Bleh!! Avatar released to public!...and horrible banner news

[Mxytdvc]

Well, with the firefox blocker, the banner is still loading, you just don't see it .

When I was trying to figure out why there was a blank space I noticed it still linked back to the sponsor ad.

The blank space is caused by an IFrame. So...disable that particular IFrame...I wouldn't recomend disabling all IFrames...because that may disrupt other browsing around the 'net.

How do I get the firefox blocker?

For firefox: https://update.mozilla.org/extensions/a ... efox&id=34

[matchbow]

Meh, i'm not going to participate in your discussion. I'm just happy with my new av

[Huggles]

You know....if the banner ads "aren't working" (as mentioned in the explination) because nobody is clicking them, just tell me...eh?

I'd spend a good minute or two a day haplessly clicking sponsor links if neo came out and said "we need the help" over messing with the banners more. I spend more time doing just that to get a useless omelette, and a jelly a day....

I'd do it.

Really, I would.

I'd click on sponsors for a few minutes every day if it ment keeping the site free and not having to resort to huge, troublesome, slow-loading banners.

I would as well. I'm also fairly certain that although a large sum is paid by sponsors merely for having the ad space, Neopets can charge more if the click through rate increases. By that same token, as some else mentioned, if the sponsors are paying gobs of moeny for advertising and no one is clicking the ads or blocking them entirely, they'll find someplace else to advertise. Either way, I don't think this is anything more than a short term solution to the problem.

I also agree that Neopets needs to offer paid premium services, such as ad blocking only, that don't come bundled and require you to switch your ISP. I pay for unlimited yearly access and even if I wanted to switch I wouldn't get my $200 deposit refunded. I can easily spend $20 on a whim for a pizza, and wouldn't think it unreasonable to spend it just to get rid of ads altogether. I also think they need to reevaluate their "Shiny, faster, More, more, more!" policy when it comes to updates. I could live with the news being updated twice a week if that meant they were spending the rest of their time following up with user support.

If the site support wasn't so awful, and had been more forthcoming with EVERYTHING over the past five years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy overpriced stuffed animals and dying TCG. Making users happy by listening to and respecting their opinions is the key to acquiring and maintaining long-term devoted players and staying alive. I don't know what's going on inside the company, but it certainly seems like Doug Dohring only wants to make as much money as he can before ditching Neopets for some other quick cash project. :-/

[Xizer]

Well, I encourage you all to read my signature if you are unhappy with this change

[cpvr]

Well, I encourage you all to read my signature if you are unhappy with this change

Haha i`ve already so =D Now i dont see any advertising ads. Thanks Xizer . Also, I believe this new banner will cause great trouble to the neopets community as many people will quit because they cant stand the ads. Thats just my opinion thought. Lets wait and see if it turns out to be a proven fact =D

[B55B55]

Intesting comments esspecialy considering that there was already spywear on the site and ppt'ers had to help them track down which ads were spewing them.

Although the top 90 pixels will probably be some sort of ad, the rest will remain mostly ad-free

you know except for the other ad on the bottom of the side bar.

I (vaugely) understand why they're doing this (although i can think of a lot better ways they could get the same amount of money) but i think that they need to be more upfront with the being upfront with us.

[everconfused]

cpvr, people did quit when the first banner ads came out, I know I almost did. I've gottenn to the point where I close my eyes when I click a page, then scroll as quickly as I can. With this new banner, if in fact it is happening, your name, active pet and np being at the top right under the now enormous banner will force people to see the darn thing.

I also don't like that they're saying there will be MORE outside ads. I also don't like that these ads are clickable. We can't have links to outside sites (like graphics, help sites, etc.) because of scammers and other problems - for our own good and I completely understood when that rule was enforced even though it meant I had to take my small graphics site url off my lookup and petpage and we had to lose our guild web.

Why should a COPPA compliant site have ads that can be clicked and take someone off the site to a potentially harmful (thinking especially that Callwave) site? An adult would probably have the sense to not click these, and most younger players too these days, but there are people who won't know to not click the ads.

These ads are in I-Frames? I-Frames are evil - the worst severe spyware I ever got was from a site using I-Frames with ads (not Neo). And the adblocker sounds good to the extent that you're not seeing the ad, but the fact that the ad is still loading means slower page loading for older/slower computers and those of us on dial up.

B55, no I don't understand why there needs to be 2 ads either. Especially when there are times when both are for the same thing!

[Xizer]

The ads are not in iFrames, unfortunately. That is why the blank space cannot be blocked yet in Firefox. The ad itself, however, can be. I'm currently working on a solution for blocking the blank white space too

[Mxytdvc]

I've searched and searched, and it seems that a large majority of banner blockers are something you got to pay for....

But . I found a little gem on PCWorld.com

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0, ... g,5,00.asp

I want to point to the 4th one . If all you want is to block the banner ads on neopets, then this should be fine....if you want banner blocks all over the web, then pay a bit .

The article itself is about 2 years old...but it's more up to date then the other one I was going to post, and that 4th one (webwasher) was listed on both, so I suppose that's a good one for IE. But um....use at your own risk....I'm not sure how good it is today.

[Xizer]

I've searched and searched, and it seems that a large majority of banner blockers are something you got to pay for....

But . I found a little gem on PCWorld.com

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0, ... g,5,00.asp

I want to point to the 4th one . If all you want is to block the banner ads on neopets, then this should be fine....if you want banner blocks all over the web, then pay a bit .

The article itself is about 2 years old...but it's more up to date then the other one I was going to post, and that 4th one (webwasher) was listed on both, so I suppose that's a good one for IE. But um....use at your own risk....I'm not sure how good it is today.

Nothing beats Firefox's ad blocking.

[Ammer]

I've searched and searched, and it seems that a large majority of banner blockers are something you got to pay for....

But . I found a little gem on PCWorld.com

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0, ... g,5,00.asp

I want to point to the 4th one . If all you want is to block the banner ads on neopets, then this should be fine....if you want banner blocks all over the web, then pay a bit .

The article itself is about 2 years old...but it's more up to date then the other one I was going to post, and that 4th one (webwasher) was listed on both, so I suppose that's a good one for IE. But um....use at your own risk....I'm not sure how good it is today.

Nothing beats Firefox's ad blocking.

We know you love Firefox but please do not shove it in other people's solutions.

[Arka]

That new banner thing - joke? PLEASE tell me it's a joke? That link to the new page layout, all the content is 36 pixels down the page, which may not be a big deal to some, but I have carpal tunnel in both wrists, and having to scroll down already was paining me, now i't gonna be even more scrolling

Have you tried getting a scrolling mouse? It moves down the screen with a pull of a finger to scroll the wheel that is on top. I have an optical mouse with a wire (not wireless) and have been very happy with it.

[Mxytdvc]

I was just offering that solution to the people who don't want to or can't use firefox.

[Quiguki Beauty]

Just a thought about players leaving cuz of the banners... occasionally i seem to remember seeing comments about how there's so many players now days, how prices have inflated so much over the years due to the massive growth of people joining, so wouldn't loosing a few be good? Just an ironic thought.

[Pair0dox]

Thanks for the heads up on the av. But that banner...awful. I hate it! It looks so wrong up there on the top of the page...so...distracting. Blah.