What's with all the political ads on the forum?

[LOL!]

I thought the election was over.

[REWahoo]

I don't see any stinkin' political ads...

[frayne]

I'm with Ike !

[W2R]

I have AdBlock Plus and don't see any ads right now.

Do you think maybe you have been visiting political sites? IIRC, Google Ads tends to pick out topics they think would interest you, based on all that data they collect.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I have AdBlock Plus and don't see any ads right now.

+1

Quote:

Do you think maybe you have been visiting political sites? IIRC, Google Ads tends to pick out topics they think would interest you, based on all that data they collect.

My first thought as well.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I have AdBlock Plus and don't see any ads right now.

+2

[Amethyst]

I have Avast Plus (supposed to weed out spyware) and see no political ads. Still see those ads for old folks' communities though. Guess the word "retirement" is like opening the window to Dracula...gives them permission to enter.

[braumeister]

Seeing ads on sites like this is always optional, but I think some just don't realize how efficient things like AdBlock and Ghostery can be.
Every once in a great while I'll have to pause the blocking for a site I want to use, but 98% of the time they do their job perfectly.

[Hyperborea]

The ads you are seeing are based largely on two things: 1) your own internet viewing history; 2) the content of the page you are viewing. For example, I am right now seeing an ad for a VPN service because I've been doing some research on that. I've also seen ads on some pages here for Nicorette gum because there was a discussion of smoking on these boards. You are likely visiting a lot of political sites and that history is following you.

I'm not so worried about ads in general since they pay for the sites that I use. What I don't want is to be tracked and profiles built up. One option to avoid that is to use something like PrivacyBadger from the EFF. This stops the tracking but does allow the ads that pay for the sites that I use.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Seeing ads on sites like this is always optional, but I think some just don't realize how efficient things like AdBlock and Ghostery can be. Every once in a great while I'll have to pause the blocking for a site I want to use, but 98% of the time they do their job perfectly.

I agree with the part I put in bold letters, so much! It's not like 90% of ads are blocked; it's way, way better than that for me and on sites like this one, I get zero ads. I have no ad blocker on my iPad, and surfing the net on it is a completely different experience than doing the same with AdBlock Plus on my laptop computer.

I seldom pause the blocking even for those sites that require doing that. Not seeing any ads whatsoever, about retirement or anything else, is worth missing an article now and then. Most of them are just clickbait anyway.

[easysurfer]

I use uBlock Origin as my ad blocker on my desktop and don't see any ads here. But there is a count on the uBlock Origin icon that shows how many ads got blocked. Just a short time ago, I'd click in a thread and saw the count go as high as 17.

[ERD50]

I've actually turned off AdBlock from time to time on this forum, just to see. Even though AdBlock is reporting 4-8 ads, all I see is a banner ad at top, and it really isn't so obtrusive that it bothers me, but it is really just wasted space, so I normally run with AdBlock active. Other sites are un-usable w/o an ad blocker.

Note - the above is true for being logged in. IIRC, if you are not logged in, you'll see so many ads you can barely find the content. Haven't checked that in a while.

-ERD50

[exnavynuke]

I love Ad Block Plus.

[Cricky]

Slightly off topic, but I'm surprised to see moderators and administrators apparently suggesting we block ads here. Is there some other way we should support the site?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cricky Slightly off topic, but I'm surprised to see moderators and administrators apparently suggesting we block ads here. Is there some other way we should support the site?

We are members just like you who have volunteered to help on the moderation team. We don't get paid a dime for helping to moderate the website. Just like you, we have had no pressures or guidance whatsoever to not block ads.

Try this link if you want to donate to FIRECalc: Thanks for your support of FIRECalc!

Or, you could contact the owner, Andy R, directly and ask about donating, which might be an especially good way to pursue your donation plans if you are planning to make a very large donation.

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru.../andy+r-1.html

[Cricky]

It's not unheard of for sites to have an "ad-free" membership level, though maybe it's not worth the administrative hassle. I think anyone who volunteered to be a moderator or administrator, or had anywhere near 36000 posts, is absolutely entitled to avoid the ads. Me? I've got fewer than 40 posts; I take a lot more from this forum than I give back, so I don't mind the small cost of seeing the ads. I find they're pretty unobtrusive here (at least when logged in), and I don't visit political sites so I don't get served political ads (I have been car shopping, and right now see ads for CarMax, Nissan, and Land Rover!). So I disable Adguard here.

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Do you think maybe you have been visiting political sites? IIRC, Google Ads tends to pick out topics they think would interest you, based on all that data they collect.

That explains why I keep getting ads for either Victoria Secrets or assisted living communities.

And no, before you ask, I certainly don't want to see anyone wearing Victoria Secrets apparel at an assisted living community.