Ads

[Kev D]

Normally I ignore most of the ads on here as they are just random, but one popped up yesterday that must have been targeted from my recent searches, for a wireless keyboard/mouse combo for work.  I'd settled on the one I want so was going to buy it today at lunch time. The ad that popped up was for the same keyboard I had settled on but £12 off the price I was going to pay today... result 

[Whoey]

score 1 for adsense! I do find some of my ads are targeted based on browsing history, and sometimes they are even useful as you have seen!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, once in a while you really score on them.   I guess.  It's never happened to me really, but I have seen things I wanted to buy but I'm not allowed to click on them because I own the site and that could be seen as fraudulently trying to increase our ad revenue.   

Def

[dks]

so, if we click on the ad MTO gets money, or, do we have to actually buy something?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes. 

Seriously, we get X amount just for having the ads seen, Y amount for someone clicking on them and Z amount for a purchase.

It's a lot more complex than that, and the amounts vary based on the ad, what it sold for etc.

But, before anyone goes off and wantonly clicks links to try and help out, the clicks and views are literally fractions of a penny.  You could spend hours clicking on things and the amount extra we get would be negligible  so I would suggest that you don't waste your time on it.  If something is of interest to you, check it out, but only because it is worth it to you, not for MTO'so benefit. 

Def

[dks]

if an ad is blocked, do you still get money for "displaying" it?

I see ads on my tablet etc, but on the PCs they are blocked.
does the ad server recognise the block, or does it assume that the ad is shown?

( and yes, I was thinking of clicking continuously on ads, to make MTO richer  )

[Whoey]

blocked ads are blocked. No income. I run an ad blocker on my browser too, but whitelist MTO sites.

[dks]

many thanks !

[ducttapetech]

Yes. 

Seriously, we get X amount just for having the ads seen, Y amount for someone clicking on them and Z amount for a purchase.

It's a lot more complex than that, and the amounts vary based on the ad, what it sold for etc.

But, before anyone goes off and wantonly clicks links to try and help out, the clicks and views are literally fractions of a penny.  You could spend hours clicking on things and the amount extra we get would be negligible  so I would suggest that you don't waste your time on it.  If something is of interest to you, check it out, but only because it is worth it to you, not for MTO'so benefit. 

Def

WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE CLICKING SOUND!
 

[Grant Lamontagne]

if an ad is blocked, do you still get money for "displaying" it?

I see ads on my tablet etc, but on the PCs they are blocked.
does the ad server recognise the block, or does it assume that the ad is shown?

( and yes, I was thinking of clicking continuously on ads, to make MTO richer  )

We don't get paid for ads tat aren't shown, which is why we tried so hard to find a balance between enough ads to support the forum and not too many ads that people need to run an ad blocker.  I could run a lot more ads to make more money, but what ends up happening is that more people run ad blockers and we make less in the long run.   

There are pretty advanced algorithms running the ads as well- if you click a lot of ads then your click starts to carry less weight as well, which means that the more you click the less your clicks matter, so again, there's no point in clicking until your fingers bleed!  Google of course doesn't tell people how they weight things exactly, so that people can't fraudulently set up sites to take advantage of it, but the basics are pretty complex.

For example, a newcomer discovering the site is weighted more than someone who visits here every day, but then it's those daily visitors that rack up the volume that keeps us running.  It is also determined by how many outside links come in, and how good those sites that link to us are.

IN short, there's a lot of black magic going on behind the curtain, and the few things we might do to improve it could just as easily turn us all into newts, so I'm happy to just let it ride as is... 

Def

[ducttapetech]

Grant turned me into a newt.

[dks]

if he kisses you you will become a beautiful prince like creature 

[ducttapetech]

I think that only works on frogs.

[dks]

you tried?

[ducttapetech]

Well there was this one time when I was working in my shop, things kinda got a little weird with the Shop Toad.

[dks]

 

[gregozedobe]

Yeah, once in a while you really score on them.   I guess.  It's never happened to me really, but I have seen things I wanted to buy but I'm not allowed to click on them because I own the site and that could be seen as fraudulently trying to increase our ad revenue.   

Def

If you follow through and actually buy it via clicking on the ad then I don't see that as being at all fraudulent, dishonest , immoral or even just unethical.  I mean you are then a proven genuine customer, so I can't see any possible harm or problem.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't like to take chances and Google is not forthcoming with specific rules.  If you are in violation they tell you that you are in violation, but not why.  It sounds bad, but really it is a good way to do it so that people don't take advantage of them.  I have no problems with it.  I have accidentally clicked ads thanks to this ultra slow computer loading pages a week after I try to open them, but I figure why push my luck?  besides, I rarely buy something right away, so it may not register as a purchase.

If I see something I am interested in, I will just Google it and find it that way.

Def

[Kev D]

I'll pay a bit more attention to the ads in future. The new keyboard is niiiiiice 

My alien onlookers approve 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have an older version of that one somewhere and I love it.  If you get half as much use out of it as I did out of mine you won't have to worry about replacing it any time soon!

Way to go!   

Def

[Whoey]

wife has a similar old wired version, it's due for replacement, mostly since she's worn some of the letters off the keys...

Meanwhile my old Logitech G15 (which I got several years before hers) just keeps going...

She showed a keen interest on a Lenovo ultraslim which comes with one of the Lenovo desktop machines we saw on display recently, haven't had much luck locating a reasonably priced one unless it's american keyset (she'd like Spanish).

[Fortytwo]

wife has a similar old wired version, it's due for replacement, mostly since she's worn some of the letters off the keys...

Meanwhile my old Logitech G15 (which I got several years before hers) just keeps going...

She showed a keen interest on a Lenovo ultraslim which comes with one of the Lenovo desktop machines we saw on display recently, haven't had much luck locating a reasonably priced one unless it's american keyset (she'd like Spanish).

(Image removed from quote.)

I have the original model G15 and it was going strong last time I used it, I'm on laptop now but the G15 was probably in use for 7 years or so.

As for ads, I always feel like they are one step behind me, I get lots of ads for things I have already bought...

[ColoSwiss]

Ads definitely follow you. Recently I was checking some hotels that were part of a tour package I was looking at. Ads for the hotels and the tour company are now showing up on this site. So much for privacy!   

[Grant Lamontagne]

If you want privacy, the Internet is not the right place to be.... maybe I'm paranoid but I am quite certain that half of everything our computer/phone/tablet does is just to track you.

Only put things that aren't too serious online, and insulate the stuff that is serious as much as possible. 

That's what I do anyway.

Def