Same here. Didn't need that late at night while playing music.

The ad (like previous ones) aren't that bad. Atleast it doesn't pop up after every click.

I don't mind the popups as it helps the site. However I do mind having to listen to "do you like to watch".

A pop up blocker?

I dont mind pop-ups - I understand that maintaning a web page can get expensive. This I have no problem with. However its when they start to talk to me or start making noise and playing music is when I start getting pissed. And surfing with the speakers off isnt an option since I like to play MP3s and CDs while I do.

I do not like them. It is embarrasing when you are at home or school and it pops up. It looks like you are looking at porn.

Of course, over at the HTF, there are plenty of people who are more than willing to donate so they don't have to deal with the annoying advertising clutter over there. . .

My only issue is the sound. If you can refuse ads with sound, or have them default off, I'll have no complaints about whatever you do for ad revenue. However it is the sound issue that has me considering getting a program to kill rich-media ads.

I find popups of all sorts to be VERY annoying. However I respect the site's need for advertising and would of course like it to be successful. But I think the 1 popups in a row is a bit much. First there's the window, then there's the flash thing with really annoying audio. On top of all that, you should realize that most of the people browsing this board are browsing at work or school and having that sound suddenly blaring through the speakers could get someone in trouble. Telling people to stop slacking at work or school isn't gonna help either

If you'd like to do those interactive type of ads, feel free, but please have no sound on the next one.

Did you read HTF's latest newsletter? They're having a very hard time getting people to donate money to them and sent out a note asking everyone and anyone to help. Also they aren't carrying ads not because they don't want to but because they've been unable to sell a lot of them... Big difference.

What I read is that they had $2000 in donations less than twenty-four hours after they sent that newsletter out. . .

EDIT: They're currently at $3200 from 164 HTF'ers, via PayPal alone. Very hard time indeed. . .

Depends on how many more donations they receive. $3200 might cover a month or two. Then what?

"DO YOU LIKE TO WATCH???????"

No. Indeed, I like to listen even less. But enough complaining.

Thanks Warner for the ad revenue for DVDTalk. Don't worry, though I won't be buying the DVD for this horrible, horrible film, I'll make sure to pick up some classic films on DVD later this year. Perhaps you should release them more quickly, or create a signature line of discs like Fox just has?

I'm almost embarrassed for them; the ad is horribly pixelated crap.

The $3200 is a weekend total, which ain't too bad at all.

From a post from Parker Clack:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...=&pagenumber=1

Donating is on a voluntary basis--nobody has to donate to use the site.

The point raised by AndyCapps is still valid. So it can cover 3 months, then what? If I was personally on the hook to pay over $1000 a month for bandwidth, and I asked my users to pay for the site and I received $3200....I would be very pleased, but I would also be worrying about how I was going to pay after that ran out.

The next question is, if 3 months later you ran the same fund drive (like PBS), would you again get the same amount? I have some doubts about that. And then another 3 months? And another? In other words, can the users contribute over $10k a year? Will they?

P.S. I hate the sound on the pop up also. I don't mind the popup or the image. But having it say "Do you like to watch?" was not good when my kids looked over at me. Just my opinion.

Exactly! Its not the pop up that bothers me its the content. If pop ups can bring in revenue then I can live with it but "Do you like to watch" , thats the problem I have with them.

All good feedback about the content on the ad. I'll talk to the agency and let them know that we've had some complaints on the 'DO YOU LIKE TO WATCH' content aspect of the pops.

In terms of HTF and doing donation drives, it's a fine idea to raise money for a new server or something if that's what you've got to do, but how often can you really ask people to dig into their wallets? At the end of the day you've got to either find a way (like these fun ads) to get advertisers to foot the bill for people to use the site or you have to charge a fee.

Well, this is only the second time they've done a donation drive. The first was over two years ago, I believe, and it did remarkably well. This one's off to a simliar start.

Obviously, if they were doing it just to do it, and started doing one every year or so, then I'm sure members would start to raise an eyebrow, but they're not. They're doing it because they pretty much have to, and the donating members realize that they need to donate in order to keep the site the way at is--free of annoying pop-ups, and to keep it from becoming a paid membership site.

Hopefully, this one will be the last one (at least for a long time). I don't think anyone likes having to have donation drives, but its the best alternative out there.

Whoo...fixed my problem. Maybe this'll help some other people....I realized that I had my Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy level set just about at the highest, which, I think, is why I was getting them on every single page. I lowered it down to Medium and now I barely get them. Sorry if someone already posted this, I didn't read the whole thread very carefully.

Is the rich media ad out of control? I just got it on four times in a row in different forums.

It seems to be following me wherever I go

And no, I don't like to watch

Edit: Nevermind....I closed my browser and re-opened it and everything seems better now.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth Aghama •<HR SIZE=1>I'm almost embarrassed for them; the ad is horribly pixelated crap. <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

I can understand why they did that, though. They want you thinking about how bad the ad is in hopes that you'll briefly forget that the film (term used loosely) is one of the worst ever made. Unfortunately, for them, the strategy does not appear to be working.

das

The Proxomitron

It can block anything. Anything at all.

To block the annoying fear dot crap, as well as any other future crap from the same people, add this to the URL Killfile.txt file.

*eyeblaster.com/

Problem solved. Not to mention all the other good stuff it does.

There's no real reason to complain about these. If they bother you so much, don't visit sites that use them.

Are they horrible and do I wish they would all go away? Absolutely. However, this is a very popular and expensive site to run. They have to generate revenues somehow. If they chose to ask for donations or whatnot, then that'd be one thing, but they have chosen to sell ads. If it bothers you so much, create your own site that is ad free. Simple as that.

It is a really terrible ad. I never took the time to look that well b/c the X is always calling me, but what I did see was terrible. Neither the sound nor the pictures would draw me in. In fact, that type of add annoys me more than anything else. I guess it puts it in your head and you remember it, but that doesn't mean I'll buy it. Make a better product and you won't need obnoxious, intrusive ads to sell it.

Which do YOU believe to be your greatest fear?

Poverty
Loneliness
Feardot.com pop-ups


I choose number 3 as it's strange after dropping about
$314.00 on dvds and a house fan at amazon via dvd talks
link i get a pop-up as soon as come back to check the forum.

I think you missed the point. To continue to have enough funds to cover the cost of the annual bandwidth, they would have to have at least 3 fund drives a year that are as successful, which would be doubtful they could do.

Of course a one time plea for help would work. I am betting Geoff could do that also. But if it only covered the server costs for one month, in the long run it solves nothing.

I am betting that if the site could be run on voluntary donations, it would be considered as an option.

FWIW, I'd rather put up with an occassional annoying pop-up than pay cold hard cash.

That being said, if pop-ups like this were to become the norm here, I'd have to rethink my decisions about visiting.