PlanetCatfish.com

Jools,
Not sure how much revenue these video commercials at the bottom of the page are bringing in, but they are making viewing of the site very difficult for me (read slow) as well as expensive since I pay for every bit I download and view. I have not worked out how much it is costing me, but my internet bill this month is at US $250 and 90% of that is viewing PC.
-Shane

Hi Shane, will PM with a suggestion to fix the download size.

Shane, I don't know what you use as a browser

but if you use Firefox, there's this handy little add-on called No Script
it's legal free software and it stops all scripts from being switched on.

the planet does work without scripts fairly well, only some dropdown menu's are nerfed; but you can use the features still by clicking on them

no script blocks all those annoying banners and flash animations that eat up all your bandwidth.

By running blocker scripts you not only remove revenue from the site but you also compromise your viewing experience. You're also just diverting your ad cents to noscripts and away from Planet. http://adblockplus.org/blog/attention-noscript-users

I'm surprised about the video comment as I was really careful when selecting it. If a video ad appears, it will always show up as a static image until a user clicks on the "Play" button. In other words, nothing plays automatically, and everything is user-initiated. Additionally, the video-ad UI allows users to control sound donwload too. So, as long as you don't watch it, it doesn't guzzle bandwidth.

I'm happy to share what I make from advertising with you Shane, will send you the details.

Some sort of bandwidth monitor might help you here to really see what you're consuming? How much data does $250 pay for? Also, if you're 90% using PC and most of that is browsing the forum, you should really look at the lighter options for doing that rather than using a browser. I've been banging on about RSS feeds for a while - they're the way to access the site in bandwidth or viewscreen restricted environments.

Maybe I'll post a FAQ on it or something? Also, we're renogetating advertising for the bottom of the page, so we may not have google there for long.

Jools

it will always show up as a static image until a user clicks on the "Play" button. In other words, nothing plays automatically, and everything is user-initiated.

I double checked and that is not the case for me. The video runs every time I navigate to a new page and continues to "loop" play until I navigate to a new page. I hardly want to deny PC revenue by "disabling" the ads. If those ads are paying the site significantly more than users (like me) are being charged, then I agree you should stay with them.

Thanks to those that PMed me with work around solutions. Makes me realize I am not the only one having troubles.

'm happy to share what I make from advertising with you Shane, will send you the details.

Bro, I know that you do not even makes ends meet for the site and I think that makes you one of the most generous friends I (and the aquarium community) have.

-Shane

Jools wrote:

I've been banging on about RSS feeds for a while - they're the way to access the site in bandwidth or viewscreen restricted environments.

Maybe I'll post a FAQ on it or something?

That would be fabulous, never used RSS.

Shane wrote:

it will always show up as a static image until a user clicks on the "Play" button. In other words, nothing plays automatically, and everything is user-initiated.

I double checked and that is not the case for me. The video runs every time I navigate to a new page and continues to "loop" play until I navigate to a new page. I hardly want to deny PC revenue by "disabling" the ads. If those ads are paying the site significantly more than users (like me) are being charged, then I agree you should stay with them.

Thanks to those that PMed me with work around solutions. Makes me realize I am not the only one having troubles.

'm happy to share what I make from advertising with you Shane, will send you the details.

Bro, I know that you do not even makes ends meet for the site and I think that makes you one of the most generous friends I (and the aquarium community) have.

-Shane

Shane,

That's a flash animation, not a video, and it's cached not streamed. Google ads only stream if you click - that is unless there's some small African small print I am missing. Sorry if this is a overly technical point, but cached means you only download it once and so shouldn't have anything like the bandwidth impact that streaming has as it's sucking down bandwidth all the time. If you want to check, install a monitor and watch the download stop when the page stops loading.

If other people are "having troubles" then they ain't going to get fixed unless you post here - I will balance cost coverage with nuisance factor but I can't do that if I only think a minority (e.g. Shane) is having the trouble.

I've switched to text only ads meantime, let's see if that has an impact on revenue.

Jools