I’ve been off the site for a while but I just came back a few days ago and I’ve been checking the forums periodically from my phone and computer. The advertisements are outrageous! I have to click out of 5 ads on my phone before I can even scroll down the screen! It’s never been like this on this site before, what happened?!
[name_m]Hi[/name_m] @Asche926 – You’re right, there are more ads at the moment, especially on the phone. We are testing a new ad system and it’s been a challenge trying to get the balance right – a few weekends ago there were almost NO ads on mobile and last night it was over the top, at least for me. The big reason it can’t be fixed instantly is that each individual sees different ads in different numbers depending on where they live, what device they’re using, how they’ve been cookied in the past, so even if I (or you) see too many ads or none, that might not be happening across the board and it takes a few days to show up in statistics in a way that it can be fixed. Frustrating but please bear with us – we will get the balance right.
There’s an ad for Jif peanut butter that’s particularly obnoxious. I only see ads when I’m on mobile, and this ad blocks the entire page and doesn’t go away.
Thanks [name_f]Pam[/name_f]!
You are right southern maple, that ad is huge and persistent!
I keep getting the one for Jif peanut butter also, and one for Purina dog food. [name_f]Every[/name_f] time I click on a link, an [name_m]Ad[/name_m] takes over the page.
Today/tonight on my laptop I can’t even scroll without the page jumping all over the place due to ads. One of them completely took over my screen to the point that I thought I had some sort of virus. Yikes.
I’ve also had some ads that took over the full screen like lainy said.
The adds are actually making it difficult to enjoy the forums. I get a Jif add that makes the screen bounce up and down the page, makes trying to read or post rather difficult. I also get an MTV add, I don’t even like MTV, that takes over the whole screen and at times when I try to x it off, it takes me to the adds website (or some website, I don’t stay to find out). This one bothers me the most. I am a person that tries to be cautious where I go on the computer, I do not want to deal with a virus, etc. I wish both adds would be taken care of but especially the MTV one. I have not been on NB much lately because of the adds.
We’ve adjusted the levels and this should be a lot better.
Thank you much, [name_f]Pam[/name_f].
I have only been on a few minutes but so far things already seem improved.
This morning the adds, while on my desktop, are really bad, worse than before. The Jiff add is back bouncing the screen up and down, I had two adds take over my whole screen, and there is an add on the bottom that is covering part of the forums. This all happened as soon as I went onto NB.
I’m on my phone, and they’re starting to get really bad. I don’t mind the small ones at the bottom of the screen that can be removed. But over the last few days I’ve been getting:
- Full screen ads
- Ads that cover a quarter of the page and won’t go away (no X/cancel button)
- Pop ups where I have to close the whole page to get rid of them
And one of the pop ups that came up tonight was very explicit and just would not go away as much as I tried to go back into Nameberry.
Usually I’d think it’s something on my end, but none of the other websites I’ve been on (which also have adverts) have had the same issues. It’s getting a little bit out of hand now, so a solution would be appreciated if possible.
The ads on mobile devices are really out of hand. I’m frequently transported to a page telling me I’ve won some bogus prize that asks for my Facebook login. This site has more bugs than a cheap motel in [name_f]Florida[/name_f]. It is possible to allow advertisements (which keep the site free) without making your website obnoxious and difficult to use. It’s really quite frustrating that Nameberry continues to struggle with this.
[name_f]Every[/name_f] second click or so (on a name, article etc.) I will get a full screen advert pop up on my phone and it’s really put me off using the website. I really only go on Nameberry from my phone as I get headaches very easily from using my laptop.
I had lost 3/4 of names from one of my baby name lists and I had been planning to try and find and save all the names again but I kept getting advert after advert after advert (full screen) and it just wasn’t worth it. It’s really off putting and I haven’t used Nameberry since then and I’m quite saddened by that as I went on Nameberry every single day.
Maybe [name_f]Pam[/name_f] and [name_f]Linda[/name_f] should stick to writing books and leave running websites to people who know what they’re doing. The site is riddled with bugs and the implementation of paid advertising is amateur hour. The 90s called ladies, they want their annoying pop-up ads back.
I’m almost ready to call it a day and stop using this broken, spammy website.
Nameberry is the most ad-riddled site i visit regularly, but I have an ad-blocker, so I don’t see them, I only see the number of blocked adds which is more than twenty for each time I load a new page.
To my delight, I use Chrome both on my computer and phone, so the ad-blocker works on the phone as well even if I haven’t installed it there separately. If I didn’t have the ad-blocker, I would quit this thing immediately. I find it completely unacceptable that people should have problems like this, and the fact that users are transported to sites designed to steal your password or login information or make you download malware is horrifying. It is more than possible to make a site with unobtrusive, SAFE ads, so tell us you’re working towards this or I won’t be surprised if this community dies out…
And to those almost ready to quit, I would hate to see you go! Please, try an ad-blocking app, it removes everything and I don’t even notice it except for a little counter in a corner.
Hey everyone. I’m so sorry so many of you are having these problems. It would be helpful if you could tell us where you live and what kind of device you’re using. We have different as partners in different countries and we can’t see what people in the UK are seeing. We do try to be responsive if people get in touch with us directly with specifics. [name_m]General[/name_m] complaints are not helpful
[name_f]Pam[/name_f], for the past week or so I have been getting a full-screen video takeover add on every single page refresh on mobile. It’s a Water Aid ad, have attached a screenshot. I don’t mind one when I first log-in, but after browsing the forums for 15-30mins on mobile it gets pretty tedious closing them every time.
I get the same full page Wateraid ad as @minxtruck has attached. I didn’t mind at first, as it’s at least for a charitable cause, and can be closed, but it is very annoying when it constantly pops up. I also live in the UK and these turn up when I use my phone.
I also get these, that can’t be closed, that make typing a pain.
And a new full screen video.
Thank you, @minxtruck and @myosotis. The screenshots really help. I’m talking right now to the new UK ad guy and using a browser extension so I can see what you’re seeing in the UK on my desktop – not as bad as phone but a couple of awful pages. We will get this right.