randya, your argument is valid and I agree that public advertising has grown beyond all taste and decency, but it is not germane to this particular issue. You read and post to these forums of your own volition. You object to the ads present on these forums. You have the means to, at once, banish the ads from your sight, continue reading and posting as you have always done, and directly benefit the forums themselves. In short, you have control. Not so in the 'real world', where buying the trinkets hawked on a billboard won't make the billboard go away. These forums don't pay for themselves, and so we have a choice to either scroll by one ad per page or donate a relatively small sum.

Here's those two important words again, because they bear repeating:

Control. Choice.

Without question, the ads bring in ALOT more money then donating members do. But yes, one of the main bonuses to donating, is the lack of an adbot.

I, too, have felt compelled to send a donation. I've gotta say I really don't feel one way or the other about the adbot. It's probably some of the least offensive advertising I've ever seen, esp. considering what Nashbar routes to my inbox. If it helps keep the forum operating, I'll keep looking at it, donation or no. Only if it starts asking me to vote for George Bush or starts waving obscene images in my face every time I post will I ask it be removed.

I'd agree that much advertising is completely offensive and/or idiotic. SUV ads in particular come to mind, since all of them seem to be targeted at males lacking a certain something (I won't go further for fear of permanent suspension from the board, donation or no). I would also like to congratulate Randya on his clever advertising campaign designed to entice more donations to Bikeforums. You'll be climbing the corporate ladder in no time flat.

But I'm here of my own will; I don't pay to be here (or I didn't, but I don't have to). Someone's footing the bill for my nefarious anti-capitalistic exersizes. Might as well be me; in the true tradition of proletariat everywhere, I'm prepared to lay down my wallet for the cause.

I view whining about something (i.e. Ad-Bot) that is in our power to ignore to be emotional pollution. And then posting on it in here as binary pollution.

Cheers Joe.
~Keep up the good work~

I agree. Good luck with that whole Changing The World For The Better thing.

I agree wholeheartedly. However, there are far bigger and more evil forms of advertising out there than this ad-bot. I think that is the whole point of this thread. Another point is that by constantly expressing the opinion against the advertisers, you are actually giving them exactly what they want (i.e. exposure). Personally, I can think of plenty of forms of advertising that I'd love to see banned, but I'm not about to run around and publicise these companies and give them greater sales as a bonus.

A case in point: Did you realise that since the advent of the Internet, sales of canned spam have increased by over 500%?

I'd like to know,if not for advertising then how do company's get the word out for what they have or are selling. Come on,how? They should'nt? Well you think unemployment is bad now,get rid of advertising and you'll see what bad really is. Think of the big picture,not just of yourself. Oh, randya,thanks for keeping this going and ad-bot thanks you to.

Get rid of freeloaders complaining about the adbots!

OK, here's some suggestions:

Consumer Reports publishes with no advertising and they hold a raffle every year to keep things going, for something like 40 years now. I'll bet if you could get some manufacturer to donate a nice bike or a bike tour of some exotic locale to raffle off, the Bike Forum could raise some dinero. There is a subscription fee for Consumer Reports, as well.

High Country News operates with minimal classified ads and asks for donations for their research fund in addition to a subscription fee, and each month they publish the names of the donors.

Whole Earth Review and Orion magazine both publish without ads, using grants and donations from subscribers in addition to charging subscription fees.

Most Public Radio stations conduct periodic on-air fund raising to generate operating capital, and they often give away premiums to members for donations above the minimum. KMHD, a college jazz station in Portland, gives away concert tix, CDs, etc. They also solicit donations through their web site, so they don't have to interupt their broadcasting to do so. There are no subscription fees or dues to listen to public radio ad-free, 24/7/365, although lately some donating businesses have been receiving on-air recognition for sponsoring things like the morning traffic report.

And by the way, for those of you who have forgotten, all broadcast frequencies belong to the public, and not to Clear Channel or anyone other private corporation. Clear Channel et al only license certain frequencies and their licenses theoretically can be revoked for non-compliance with the conditions of their licenses. I'm just mentioning this as relevant because so much of the public domain seems to be getting privatized these days, and I think that's relevant to this discussion...

Here's my take on things...

Joe owns this site. The people who have donated partially own this site too in that they now have official right to make legitimate requests. The rest of us are guests who have no right to make demands. Sure the members help make the site what it is but for the most part Joe can do what he wants with it and if we don't like it, well... we're free to go off and start our own site.

P.S. After writing the above and reading through this thread, I felt compelled to go make a donation. I'm not sure why I didn't do it sooner as I've certainly gotten more than $25 worth of value from BikeForums. BTW, is there a way for donating members to still see Ad-Bot. I fear I'll miss it. :)

lets help joe pay for the costs in running this great forum..

We are very lucky to be a member, and for free!!! I don't think this forum will be as exciting and as informative if members were required to pay a certain amount.

We should all thank joe, the mods, the donating members and the addbot as well for paying the bills and keeping this site alive.

I think the non-donating members, including myself, should do our part and click those ads!

So here's my suggestion... Let's all click the advertised links and help joe earn some money out of this site.. He and Bikeforums.net deserves it!

C'mon cyclists!!! click those ads..

Is'nt ad-bot a minimal ad?

I'm smart enough to realize that advertisements, like motor vehicles, aren't going to go away tomorrow - or even be reduced by 50% - just because I'd like that and I think the world would be a better place for it. I also realize that there are legitimate advertisers trying to get the word out about something they want people to know about.

I also agree that the adbot is not the most offensive ad out there, in fact I agree that it's pretty innocuous compared to most pop-ups. I guess what I dislike about the ad bot is that it sort of seems to follow you around, waiting there with it's tongue hanging out just above the most recent post. (Which I'm sure is how Joe designed it :D )

On the other hand, my experience and intuition tells me that the more obnoxious an advertisement is, and the more times it is unnecessarily repeated, the less likely it is that the product being marketed is really a necessary or beneficial product. SUVs and fast food are the first two things that come to mind in this regard. Another category of obnoxious and unnecessary ads are those that try to distinguish a specific product from another manufacturer's similar or identical product, a category which not only includes SUVs and fast food, but also telephone service, laundry detergent, shampoo, etc. Beyond a certain point, ads for these and other heavily advertised unnecessary or indistinguishable products are pollution, plain and simple.

I've got a personal policy of never buying anything that I've seen advertised on TV, or most anywhere else, simply based on the ad. I am also very quick with the mute button on the TV remote during 'commercial interruptions', and in general, listen to almost no commercial radio and limit my viewing of commercial TV.

Randya,

I've just gotta ask.
Then why are you whinging so much about it?
Its easy, either become a donating member, ignore
the ad-bot, or limit your time here.

Marty

Which is exactly how these forums work: you pay for a "subscription" (which happens to be dirt cheap considering it's $25 for a lifetime) and in return, you get no ads. Pay to get rid of the ads, it's that simple.

However, Joe is also kind enough to allow people to use his site without paying by exposing them to ads. Consumer Reports has never offered to send me a free subscription with a sheet of ads shoved in the middle of every issue.

Joe > Consumer Reports

Hmm... that reminds me of...

Just remember now... kickboxing is the sport of the future. :D

randya, It must be your lucky day. I just had an anonymous donation made under your name. Enjoy the ad-free version and the little red star.

Thanks to everyone else who has donated in the last few years, be it $1, or $100+. You guys rock.

dexmax, please DO NOT CLICK THE ADS JUST TO CLICK THE ADS! Google tracks all clicks, and I could loose my acct with them due to fraudulent clicks.

Actually, I really liked what I saw last night... downloaded something called pop-up blocker, or something like that... Thanks addbot!

Nice tool.... but the $30 price tag is too much.. I'de rather buy new shorts. ;)

If this keeps up, I might have to ask for the ad-bot version myself! :D

That's thinkin'! These may not be applicable to our particular situation here, but it's always good to explore alternatives.

Had this been your first post in this thread randya, I'll wager you wouldn't have received such a backlash.

I'm just sayin'! :D

That's a funny, and very apt, image. :lol:


Me too. I also hate clothing that feature brand names prominently splashed across them, and I have been known to remove them if doing so doesn't damage the garment. I have a thing about paying corporations to advertize
their products. :mad:

I use the latest version of the google toolbar for IE. It blocks popups (I allow them for this site since that's how clicking links work), and is freeeeeee.

Just like cycling jerseys,right? Very hard to find plain ones or is that different?