Poll: Ad Blockers - Please vote

[Scott Rose]

Don't worry, I can't see who voted what way. But please vote, this is important to the future of the site.

[bmoran]

Scott,

I think your poll is missing one option: "Yes, but I whitelist sites that I'd like to support, such as WIX, that have unobtrusive ads ." That is where my vote would fall.

For those who do not know what whitelisting is, it is a feature of some ad-blocking software to allow ads to be shown on sites you approve so that they can get the ad revenue.

[RyanShort1]

Yeah, I have WIX whitelisted...

[Scott Rose]

Scott,

I think your poll is missing one option: "Yes, but I whitelist sites that I'd like to support, such as WIX, that have unobtrusive ads ." That is where my vote would fall.

For those who do not know what whitelisting is, it is a feature of some ad-blocking software to allow ads to be shown on sites you approve so that they can get the ad revenue.

Thanks! I will add that as an option.

[Pogo]

For those who do not know what whitelisting is, it is a feature of some ad-blocking software to allow ads to be shown on sites you approve so that they can get the ad revenue.

This is good to learn, thanks for mentioning it. EDIT: Hey that was easy, WIX now whitelisted! Thanks again...

[Scott Rose]

For those who do not know what whitelisting is, it is a feature of some ad-blocking software to allow ads to be shown on sites you approve so that they can get the ad revenue.

This is good to learn, thanks for mentioning it. EDIT: Hey that was easy, WIX now whitelisted! Thanks again...

Thanks Kurt!

[Fouga23]

Voted yes, but just whitelisted WIX. So used to it that I didn't think about it :/

[Scott Rose]

Voted yes, but just whitelisted WIX. So used to it that I didn't think about it :/

I'm sure a lot of people don't. Thanks for whitelisting WIX. It really does help.

[peter]

Didnt know about whitelisting but I made the suitable arrangements in my adblock settings to exclude Wix from being blocked Scott

[Christer]

My answer was "no", but is it enough to display the ads? Do we not have to click on them for WIX to get a "view count"?

[Scott Rose]

My answer was "no", but is it enough to display the ads? Do we not have to click on them for WIX to get a "view count"?

You are right Christer, you have to click on them to make it count but I don't want anybody licking ads just to help. That causes a whole different set of problems. However, if the ad is something that appeals to you feel free to click on it.

My interest was in seeing how many people never see the ads. It sucks that they are needed but they allow the site to expand and grow and allow me to spend 10-20 hours a week working on the it. I wish I could do it full time but I have a family that likes food and shelter. For now what revenue there is helps me avoid have to get another job, or at least it did. The traffic has dropped by half in the last few weeks and the revenue by 90%. The revenue stream hasn't been this bad since 2008 and next month I'm back to paying for the site out of pocket and starting the job search.

The point of this poll is to try and figure out what happened and why. This information is helpful and I appreciate the feedback.

[ErrolC]

...

My interest was in seeing how many people never see the ads. It sucks that they are needed but they allow the site to expand and grow and allow me to spend 10-20 hours a week working on the it. I wish I could do it full time but I have a family that likes food and shelter. For now what revenue there is helps me avoid have to get another job, or at least it did. The traffic has dropped by half in the last few weeks and the revenue by 90%. The revenue stream hasn't been this bad since 2008 and next month I'm back to paying for the site out of pocket and starting the job search.

Isn't this about when Google said they were penalizing sites that were not 'mobile-friendly'?
I assumed that this helped spur the mobile version changes a few weeks back.

[Scott Rose]

...

My interest was in seeing how many people never see the ads. It sucks that they are needed but they allow the site to expand and grow and allow me to spend 10-20 hours a week working on the it. I wish I could do it full time but I have a family that likes food and shelter. For now what revenue there is helps me avoid have to get another job, or at least it did. The traffic has dropped by half in the last few weeks and the revenue by 90%. The revenue stream hasn't been this bad since 2008 and next month I'm back to paying for the site out of pocket and starting the job search.

Isn't this about when Google said they were penalizing sites that were not 'mobile-friendly'?
I assumed that this helped spur the mobile version changes a few weeks back.

That started it and the changes seem to resolve alot of it. Then I guess Apple started incorporating ad blockers into thier browser and Firefox followed suit. I think all things combined have been the culprit. I am working on fixing it but I'm in a Catch-22 situation. The biggest fix would be a server upgrade which would also fix some other issues. But that will double or triple operating expenses, something that could be handled before, not so much now. So to fix the problems I need to upgrade but to upgrade I need the problems fixed...... It's still doable but will take more time and I will be cancelling several projects that were slated to be created in the coming months. It's just annoying. I have so much I want to do with this site and not enough time to do it and support my family.

The site will always be here but it's development will be drastically slowed.