Goodbye To A One Nice Forum.

[mc2]

i said somewhere in another thread and I think its worth repeating, members should have the option of disabling ads , after all we are the ones contributing with content.

visitors , who make up the bulk of the hits and revenue, should be blasted with all manner of adverts , without mercy, to compensate .

a friendly message saying , "sign up and make some posts and u can turn off ads".

[0Mix1up]

t does not specifically state ad removal, as you are well aware, it is not free for george to run this site, he must pay for the servers etc etc etc. To block ads is to say, essentially, that you want him to pay for everything, you want a say in how its run and yet you are unwilling to help him out by allowing ads.

more to the point "unwilling to have a VERY large amount of ads" rather than "no ads"

no not free but also profitable, which is fine no arguments there

but at what cost to members who have made this site what it is?

[technocracy]

I have to say I am reading and posting less and less due to the amount of crud being added to threads - since my Internet link here in Laos is paid for by on bandwidth the last thing I am interested in is 'donating' my bandwidth to loading a shed load full of flashy ads.

Oh well I'll just keep on selective reading ...

[bkkjames]

I don't mind the ads at the top and bottom but I find the one's in between posts a bit much.

[Heng]

I don't even notice the ads myself. Ad revenue is nice and easy, but been there/done that... way too many people doing it nowadays with the ol' laws of diminishing returns well in effect.

[RakJungTorlae]

And while it does not specifically state ad removal, as you are well aware, it is not free for george to run this site, he must pay for the servers etc etc etc. To block ads is to say, essentially, that you want him to pay for everything, you want a say in how its run and yet you are unwilling to help him out by allowing ads.

i was going to say the same thing but didn't want to wast my finger muscles typing it out, as if it would make any difference to these geniuses.

DUH DUH DUH!!!!!!

[Changian]

Our contracts with our advertisers prohibit comments with regard to advertisements which appear on our forums.

Fair enough to look after your own interests. But it is strange that that a site that supposedly encourages expats to share info and find their way around the good, the bad & the ugly of living in Thailand has a policy that basically encourages anyone with a dodgy business to pay to promote themselves knowing that they will be immune from criticism and will have their reputation defended staunchly by Mods. Whereas other, possibly better, companies who don't advertise are open for criticism.

[bkkjames]

Our contracts with our advertisers prohibit comments with regard to advertisements which appear on our forums.

Fair enough to look after your own interests. But it is strange that that a site that supposedly encourages expats to share info and find their way around the good, the bad & the ugly of living in Thailand has a policy that basically encourages anyone with a dodgy business to pay to promote themselves knowing that they will be immune from criticism and will have their reputation defended staunchly by Mods. Whereas other, possibly better, companies who don't advertise are open for criticism.

It's called the Golden Rule mate, he who has the gold - makes the rules, take it or leave it.

[mc2]

We used to have the lofi version which was great for those of us on slow connections, and was free of distractinfg flashing images etc. This went off the air some time ago, with software issues being blamed. I notice that many other fora that use the same software as Thaivisa currently have lofi versions up and running - is there any chance we can have ours back?

bit suspicious isnt it

[Beacher]

I've got to agree with Khun Jean. I find that I don't bother looking or posting on here much anymore.

[MiG16]

However I have noticed a spike in annoying adverts recently, with all these flashing lights etc, etc. Apart from anything else it makes the loading of the pages very very slow, and in my opinion detracts from what I thought was the purpose of the site, ie information and sharing of views.

I don't mind the ads at the top and bottom but I find the one's in between posts a bit much.

there are currently some new tests with regards to the ads and their placement. The owner of the site definitely values members input, for without the members there obviously isnt a site

[DP25]

The new 'Sidebar' add is totally obnoxious and completely messes up the page formatting. Won't be reading this forum anymore as long as it's there, it's just too annoying.

[samuibeachcomber]

personally dont know what all the fuss is about.

[wayfarer108]

I made a decision. And that is to say this forum farewell.

The amount of advertising is getting in the way of what the forum is for (i am not talking about the owner but the users).

On top of that is that every single important topic that would be pinned on any other site disappears on page 50 and further. This last point actually makes me sure this forum is not meant to be informative but more a search till you drop forum (and in this process have the chance to show as much advertisement as possible).

Seeing topics appear again and again is the proof of that. Many posters having good information are tired to provide it every time again.

I will check in once every month to see if something changes for the better, and to see what came of this topic.

Best wishes for all.

That is how forums tend to work. If every good subject was pinned then you would have to wade thru 50 pages of the pinned stuff before you get to anything else. Advertising is a apart of every forum as well although not really liked it is up to the owners if they want to make money or not. Anybody could run a forum without adverts it is not that expensive to run but the need for money normally transcends that.

Well said. I find the ads a lot easier to ignore than the trolls. But neither detracts from the value I get for my money considering the info exchange here, which as regards Thailand for expats is second to none, as far as I know.

[Mobi]

The main point about the excessive amount of ads, is not that they are annoying, but that they slow down the loading of web pages, as KJ has already mentioned.

I use IPSTAR 512/256 internet connection which costs me 4,400 Baht/month, and even for me the pages take for ever to load when full of ads. The only other choice I have wher I live is a GPR Edge connection (which I use as backup) and which is much slower.

Now my connection is not great, (I can't stream video, but I can download and watch later), but is just about OK for most purposes.

Thailand is notorious for providing sub standard internet speeds, so consider all those people, mainly outside of Bangkok, who have even worse connections than I do (and there must be thousands). For them, I would guess, they limit their visits to Thai Visa, or just don't bother any more, due to the time taken to load the pages.

This could well be a case of "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs" if the powers that be don't start to listen to what we humble members are saying.

[Guest Reimar]

i said somewhere in another thread and I think its worth repeating, members should have the option of disabling ads , after all we are the ones contributing with content.

visitors , who make up the bulk of the hits and revenue, should be blasted with all manner of adverts , without mercy, to compensate .

a friendly message saying , "sign up and make some posts and u can turn off ads".

You're right at this but you not only contributing you profit as well! And the forum is free for all members and all members are profiting in one or another way from the forum: for free!

more to the point "unwilling to have a VERY large amount of ads" rather than "no ads"

no not free but also profitable, which is fine no arguments there

but at what cost to members who have made this site what it is?

Sure, the owner need to make some profit with that forum as well, like you need to make profit with your business!

The cost for to run a forum like this are very high. It's not the Hard- and Software alone which cost a lot of money! The cost of the Internet Connection and the used Bandwith is very high as well!

Did you guys know how much you've to pay for a 1 Mbps up/down leased line for an SME? That's in Thailand just a little as above THB 50,000 a month for. To run a dedicated server in an communication center is even more expensive an the higher the speed you need the higher the cost plus the cost for connection sharing and and and!

And TV has much more than just 1 Mbps! Otherwise TV wouldn't able to handle that huge amount of daily connection/traffic!

It would be very interesting to know how much you guy's are willing to pay every month for to use an forum like this Add-Free? And at the moment you calculate your budget for that, don't forget to add the all the cost and even the profit the owner has to make to your calculation!

Cheers.

[GungaDin]

The owner of the site definitely values members input, for without the members there obviously isnt a site

Really? I asked if a category could cover "Household Items" in the classified section a month ago, it was posted in Forum Support.

I'm still waiting for the courtesy of a reply.

Feedback, why bother.

P.S. Shouldn't that read "Owners"?

[george]

Hi all,

I am following the discussion and will reply this evening. (I'm traveling right now with sporadic internet connection.)

Your input is much appreciated and I'm sure we can pick a few things in this discussion and get it back on track.

See you later~!

[ulath]

Sure, the owner need to make some profit with that forum as well, like you need to make profit with your business!

The cost for to run a forum like this are very high. It's not the Hard- and Software alone which cost a lot of money! The cost of the Internet Connection and the used Bandwith is very high as well!

Did you guys know how much you've to pay for a 1 Mbps up/down leased line for an SME? That's in Thailand just a little as above THB 50,000 a month for. To run a dedicated server in an communication center is even more expensive an the higher the speed you need the higher the cost plus the cost for connection sharing and and and!

And TV has much more than just 1 Mbps! Otherwise TV wouldn't able to handle that huge amount of daily connection/traffic!

It would be very interesting to know how much you guy's are willing to pay every month for to use an forum like this Add-Free? And at the moment you calculate your budget for that, don't forget to add the all the cost and even the profit the owner has to make to your calculation!

Cheers.

Yes bandwidth can be expensive, most people in this discussion so far have not advocated total removal off the adverts just they are on overload since more adverts have been added. But in your posts so far you are grandstanding that people expect the site to be add free and the owner cover the costs i have not seen anyone in this thread state that yet.

Maybe some people would pay for it to be add free many sites do have this availbable, maybe the owners should think about working what they think would be a reasonable fee and see if members who want to pay it find it acceptable.

Also I dont think you should be crying poor for the owners to much, one popular blog in thailand was making 10000 baht a month from one google advert bar with 2500 visits a day. Considering TV has 4 or 5 ? and averages about 2500 visitors a hour making that 60,000 visits a day. Thats around 960,000 baht a month at a very ruff guess per month. Not including contracted adds or commmisions from the travel, car rental etc etc

[Maigo6]

Also I dont think you should be crying poor for the owners to much, one popular blog in thailand was making 10000 baht a month from one google advert bar with 2500 visits a day. Considering TV has 4 or 5 ? and averages about 2500 visitors a hour making that 60,000 visits a day. Thats around 960,000 baht a month at a very ruff guess per month. Not including contracted adds or commmisions from the travel, car rental etc etc

That's the idea of a business, to make money.

Can't expect a site to run for free or break even point, if it was your site you would refuse advertising after a certain point, would you turn away money ?

I don't think so.

[chiangmaibruce]

Can't expect a site to run for free or break even point, if it was your site you would refuse advertising after a certain point, would you turn away money ?

And just as no-one has said the site should be ad-free, similarly no-one has said the people runing the site shouldn't make money from it.

This discussion is about recognising the fact that there can be a conflict of interest between the two, identifying where that conflict occurs, and then drawing a line in the sand to mark a fair balance/compromise. Either in an open and reasonably democratic manner - or not.

[mc2]

i said somewhere in another thread and I think its worth repeating, members should have the option of disabling ads , after all we are the ones contributing with content.

visitors , who make up the bulk of the hits and revenue, should be blasted with all manner of adverts , without mercy, to compensate .

a friendly message saying , "sign up and make some posts and u can turn off ads".

You're right at this but you not only contributing you profit as well! And the forum is free for all members and all members are profiting in one or another way from the forum: for free!

yes we contriubute to the site and we 'profit' so it is even.

visitors dont contribute squat, they should be the ones bombarded with ads, not us.

[ulath]

That's the idea of a business, to make money.

Can't expect a site to run for free or break even point, if it was your site you would refuse advertising after a certain point, would you turn away money ?

I don't think so.

Yes i know the idea of a business is to make money. I think they are good on them.

Would I refuse advertising after a certain point, yes if it was making the eyeballs the advertising were meant for angry and not coming back again to put eyeballs further more on adds. As it does not make business sense.

And again I didnt say i expect the site to be run for free and i dont. They were your words not mine.

[jcon]

i said somewhere in another thread and I think its worth repeating, members should have the option of disabling ads , after all we are the ones contributing with content.

visitors , who make up the bulk of the hits and revenue, should be blasted with all manner of adverts , without mercy, to compensate .

a friendly message saying , "sign up and make some posts and u can turn off ads".

Now that post makes good logical sense.

After all, TV is TV because of us, the members. Without us contributing, there would be nothing to read. So if a forum wants to place ads all over the place to annoy the crap out of it's members, then soon the members will slowly fade away and nobody will contribute, and what will that do... I know that is extreme, but mc2's point is quite valid and relevant. WE, THE PEOPLE....

"You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all wanna change the world...."

[Maigo6]

This discussion is about recognising the fact that there can be a conflict of interest between the two, identifying where that conflict occurs, and then drawing a line in the sand to mark a fair balance/compromise. Either in an open and reasonably democratic manner - or not.

I can see your point CMB, yet the membership grows and grows, I know people leave, I have seen many leave or get banned, yet they are replaced by others.

I can certainly understand the gripes, I have many gripes about certain rules, one of them being I can't discuss those gripes cos it's against the rules...

Oh well........

[dantilley]

Maybe some people would pay for it to be add free many sites do have this availbable, maybe the owners should think about working what they think would be a reasonable fee and see if members who want to pay it find it acceptable.

I doubt this would work - a year or two ago, ThaiVisa briefly went Pay-per-view in exchange for being ad-free and some other small perks, and it got a very negative reaction. You know how the recent news of the partnership with The Nation went down like a lead balloon with the membership? Well, imagine that but much worse: that's the reaction when TV became a paid-only service for a day or so.

[Insight]

Anything I find distracting when reading the forum, I usually resize the browser windows in a way to block the content out. I can't say the mid-post adverts have bothered me that much as a quick flick of the scroll-wheel will throw them out the viewport, but I can see how people can loose focus when reading the site.

Guess that puts me in the "not bovered" category...

[chiangmaibruce]

Unbelievable! Here we are having a perfectly civilised discussion about how the forum might be fine-tuned to make it a better place, etc. We are told that members views are welcomed ... and meanwhile posts in this thread are being deleted without anyone claiming 'credit' or providing reasons. You can sure see how some members get annoyed. One post got blipped before I could even get to it to read it, and now my original post has been removed.

Why? Was it too ... "hateful"? How about the person responsible develop sufficient backbone to identify themself and provide some substantiation for stifling what has been till now perfectly reasonably discussion about important matters of shared interest.

[Boo]

The differing types of advertising styles & layout changes over the last couple of days are just a test as has been mentioned a couple of times. And as was posted on page one, this isn't a discussion about moderation & isn't going to turn into one

[mark lamai]

well the old maxim applies don't it..........

when your on a good thing, kick it to death.

this forum has become a disaster caused by a deep hunger for money and lack of employing a competant graphic designer.

i hate everything about the way the owners have shown a complete disregard for user-friendliness.

perhaps they will realise they have gone too far when they start losing members