give me "the same things I've watched". I've spent far more time than I normally would have on youtube because they keep feeding me related things and since I haven't seen them and they are of interest I watch.

Work that into your advertising and you might have something.

Until that time I'll just enjoy the lovely VistaPrint ad I keep seeing here as I did a search for promotional products for someone at work.

Who cares if ads are relevant or not. As long as mmorpg.com gets paid and we get to keep using their service. They have filtered ads to make sure there is no porn and gambling. So there is some thought behind being courteous. Getting upset about this seems really silly to me. Not like mmorpg.com is the ad company and the feed back of selecting what you want to see will go anywhere. Support them as you can and be happy you get to be part of keeping their lights on. Hell try clicking the ads from time to time just to make them more money.

Brenics · March 2016

Have always had adblock disabled on this site. Never one problem with any ads. Would hate to lose this site and community. This is one of the best gaming sites and once it is gone then you are going to only have mostly sites that are paid to say good things about games. Also they end up to mod more to strike down who they are paid by.

Remember if something gets to you from an ad, it isn't the sites fault, its the security you run and pay for.

Have A Good Day!

Admin · March 2016

Brenics said:

Have always had adblock disabled on this site. Never one problem with any ads. Would hate to lose this site and community. This is one of the best gaming sites and once it is gone then you are going to only have mostly sites that are paid to say good things about games. Also they end up to mod more to strike down who they are paid by.

Remember if something gets to you from an ad, it isn't the sites fault, its the security you run and pay for.

Have A Good Day!

Thanks Brenics. It is really appreciated. We are getting close to the reality of AdBlock bringing us to a close...as I know many other sites are now facing today. Almost 50% of our users now running ABP - from just 25% 18 months ago.

We are trying new forms of advertising that ABP can't stop (like Advertorials - gag) and links to game that we get a commission on, etc.

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