That BetFair ad

MattC59

Right, before I start, I have had to change my DNS to a server which blocks ads in order to post a new topic. Surely that is not a way to make a forum useable !?

Anyway, below is a screen shot if how the Betfair ad screws up the forum. As you can see, it covers the side of the forum, with no option to close it. This means that (when viewing a post) half of the text and a number of buttons are also covered, including buttons such as 'Reply'. If you ignore the numerous objections to the presence of ads, I'm sure that you'll agree that this implementation makes the forum un-usable.

In addition, we have been reminded on numerous occasions that this is a family forum, do you really think that promoting gambling suits such an environment, and that doing so is not somewhat hypocritical ??

I'd be interested to hear your response.

arran77

Well done Matt, that screen shot shows just how intrusive some of these ads are, like you say it makes the site virtually unusable and if people don't use the site they won't be viewing any ads, slightly counterproductive I'd say!

I hadn't thought about the suitability of the adverts but you're right, for a family friendly forum (the main areas at least) an advert that promotes gambling is slightly at odds with the family ethos.

Lets hope that the powers that be at Future see this and take note

daviesee

After installing some software, I no longer see any ads.

Everyone take note.

ballysmate

As Daviesee says, not everyone has sat on their hands over this.
Surely it must be obvious to the publishers that adverts, introduced to raise money, are counter productive if they force users to block all adverts.
The only people that seem to be deriving any positive feedback or recommendations are the publishers of ad blocking software.
Ironic that the introduction of more intrusive adverts only helps the advert killers.

Stevo_666

My annoying crap blocking software seems to be working (mostly) as the only ad I get is that Conti tyre ad that fills the whole page but can be closed. I'll live with that if Jim'll fix for me to log in at work though....

the playing mantis

i dont get these ads, am i missing out? what kind of offers have betfair got at the mo then? i could use a change from sporting index.

Jeff Jones

Thanks Matt -that's definitely a problem. I've forwarded to our ad operations team and site manager.

It may be an ad problem or because our forum is not optimised for ipad (yet) - that banner may simply be too large and not responsive to smaller screen widths or the betfair ad is being served over the top of the banner (which is another ad) instead of underneath it.

There is a new design for BikeRadar coming which will mean the site works on all types of devices. That's a few months off but in the meantime we should be able to fix stuff like this.

Jeff Jones

I've been informed that this has just been fixed. Please let us know if not.

arran77

Jeff Jones wrote:

I've been informed that this has just been fixed. Please let us know if not.

Sorry, no can do, I can't see any ads anymore