UGH...the ads have arrived.

I have to agree with Kimberly and Terry. I'm sure any problem (if it IS a problem) can be remedied by asking a few simple questions and not thinking the worst of Dave or the partnership for that matter. I have NEVER EVER had a glitch that either Dave or Terry didn't jump in and help me with. Keep up the good work guys.


Hugs
Tina

I considered making an April Fools joke involving popup ads, spyware, and flash ads, but I (probably wisely) chickened out. :-)

dave

But it was fun to consider, wasn't it? Cheap entertainment?

Ooooo...that would have gotten you lots of dmail! LOL

So where is the April Fools joke?

Edited to say "Never mind! I found it. LOL"

This message was edited Apr 1, 2007 11:58 PM

Dave that would of been SO funny but can you imagine the uproar that would of caused?!?

But can you blame us for panicking?
I can't even go to the GW anymore... which I wouldn't mind doing now that Spike is no longer in charge. ;o)
I have dial up and it takes for-EVEEER for the pages to download. That place is so commercialized its disgusting.

Also since we have to pay to be on DG we shouldn't have to see ads....which I understand now we can turn off.

I actually do not mind in the least seeing the sponser at the bottom of the page and as Gardener's Supply is a favorite of mine have already been to their site and oh my goodness ! found something I want. Which of course is why I don't have the ads on .. too tempting.

And Dave, all things considered it was probably best not to give us those flashing dancing ads for the April Fool, considering the volatility of reactions here in the Garden. And leaving the AF thread until late in the day was also a good 'joke' on us. People all over the garden looking for it all day. heehee

Don't know how you maintain some days. Bless you. As always thanks for letting us play in your garden. ~Blooms

oh shoot, I missed the joke, now I'm gonna search for it ;)

I was just about to post about the ads.
I don't terribly mind *seeing* them, BUT.....I'm still on dial-up out here in the sticks, and the pages take *A LOT* longer to load with the ads!
Not to mention the fact that my time on the computer is already limited.


Then I read this thread and discovered I could turn them off!
It wasn't clear to me at first that un-checking the first box turned the ads off....but it is now, and the pages are loading with ease as they were before.

The reason I suddenly began seeing ads was, as stated above, that the forums I frequent did not have sponsors until recently.

I really appreciate the available option to 'turn off' the ads.....I have, and now my frustration with them has ended....Thanks!!!

Perhaps I'm missing something, but in my preferences the ads and forum sponsorship boxes have always been 'unclicked' yet I get the sponsor's ad to the right of the column and the banner at the bottom of the page. Nothing on my pc has changed, just checked California gardening and the ads are still there. What am I missing? I'd rather not see ads.the world is full of them.
Sherry

Are you absolutely positive that you have the forum sponsorship turned off? You probably turned off the ads way back when you first joined DG, but forum sponsorships are a much newer thing and the default when Dave started them a few months ago is that they are turned on for everyone regardless of whether you had previously chosen to view ads or not. So if you haven't gone in over the last several months and updated your preferences, then you would automatically be seeing the forum sponsors (a number of forums that weren't sponsored before just got sponsored recently, so a lot of people didn't notice until this week that they didn't have these turned off) But if you go back into your preferences in the same place where you turn the ads off, you can turn the forum sponsors off there too and then your problem will be solved.

been there, done that. There's a box for ads, I've left it unclicked...there's a box for forum sponsorships, I've left it unclicked. Am I the only one? Perhaps if I click them and then unclick them......or throw something at it.....

Nope, no deal. I clicked for please show me those ads and I get the same ads that I get when un clicking as in "No, I don't want to see them." Same reason I quit watching T.V.

Something is weird then with your settings, everyone else who's had this problem it's because they didn't know that sponsors and ads were separate and that the sponsors were automatically turned on unless you went in during the last couple months and changed it. I have the forum sponsors turned on, so I went and looked at what I was seeing in the CA forum, then I went and turned forum sponsors off and it went away, so I'm sure what you're seeing is the forum sponsor and not the ads. It's probably worth going back and checking the box, see what happens, then go back and uncheck it again, just in case something was "stuck"? Otherwise I think it's a problem for Dave or Terry...

Thanks, I've clicked and unclicked both the ads and the forum sponsorships several times.
Sherry

Sherry, after you set things so ads won't show, did you clear your browser's cache and cookies? It may be your browser is bringing up part of the old page(s) and reading the ad data from the last time you were on the page. Try setting your browser so it automatically looks for a new copy of each page when you go to it. It should be under TOOLS > OPTIONS.

Sherry, I checked your preferences and you still have a checkbox in the Forum Sponsorship. Please remove the checkbox and then submit the page.

dave

My name is Ted. I work for NameMedia as the Director of Sales, and I'm now the person responsible for all the ads you are seeing on the site. While I understand that advertising can sometimes be annoying, please consider the benefits these sponsors bring to the DG community. Advertisers play an important role by helping to provide the funding necessary to maintain and develop the site.

A thriving community needs sponsors committed to the site, and passionate members to make the community what it is. I will do my best to strike a balance between the two by bringing relevant advertisers onto the site that offer products that would be interesting and useful to you as gardeners. Before you turn off all the ads on the site, please consider that these sponsors have a vested interest in the continued growth of the DG community, just as you do.

If there are specific companies you would welcome on the site as advertisers, please let me know!

Thank you.

Ted

Howdy, Ted....I like the Sponsors ads...the bright coloured flowers especially....they are not much different than the seasonal banner we elect to have at the top of each forum.....

Here's the BUT!.....PLEASE! no flashing, moving ads!! They're so distracting that I wouldn't click on them...Thank you for your explaination!!

Went in a few minutes ago,cleared my cookies, cleared my files....went to California forum and sponsor ads still there...went back to my preferences and yes, the sponsor forum box was magically checked once again...unclicked again, hoping this takes care of it....Thanks, Dave, ecrane3, gardenwife.

wcgypsy, did you click on the "submit" button after you unchecked the box? If you did, that should take care of it. If you didn't, your change won't "take" in the system.

I had not gone back to my preferences after clearing my cookies and files. I didn't expect the forum sponsors box to be checked since I'd unchecked and submitted several times. Apparently all clear now, thank you for your help....some of us have a *tolerable working arrangement* with our pc's, but are clearly not the boss. It's like when my tiller or mower won't start...I don't care why it won't start, I just want it to start....so I call in the big guns with more knowledge and patience...a.k.a. you guys or the DH. Thanks

Ted, I agree with Jo. The new sponsor ads are very pretty. The photos are similar to our banners. I keep the sponsors turned on cause I want to know which companies are supporting this site when I make $$ decisions. I know that he less than .07 per day I contribute isn't paying anyones bills ;-)

Hey Sue...I'm glad someone agrees with me! LOL Jo

I also like the forum sponsorships--the other ads I always just ignored anyway so I turned them off, but since the forum sponsors tend to be more closely aligned with my gardening interests and have been through some pre-screening to make sure they're good quality companies so I like to leave them on. So far I haven't discovered any companies I wasn't already familiar with (and for the most part buying from already) but one of these days if a new interesting looking one pops up I'll definitely check them out!

I am one that turned off the ads, but left the forum sponsorships ads up. I have ordered from forum sponsors also, just for the fact that if they are willing to support us, then I'm willing to support them.

I don't mind the forum sponsorship ads, in fact, I kinda like seeing them. ( I love the colorful chickens that Gardener's Supply Company has on their logo.) :)

Any ideas who could sponsor the iris forum? I'm an iris kinda gal. :)

I personally do not care about the ads. I ignore them for the most part as they are really not that intrusive. The only ones that I cannot abide are the ones that flash and follow you around on the screen and I have not seen any of those on DG. I have however seen a few for non-gardening related items. Cannot see why they would waste their money here but I suppose it is thiers to waste and actually would be one of the reasons I would NOT purchase their products. I do have a question though, I have been getting some garden related junk mail lately. I am very fortunate as I do not get much junk mail, but it is still irritating. I could count on one hand the number of online purchases I have made in the last year so I do not think it could be from that. It started shortly after the switch in ownership. It is very possible that it is a coincidence but would you mind checking on it?

This was discussed in another thread recently
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/706978/
DG doesn't give our addresses to anyone, so it's coming from somewhere else--could be one of those online purchases if it related to gardening, or if you subscribe to any gardening magazines (or even maybe a more home-focused magazine like Better Homes & Gardens or Martha Stewart, etc), or if you belong to a frequent gardener club at the local nursery, etc.

Welcome to ....TODAY. Yes,it was fun while it lasted...but nothing ever remains the same and everything evolves into something else...sometimes better sometimes not. I just think...roll girl...roll with it. As long as they don't blink and scream and interrupt....ignore them.

Like music you don't like...or a bad smell!!!

IMHO

Dave, Trish, and Terry, once again thank you for your patience with us putor challenged folks. It's amazing how many ways you find to help us. And how many ways you can tell us the choice is ours.

BTW - I haven't changed my mind. I like knowing who's sponsoring the forums.
I've even decided to try the ads for a bit, its a really good way to find out what's new and available as I no longer buy Gardening Magazines. I just re-read the relevant issue from my archives. it's surprising how similar May's issue is from year to year.

I always knew the ads must be paying for the site as that piddling amount per day couldn't be covering it. smiling here. ~Blooms

tetleytuna, love your handle. we haven't met before. I too, have been recieving more than usual no of catalogs... I figured out someone has sold an old list of garden by mail consumers when two arrived addressed to the previous owner.

I used to do mail orders a lot but gave up when I could not get them to deliver my orders earlier than my Zone # indicated. Plants repeatedly ended up completely crispy crittered on delivery. We get unusually hot spring weather for Zone 6 and no amount of pleading seemed to change the shipping.
~Blooms

I, for one, don't mind the ads at all and have checked
out quite a few businesses I knew nothing about. Even put
a few suppliers in my FAVs, even bought some stuff; however,
I will never ever under any circumstance buy a darned thing
from anybody who has a flashing ad ! Can't stand them.
and if I get to somebody's site and they have those stupid
little images that follow you all over the page and annoy the
heck out of you, I will look no further. Not even if their stuff
is for free.

As for junk mail, my husband died 5 years ago and he's
never lived at my present address, but he gets regular mail
for people trying to sell him life insurance, clothing, cars, and
yes - even garden catalogs. In fact, he gets one catalog and
I get another, many from the same companies, companies I've
never bought a thing from in my life. If they annoy me and
make me tear my name and address off their catalogs and off
the inside order form, then why should I bother telling them
they're wasting their money.

My pet peeve are the sites that have music. . I have a sleeping problem and will often turn on my computer in the middle of the night, but the last thing I want is to have someones idea of music invade my life and wake up my DH. I often forget to have the mute button on. I will not order from any site with music no matter what the tune.

I answered a phone for a friend whose husband was deceased and when I told the cold caller that he was deceased, they asked when he would be in. I said never, and then they said they would call back at a more convenient time. Go figure. Patti

Hey Mahnot, my 5 year old gets credit card applications and ads for lower mortage rates!!! LOL!! He even got a letter recently from a real live person - a local real estate agent!! She wants him to buy all his real estate from her!! LOL!!! I really wanted to call and tell her how foolish and wasteful but I know it's a waste of time.. :(

Nicole

Thanks for your feedback everyone. It seems that most people don't mind the ads as long as they aren't too distracting. A few even seem to welcome the ads and go out of their way to support the companies who sponsor DG. That's great to see....it makes my job a lot easier!

As I continue to look for new sponors, I will do my best to find companies with products I think you will find interesting, and have ads that don't flash and blink.

Please continue sending me feedback on the ads you see on the site. And let me know if there are certain types of companies you would like to see as sponors of DG.

Thanks again...

Ted