Putting the "ad" in ADD

[Anton P. Nym]

Sorry, I'm not usually one to complain, but the volume of animated advertisements on the Escapist now is literally driving me to distraction. The "MapleStory" ones is running twice on this very page as I type this; the top banner, and the bottom-right windowbox. And the shaking and flashing and other attention-grabbing gimmicks is making it very hard for me to concentrate on the text.

Maybe I'm verging on geezerdom or something, but I can't see how making the text harder to read will help drive additional readership. Can we find a way to cap the amount of animation running on a screen at once?

-- Steve

 

[Jordan Deam]

Hey Steve-

We read you loud and clear on the flash ads. Keeping things readable is definitely a priority for us, but so is providing timely and unique content. And without advertisers who want their (occasionally annoying) flash ads visible to our audience, we simply couldn't afford all the new videos, webcomics, features, columns and news commentary that we provide from week to week. It's definitely a trade-off, but we feel it's worth it. You're more than welcome to disagree, however!

~Jordan

 

[Wulf Legend]

On some of them you can right click and there will be the option "play" with a check on it. Click that, and it should stop playing obviously :]

See if that helps.

 

[sammyfreak]

Personally I never ever click adds, but me doing so financially support you in any way?

 

[the monopoly guy]

They want to grab attention but simply being a flash add makes me want to avoid them, add to that the annoyance and I will never click on them willingly. The maplestory ones you can stop but that's just too much work

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i read somewhere that the google text only ads work just as well, if not better than the flash banner ads, probly cause some things can be made to disable them

 

[Jamash]

If you think that's bad, what about all the advertisements & images you're not consciously aware of...

Ever since coming to The Escapist I can't stop buying dog food & motor oil & I don't even own a dog or a car!

 

[DEC_42]

If you got Firefox, use Ad-Block Plus. Free.

If you use opera, I'm sure that there's somethign for you, too.

Good luck using IE, though.

 

[Stammer]

I know The Escapist needs/wants money for all of its hard work and I know that advertisements are the only way to go. However, I really wish they would choose less-annoying Flash ads. The EVE ones were great. They were dark so as not to annoy you, yet still got the point across. Maple Story? Come on guys, I'm sure lots of people want to advertise on this site, so I'm sure you could do better than Maple Story...

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

Download NoScript if you have Firefox.

If not, well, sucks to be you.

 

[stompy]

If you got Firefox, use Ad-Block Plus. Free.

If you use opera, I'm sure that there's somethign for you, too.

Good luck using IE, though.

Yeh, Ad-Block Plus is a great ad-on. With it, I've had no trouble loading and viewing pages on The Escapist.

 

[Larenxis]

I tried the right-click play thing when it showed things hopping around. It made them shudder at an epileptic pace, but not stop. Then I waited until the title popped up, tried it again, and all was wonderfully calm. But yes, blinky things are a billion percent less likely to be clicked by me than things that are easy on the eyes, and I have faith that The Escapist has a choice of ads to display, and can show preference for ones with a bit of dignity.

 

[The Potato Lord]

If these adds are needed to pay for the new videos on the Escapist I think that certain ones won't be missed too sorely.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Adblock!

 

[Fire Daemon]

That IZ3D ad with that damn stupid dinosaur that is stupidly shaking around on the banner pisses me off. It isn't 3D, its stupid!

Who wants to buy a 3D monitor anyway?

 

[Johnn Johnston]

That IZ3D ad with that damn stupid dinosaur that is stupidly shaking around on the banner pisses me off. It isn't 3D, its stupid!

Who wants to buy a 3D monitor anyway?

I'm assuming the advert is trying to appeal to its target audience:

Dinosaurs wanting something more from their TV experience.

 

[John Galt]

Gah, I've been blinded by capitalism! That damn Maplestory ad keeps popping up for me. It's hard to put your thoughts into text when you're being distracted by a 10 second loop of dancing mushrooms, pigs, and whatever the hell else is in those ads.

 

[SilentHunter7]

At least they havent resorted to having ads that EAT THE ENTIRE FRAGGING SITE [http://www.bivingsreport.com/images/gamespot_full.jpg]...

I don't really mind it, as selling site space is typically the only way to make serious money. As long as it doesnt get like gamespot, or like other sites that have massive flash ads that obscure the whole page, with the close button cut off by the edge of the screen, because apparently I'm the only one who uses 1024x768.

 

[Rampancy]

Having ads doesn't really bother me, but that MapleStory one really did get on my nerves. Seeing that bandit/pirate/small child trying to look all baaaaad, over and over... Come on, I'm trying to read.

I can ignore the vibrating dino. I think he had too much caffeine, though; he should be more careful.