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>: X 
X 1000
And no Im not going to use any adblocker on NT.
X 1000And no Im not going to use any adblocker on NT.
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Refuses to use adblock...
complains about the ads.
are you da dumbz?
complains about the ads.
are you da dumbz?
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dbl
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yeah why complain about ads when you refuse to use adblock? I mean why do you refuse to use adblock in the first place? is it because you want to support NT by not having it. if that's the case then cool, but you should know what comes with the territory when you do that. jus' sayin :\ once I installed adblock on my browser, I never looked back 
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Network ad revenues have bottomed out of late and it's really killing sites like ours. I'd get into the details, but the bottom line here is that we're doing our best to give you all a great user experience with minimal advertising.
Go over to a site like hoopshype, which has AUTOPLAY video, pop-overs, and every other intrusive form of web advertising you can imagine blasting you in the face. Want to see what your team's salary cap situation is like? You'll need to answer a survey question first. We don't treat you that way. I use the site everyday, just like you, and I have the ads on, too. I don't want to run anything that would ruin the experience, even if it costs us money - and, trust me, it DOES.
Ever been to a site on the Complex network? Compare our ads to theirs. Compare our structure to theirs. We don't make you click 5,000 times just to see one page worth of posts.
To deal with the diminishing network ad returns, Huddler recently partnered with a new ad provider - and the hover over units are the result. I've been offering notes and feedback on the units since they began running last night and I fully expect that some changes will be made. There's at least one glitch I'm aware of that would lead users to inadvertently trigger the countdown when switching tabs, etc. and, even though we don't get paid for the units unless the content is triggered, I refuse to TRICK people to accomplish that.
Ideally, once things ramp up we'll see relevant ads rather than the boilerplate campaigns you're looking at now - and that will help. We'll get the glitches solved ASAP, and that will help, too.
For now, just know that we're aware of the issues and we're doing all we can to improve things. All that I ask is for you to consider our problem and allow us to continue to use advertising to fund the site and our charitable donations.
Advertising and affiliate sales are the only paths open to us if we're to continue to offer the site to our members and visitors free of charge.
This is the only way we can offer our site for free. If everyone used ad block, we'd have to either shut down or put the forums/content behind a paywall. I don't want to do that.
In the early years of NT (99-2000), we were a community of hundreds, not thousands, and "ad free" subscriptions only cost $30 - which Nelson C and I gladly paid out of pocket.
Later, we had to start gathering donations from users via the "community chest" to pay the $2-3,000 it would cost for an "ad free" subscription - and, even then, we rarely ever met the goal and had to catch a break from ezboard's original CEO. Running a site like ours costs more than ever. We need ads to pay for it, but we also use the ads to do things like build schools and libraries.
We're trying to give you as MUCH as possible while exposing you to the LEAST amount of advertising we can reasonably afford. Really, what more do you want?
Go over to a site like hoopshype, which has AUTOPLAY video, pop-overs, and every other intrusive form of web advertising you can imagine blasting you in the face. Want to see what your team's salary cap situation is like? You'll need to answer a survey question first. We don't treat you that way. I use the site everyday, just like you, and I have the ads on, too. I don't want to run anything that would ruin the experience, even if it costs us money - and, trust me, it DOES.
Ever been to a site on the Complex network? Compare our ads to theirs. Compare our structure to theirs. We don't make you click 5,000 times just to see one page worth of posts.
To deal with the diminishing network ad returns, Huddler recently partnered with a new ad provider - and the hover over units are the result. I've been offering notes and feedback on the units since they began running last night and I fully expect that some changes will be made. There's at least one glitch I'm aware of that would lead users to inadvertently trigger the countdown when switching tabs, etc. and, even though we don't get paid for the units unless the content is triggered, I refuse to TRICK people to accomplish that.
Ideally, once things ramp up we'll see relevant ads rather than the boilerplate campaigns you're looking at now - and that will help. We'll get the glitches solved ASAP, and that will help, too.
For now, just know that we're aware of the issues and we're doing all we can to improve things. All that I ask is for you to consider our problem and allow us to continue to use advertising to fund the site and our charitable donations.
Advertising and affiliate sales are the only paths open to us if we're to continue to offer the site to our members and visitors free of charge.
Without ads, NikeTalk doesn't exist. It costs thousands of dollars per month to keep the lights on around here. As far as I'm concerned, people who use adblock are no better than people who steal music, movies, and software. You're consuming our bandwidth and robbing us of our primary means of paying for it.
This is the only way we can offer our site for free. If everyone used ad block, we'd have to either shut down or put the forums/content behind a paywall. I don't want to do that.
In the early years of NT (99-2000), we were a community of hundreds, not thousands, and "ad free" subscriptions only cost $30 - which Nelson C and I gladly paid out of pocket.
Later, we had to start gathering donations from users via the "community chest" to pay the $2-3,000 it would cost for an "ad free" subscription - and, even then, we rarely ever met the goal and had to catch a break from ezboard's original CEO. Running a site like ours costs more than ever. We need ads to pay for it, but we also use the ads to do things like build schools and libraries.
We're trying to give you as MUCH as possible while exposing you to the LEAST amount of advertising we can reasonably afford. Really, what more do you want?
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Without ads, NikeTalk doesn't exist. It costs thousands of dollars per month to keep the lights on around here. As far as I'm concerned, people who use adblock are no better than people who steal music, movies, and software. You're consuming our bandwidth and robbing us of our primary means of paying for it.
This is the only way we can offer our site for free. If everyone used ad block, we'd have to either shut down or put the forums/content behind a paywall. I don't want to do that.
In the early years of NT (99-2000), we were a community of hundreds, not thousands, and "ad free" subscriptions only cost $30 - which Nelson C and I gladly paid out of pocket.
Later, we had to start gathering donations from users via the "community chest" to pay the $2-3,000 it would cost for an "ad free" subscription - and, even then, we rarely ever met the goal and had to catch a break from ezboard's original CEO. Running a site like ours costs more than ever. We need ads to pay for it, but we also use the ads to do things like build schools and libraries.
We're trying to give you as MUCH as possible while exposing you to the LEAST amount of advertising we can reasonably afford. Really, what more do you want?
[/quote]
Damn now you're making me think twice about adblock on here. The main reason I got adblock was because of ads on youtube and twitch especially that were so annoying so I installed the adblock to get rid of it. I never about all the sacrifices you took to make this site free to use for users. I'll turn off adblock for this site only, but for every other site it's staying on.
EDIT: looks like you can't have adblock disabled on specific sites.
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There is this annoying mabeline ad that keeps popping up.
thadocta
Banned
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im going to use one browser for niketalk that shows ads and one browser that blocks ads for all other things like adult content, youtube, nba.com etc....
thanks meth
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I appreciate that. Most ad blockers have a whitelist, so you can add exceptions for specific sites. You'd have to refer to their documentation, however, as I don't run them mysefl for obvious reasons.
It only pops up if you move your cursor over the ad and keep it there for three seconds.
The problem is that if you move the pointer inside the ad and then move it outside the WINDOW or into the top frame, the countdown will keep going. This is a glitch, and one we've already reported and hope to have Huddler fix ASAP.
In the meantime, if the countdown begins - just move your cursor to the middle of the page. It's a little annoying right now, because you have to sort of go the long way around to hit the "new tab" button in your browser depending on your screen width, etc., but it's only temporary and we greatly appreciate your patience.
In the long run, we're hoping that these ads are better targeted, more interesting/useful, and will help contribute both to our survival as a site and, ideally, to even greater donations in the future.
It's never been more expensive to operate NikeTalk, but Huddler has proven that they understand how important it is to prize the user experience above all else, as that's what enables literally everything we do. I think if you compare how they're handling the downturn in advertising revenue to how other sites and networks are handling it, the difference should be both apparent and appreciated. I mean... have any of you been to a Yuku site lately? Yikes. They ran auto-play video and audio ads on our site without our consent on occasion back in the day. We've been fighting the good fight on this from day one and that's what we'll continue to do.
When these units are running properly, I truly believe that they offer a good balance in that the footprint is roughly the same as a standard ad unit, the yield is higher (read: something rather than nothing), and, because they require user action to initiate the expanded content, they're nowhere near as intrusive as the stuff most sites are running these days.
I welcome and appreciate everyone's feedback on this, but just understand that we have to be realistic and practical in how we approach these challenges. We'd all love to run a site that's ad free, has no technical errors, has native app support for every single device known to humanity, and does your taxes for you - but that's just not possible. We all want the site to be the best it can be, but it can't be great unless it's also sustainable. If you can't accomplish that through ads or affiliate sales, charging users directly is the only alternative. We'd rather keep the site free for everyone and keep the ads to a minimum.
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I know this has been asked before but it was before we went to Huddler, but why has NT not considered running a donation account that either strictly goes to charity or strictly goes to site maintenance.
You could give members "donator" status and have them get some kind of extra perk or some cosmetic item for their donations. Just kinda seems silly not to do it if NT is getting close to operating in the red.
I know Meth talked about this in his earlier post and said that it wasn't very successful in the early days but with the right incentives I think people will do it. I mean every little bit counts right?
You could give members "donator" status and have them get some kind of extra perk or some cosmetic item for their donations. Just kinda seems silly not to do it if NT is getting close to operating in the red.
I know Meth talked about this in his earlier post and said that it wasn't very successful in the early days but with the right incentives I think people will do it. I mean every little bit counts right?
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antidope
Supporter
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I'd be willing to donate, NT is the Internet for me.
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Had no idea using AdBlock would hinder the site. I'm going to disable for NT.
If you're using Firefox this is how you do so.....
View media item 315547
If you're using Firefox this is how you do so.....
View media item 315547
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smh @ blocking ads but having no problem using all of an sites bandwidth.
ADs are not even that serious on NT, they don't affect your user experience at all. They are out of the way on the side and top of the forum.
Let these online sites eat just like you eat when you go to work. get rid of that ad block garbage.
ADs are not even that serious on NT, they don't affect your user experience at all. They are out of the way on the side and top of the forum.
Let these online sites eat just like you eat when you go to work. get rid of that ad block garbage.
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Damn now you're making me think twice about adblock on here. The main reason I got adblock was because of ads on youtube and twitch especially that were so annoying so I installed the adblock to get rid of it. I never about all the sacrifices you took to make this site free to use for users. I'll turn off adblock for this site only, but for every other site it's staying on.
EDIT: looks like you can't have adblock disabled on specific sites.
[/quote]yes you can.
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Thanks to the ads, we don't need to take up collections to meet our operating expenses. We'll continue to hold group fundraisers for charities, but part of the challenge there is that one can never predict a natural disaster.
We always want to be ready to rise to those challenges, but it's entirely possible that we'll work on involving NikeTalk's members in the construction of our next library project with Room to Read, for example, by establishing a group fundraising page and creating one or more stretch goals. It could mean the difference between building a one room library for a small community funded entirely from ad revenues and building a much larger facility through our combined efforts - or it could mean building the library AND funding scholarships for students. Of course, we'd offer digital incentives as with the Japan and Somalia fundraisers through custom titles and user awards.
One of the tradeoffs there is that all of these group fundraising pages extract a percentage of every donation made. It's much easier than trying to collect the money ourselves, as there's payment processing costs and the like with that, too, so the most EFFICIENT way to raise money for charity will always be to donate money DIRECTLY, both as individuals and as a community. The more middlemen we involve, the more money is lost to these payment processing services.
Trust isn't something to take lightly, let alone something to take for granted. We don't want to roll out a group fundraising project on a whim. It's important to take the time to make it the best it can be, and the last 9 months have really been dominated by the platform transition. There's a ton of behind the scenes work and individual member support issues that have required literally hundreds of hours to address. Once that calms down and we settle into a good rhythm, I look forward to devoting more attention to charity and community-building activities and less on the "nuts and bolts" stuff and revenue optimization. I didn't get into this for the latter.
So, more group fundraisers for charity WILL happen - but the money won't run through us. We'll give ad revenue to charity and any interested users will make donations straight to a charity-affiliated fundraising page.
It's also possible that we might consider creating some sort of premium listing service for the classifieds area, where verified sellers can list items faster or something, as the infrastructure for those sorts of services already exists within the Huddler system, but we'd need to figure out what the level of interest for something like that might be.
In general, we don't want to ask people to pay for NikeTalk. I'm truly grateful that some of you would be interested in chipping in to a "tip jar" of sorts, but we'd rather you pay that forward and contribute to charity. That's where our surplus goes anyway. Our operating expenses, etc. will be covered by the ads.
As far as "being in the red" is concerned, I don't want anyone to fear that the sky is falling. We run REALLY lean thanks to the volunteer nature of the moderation team. It's not like we have a lot of full time or even contract employees who would be squeezed by diminishing revenues. And, since the site isn't a profit pump to drive "executive level" compensation and six figure salaries, we'll continue to create a surplus for charity. Obviously we want to continue to make those donations and, ideally, raise even more money to help those who need it far more than we do.
I just want everyone to understand where we're coming from on this. We're NOT out to exploit/overcommercialize the site like most of these sneaker sites nowadays. I think we've shown that throughout the entire history of the site. People were afraid that we'd "sell out" when we moved to the new platform, but we've actually DECREASED the number of units per page - and we're running FAR fewer units than "SneakerTalk," the decaying remains of NikeTalk's old Yuku forums.
It's our goal to contribute more money to charity in 2013 than ever before, but you should know that all publishers are facing mounting pressure due to the diminishing returns from conventional CPM-based advertising. We're trying to get ahead of the wave and make sure that NikeTalk is sustainable while offering the best user experience we possibly can.
That's our goal with this and obviously we'll need everyone's help to accomplish it.
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Thanks for the clarification Meth glad to know the charity stuff can still be used here on Huddler and that NT is still operating in the green. I appreciate the response.
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Im glad that timer glitch got fixed 
. The ads dont bother me at all as long as the timer resets when you remove your mouse from the area.
. The ads dont bother me at all as long as the timer resets when you remove your mouse from the area.
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Like Meth had said, you can still have Ad block but allow ads to be shown on NT. I allow ads on Niketalk because there's no point in letting this website suffer so that there's a few less things on my screen.
edit: I would love to know if there was any change in ad revenue after what Meth said. I'm sure a few NikeTalkers turned ads on
edit: I would love to know if there was any change in ad revenue after what Meth said. I'm sure a few NikeTalkers turned ads on
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