These Flash ads REALLY REALLY suck - all of them slow down the actual typing as long as the ad is in view. I don't mind ads and I fully support GD maintaining a source of income, but the Intel one and the current AppUp one are just horrible, because they affect the performance of my entire workstation.

I'm not sure how well ads are screened at GD, but there really should be somekind of a standard in place here - even for companies like Intel and Apple.

PS - yes, it's possible to scroll down so the ad isn't in view and you can still write the post/reply, but at the end of the day that really defeats the purpose of the ad.

This belongs in the "gdnet comments, suggestions, ideas" forum.

Anyway, I wasn't going to complain because I generally don't care - I want GDNet to make money unlike most website I visit. But those ads that have sound scare the shi* out of me when I'm coding late at night and my speakers are forgetfully turned up. All of a sudden some man starts screaming an advertisement from my speakers at 3:00 am... not very pleasant.

Like this one? (warning: running the ad may slow down the earth's rotation)

Not very helpful I know, but it doesn't seem to affect the performance of my browser (FireFox) or operating system (XP). It's a long shot, but you could try to update your Flash player. Perhaps it doesn't support hardware acceleration yet (which would be a ridiculous requirement for viewing a ad of course).

I agree. I hate this on other sites too (an email provider for example). It makes typing laggy, even on my relatively fast system (sometimes firefox totatlly freezes for seconds/minutes). They force me to kill plugin-container.exe all the time. That fixes the issue. But kills youtube's player too... I guess the real solution would be some ad-blocker or something. Updating Flash player helps for some days. After some days the issue is back again.

I agree that the current video ads are very annoying - Staff, please do something about it!
For me, they run perfectly fine and don't slow down my computer... but the fact that they have sound is absurd, and the fact that it is streaming video is even worse - my bandwidth is a staggeringly low 1.5 mbs*, and I don't like that a huge chunk of how I use my bandwidth usage is decided for me. Again, I also don't like the sound.

*Hopefully resolved soon - once the technicians actually respond.

I would rather have 3 static ads on a single page than 1 video ad. Sites have had animated ads for ages - use some of those. Please don't stream video. If Intel wants to sell me a product, more annoying ads don't help me. Have a non-ad "GDNet promotions" at the side of the page, with actual deals ("10% off your next Intel processor, regardless of what store you buy it from..."). (If I see a flashing ad saying, "10% off!" in yellow bulging text, I'm not going to click that. I also wont click Google text ads. I will consider promotions that GDNet has manually reviewed and agreed to, that aren't images but actual text.

For instance, I don't mind the "3 gamedev books on sale!" ad (since it's non-intrusive), but I wont ever click on it. If however, in a "GDNet promotions" box at the side of the page, I saw:

------------------------------------------------------------------
GameDev.net promotions:
10% off your next Intel processor, Intel.com
15% off GDNet book Business and Production for Games, Amazon.com
GameDev recommends NewEgg for computer hardware. (I'll even click through with no discounts)
We also recommend SomeOtherSite for peripheral.
If you want to buy a tiger, try TigerDirect. (Humour helps - it shows that you are people, and treat us like people)
By the way, our 4E7 contest is starting in 10 days.
Contest rules | Prizes | Sponsers
Geeky reminder: Matrix 5 is in theators currently. We weren't too impressed, but some of our community disagrees (<-- link to thread) (this isn't a promotion, but because non-promotions are sometimes in the box, I'll be sure to read the promotions as well)
------------------------------------------------------------------

Then I'd click through and check them out. You'd probably generate more revenue from me that way. (This in conjunction with static or non-annoying animated ads - but no video ads)

I don't mind promotions, and will sometimes check them out. I ignore ads. If I can't ignore a ad, because it's flashing and making noises or moving across the screen or hogging my bandwidth to a noticable extent, then I have a problem (unfortunately, I use and love GDNet too much to just ignore the site. Instead, I'm just annoyed and stuck with it).

I hope GDNet v5 reduces the bandwidth costs for the site, so some of these video ads become unneccesary, and also has more places to neatly place static or non-video animated ads.

Sound? I never experienced that...
If gdnet starts to have ads with sound (I mean sound on hover, without clicking on the ad), I will leave the site. I'm listening to music, and I won't give that up.

Quote:

Original post by szecs Sound? I never experienced that...

Yeah, there are some ads now that have sound.

I always just compose my posts in a different app due to lag (typically from ads). The new streaming ads make it a lot worse of course, and ads with sound can be pretty alarming. (You open a thread in a new tab, walk away from your computer, and all of a sudden your speakers are blasting...)

That said, I want GDNet to make as much money as it needs to, so I'm not complaining :)

Quote:

Original post by szecs Sound? I never experienced that...

I want GDNet to be successful - but are video ads the correct or only way to do that?
What if they drive away visitors?

Hah, maybe it's some local stuff, I don't have this sh*t in Hungary yet.

Quote:

Original post by Servant of the Lord I want GDNet to be successful - but are video ads the correct or only way to do that? What if they drive away visitors?

and where do they drive to? it's not like those kind of ads are gamedev only.

my solution: pay them myself (gd+), and use adblock. i have ulv systems, it kills battery and usability on those, having flash ads (not even those). and i never click an ad so why exactly should i be exposed to them?