Technical Side bar ads

****... Sorry... I'm on it.

 

Okay fixed...

Sorry about that fellas... I never had my window that wide so never saw the ads.

 

Since it was brought up though...

Ad blockers are a funny thing. On the surface they feel harmless, maybe even righteous, depending on how abusive a site gets with ads. But for an independent publisher like me, they hit differently.

I’ve spent years paying to keep this thing alive, hosting millions of people, publishing content, and trying to do it without turning the place into some blinking, autoplaying strip mall from hell. I’ve been pretty restrained about it too. Hell, I only show ads to logged-in users in the off topic forum. That’s it.

So when someone uses an ad blocker, they are still taking the content, still using the bandwidth, still getting the benefit of the thing, they are just stripping out the tiny piece that helps keep it sustainable. Maybe “theft” sounds harsh, but the effect is awfully similar. The monetization disappears without my consent.

And in the current climate, it stings even more. The FCC has literally labeled me a host of “morally corrupt” content, which is the kind of absurd government branding that would be funny if it weren’t so costly. That label has made life harder in real, practical ways. So when people block ads on top of that, it is not some abstract insult. It is another little cut.

I do not think most people mean harm when they recommend ad blockers. I really don’t. But they are not sticking it to some giant faceless corporation when they do that here. They are hurting small independent publishers, the exact people still trying to do this the hard way and keep something honest alive.

That is the part people miss. Especially now.

 

My bad…..
I mentioned a timer or two before in a private message that I was struggling with my phone, trying to get the third-party turned off and without even thinking I added.

I wasn’t thinking, sorry.

Getting that corrected.

My apologies. @Ryan

 

None necessary.... Like I said, we don't show ads to logged in users other than in the off topic forum. So, you using an ad blocker doesn't affect me at all. This ad revenue is really from logged off users only.

I was just pointing out how damaging ad blockers can be for small publishing companies like mine given the time we live and the over-reaching FCC.