Alright, there seem to be some new adverts around the site. When I went to my profile page this morning, I found a large, annoying advert smack dab under my profile. And now, there seems to be small banners under the comics themselves, breaking up the flow of the page.

DD just seems to be getting more and more adverts all around the site. First, the sidebars on the front page and comic searches, and now these. It's starting to get annoying.

I hate to complain, but I agree one hundred percent.

Yeah we're trying some new things with our ad spots. We are finding that key locations make a difference in whether advertisers are interested in advertising at all, and so will be experimenting to see how it all works out.

You'll probably see some ads crop up here or there… and some are likely to disappear from time to time as we continually adjust.

Just sit back, enjoy the show, and sign up for WOW.

Volte6
Just sit back, enjoy the show, and sign up for WOW.

I'm really hoping advertisers aren't paying for Volte recommendations.

For the love of- WHY ON THE COMIC PAGE TEMPLATE NOW?!

Look… I love this site, and I love being at this site… but that's going too far.

Hijuda

Volte6
Just sit back, enjoy the show, and sign up for WOW.

I'm really hoping advertisers aren't paying for Volte recommendations.

haha I wish!!!

LowResAtari
For the love of- WHY ON THE COMIC PAGE TEMPLATE NOW?!

Look… I love this site, and I love being at this site… but that's going too far.

Simmer down there sparky. Again, we're in a phase of experimentation. I'm thinking a lot of the current WOW ads you are seeing will be gone in 10 days or so… So yeah, thinks are appearing, but they'll be disappearing too.

Bleh… I'm just in a sour mood an overreacted a bit.

Either way, the comic page adverts bug the crap outta me.

Yeah.. I'm hoping the ones on the comic pages themselves don't stay. :/ That's the only one that's really bugging me currently (the placement of the WOW ads is pretty bad, but I can ignore them), but the comic pages already have the mandatory ad floating on top of them, putting one smack dab in the middle of the page itself is kind of obnoxious. :/

Testing, eh? They come and go, huh?

Does that mean that if no one, not one single human being on this site clicks on say, the banners below the profile or below comic pages, the real annoying ones, they might disappear since they clearly show that they are horrible, horrible places to be and people don't click on them?

Considering it's a free service, does anyone have the right to complain? Not only do you have a lot of people uploading comics, but you probably have users who are linking their images and comics on other sites, and that's a problem considering every time somone posts a page of their comic in someone else's forum, it loads the comic from DD. Unless Volte fixed that recently?

I don't mind the extra ads because I have my own site and have control over what ads are displayed there. So DD having ads is just fine by me. You get what you pay for, and people aren't paying a damn thing, so ads are perfectly fair.

Maybe DD should consider pay-accounts at some point? For a subscription fee you get no adds and some extra features or something.

hpkomic
Maybe DD should consider pay-accounts at some point? For a subscription fee you get no adds and some extra features or something.

While I agree that this is a free service, so we SHOULD just be grateful for the webspace…Making a “pay-account” section divides the community. While I think Volte should go for it if it makes him money, and if it works, great, I still worry about this place becoming like deviantart.

I do think the adverts in the middle of the page are a little annoying, but, *shrug*What can I do? ^^

hpkomic
I don't mind the extra ads because I have my own site and have control over what ads are displayed there. So DD having ads is just fine by me. You get what you pay for, and people aren't paying a damn thing, so ads are perfectly fair.

Of course you don't have a problem with it, you don't have to deal with it.

DD is just REALLY making me want to set up my stuff on Comic Genesis or Smack Jeeves right now… :/

That advert right underneath the comic is dreadful - as if those grey “tag comic” things weren't nasty enough… The whole point of my previous/next buttons being there is so that people can scroll through and read pages easily - an obnoxious banner right there not only spoils that but the whole colour coordination of my pages and the delicate symmetrical balance of zen… If it has to be anywhere below the author's comments would be a MUCH better place for it.

Oh yeah, this is a free service but without our frigging comics no one will actually come here, duh. =_=

here is the code for the banner directly under the comic…
notice…script/no script.

that is so yinz can't find it and edit it out.

Not that it matters, because I am just one of the Ignorant unwashed… but, I really give this new advertisement placement directly under the comic the thumbs Down.
huh!?
please, find another place for your flashy advertisement, thank you…
Mr Shane Ronzio

wyldflowa
DD is just REALLY making me want to set up my stuff on Comic Genesis or Smack Jeeves right now… :/

HEY! Thanks for the lead!….I will check that out.

For me it's not the banners under the comic that are annoying me (I don't approve of them of course) but those CGI WoW advertisements that play while you're on the frontpage of Drunk Duck. It just takes up too much memory and makes the browser much slower. At least for me it does. I think it'll alienate those that have slower computers.

Too bad there's no edit button.



We need more degrading ads.

hpkomic
Considering it's a free service, does anyone have the right to complain?

Why not? It's one thing to complain about a service that already has these issues, but many people have been using this service for a long time, so with things changing in a bad way, of course they will complain, and I think they have a right to. Give a dog table scraps every day and you should expect the dog to whine when you all of a sudden stop. DD has taught them that they wouldn't be subject to this much, and now they're taking that away.

I don't mind the extra ads because I have my own site and have control over what ads are displayed there. So DD having ads is just fine by me. You get what you pay for, and people aren't paying a damn thing, so ads are perfectly fair.

When you rely on a free site you tend to have more invested in it, so I think your opinion is a little skewed against the typical DD user.

What it boils down to is that users have had something taken away from them, and that is a relatively ad-free site. You can expect nothing less than complaints when you take something away from a long-time user. Ads are fair, of course, but so too is showing your displeasure at them. DD is currently the worst for ads as far as I can tell, which is too bad, as the rest of the system is fantastic.

Given how Volte said that things will be changing over the next two weeks, though, I think it's too early to tell how it will all turn out. I'm guessing that the more complaining people do about the ad placements that bug them, the more likely those ones will be taken away. Volte has had nothing but a good history for providing people what they want.

So what I'm saying is yeah, they have the right to complain, and should do so in order to show Volte what the user base wants, but there's no reason to go thinking about jumping ship. Give the guy some time to sort it out and you'll probably see it work out to everyone's benefit.

I don't mind the huge ad at the tops and bottoms, but under the comic looks tacky and it stretched our comic oddly…I have to retink the design of my page, and I just had it sorta' finished for a while. Perils of not being able to afford our own site. :)

hpkomic
Considering it's a free service, does anyone have the right to complain? Not only do you have a lot of people uploading comics, but you probably have users who are linking their images and comics on other sites, and that's a problem considering every time somone posts a page of their comic in someone else's forum, it loads the comic from DD. Unless Volte fixed that recently?

Considering there's no option to have anything but a free service, I don't see the problem with expressing concerns. If they offered a (reasonable) subscription fee with which I could remove ads from my comic's site, I would gladly pay it. If we had the option of removing them and people were still complaining about them, then sure, I'd understand.

It's my understanding that hotlinking comic pages doesn't work, as well.

shaneronzio
here is the code for the banner directly under the comic…
notice…script/no script.

that is so yinz can't find it and edit it out.

Not that it matters, because I am just one of the Ignorant unwashed… but, I really give this new advertisement placement directly under the comic the thumbs Down.
huh!?
please, find another place for your flashy advertisement, thank you…
Mr Shane Ronzio

wyldflowa
DD is just REALLY making me want to set up my stuff on Comic Genesis or Smack Jeeves right now… :/

HEY! Thanks for the lead!….I will check that out.

shaneronzio, please don't triple post like that. I've edited all your posts into one.

kthxbi.

I got to say, I don't like the placement of the new ads. It looks like the individual comic authors are endorsing those particular comics intentionally… much like the “banner exchanges” people are running.

I understand there's bills to pay and advertisting is a great way to keep this stuff free for us (much appreciated btw)… but, could we maybe get it in a different place? There's several ads running that I personally have a problem “endorsing” and I think a better location or a clear distinction that the ad is site-generated advertising might be in order.

Yes/no?

Thanks
~Jerome~

EDIT: just discovered the one in my profile too. That one I dislike for the same reason. I don't like it looking like I endorse a particular ad.

Didn't know there was a whole nother' topic bout' this. Actually thought it would go better in the suggestion area, but whatever.

My two cents have always been that while these ads are placed in a rather annoying manner, and are pretty random to the point of comedic gold, they're tolerable…

They don't affect me too much since I don't often use my profile, I don't search, and the main page takes ages to load (whole other story on that). But now it's just crossing a line:



That was sent to me in my PM box, the language is certainly not mine. I don't swear and if I do I censor myself. Just wanted to get that out of the way. And I went to check to see if it wasn't some photoshop, and sure enough there were ads running under the comic.

But seriously, c'mon guys. Three ads on our comic pages now. Two was fine, they were out of sight and mind, but right under my work? In the middle of my page? :(

And this isn't a spiteful or sarcastic post. I really do like a lot of the additions to DrunkDuck in the recent weeks. Profiles was awesome, randomizing the top comic image really helped me find some great comics, and I'm beyond happy that the atuo-play ads are gone. But this is a major step back. It costs money to run a site, but it doesn't help you much if the site becomes overwhelmed with ads, that only turns people away.

EDIT: Actually, I do like the idea of it being under the comic, just so long as this:



is the only ad in rotation on my page. :D

Okay everyone. How about we all just take this with a grain of salt for the moment. We don't know what the end result is going to be.

That said, please keep in mind that DrunkDuck isn't just some random free host. we do a LOT of stuff that costs a LOT of money and it's important that we recoup those losses. The thousands of dollars spent each convention is a prime example of that.

Sure we can cruise under the radar and try to be just another free host who gives infinite X for $0 and pretend business can be done that way. Alternatively, we can try and take hold of the webcomic space, make a presence for us ALL, and really show what web comics can be. But in order to do that we have to be able to make something like a web comic community into a highly viable business.. and that's exactly what we're trying to do.

Yes, we are VERY sensitive to the affects these ads will have on the community. We are also very sensitive to the affects spending more money than you make are, and so will continue to try to find ways for DrunkDuck not only to just pay for itself hosting wise, but to fund it's promotions, events, and all the great things coming down the line.

Try to be understanding… Support DrunkDuck.com and the leaps we're willing to take, and I guarentee in the end it's going to come full circle to benefit the site, it's members, and webcomics as a whole.

Oh like I said I'm pretty much past the search, profile and main page ads. It's just the comic page thing that's kinda' pushing a line.

For everyone I think it's less of a concern that they're there, and more of where they're placed. If it keeps the Duck alive, I don't have much room to . Sorry for peevin' you Voltey. :(

EDIT: Probably a question I cannot get an answer to, due to contracts and whatnot, but does Platinum plan to push much additional money into DrunkDuck given the chance that their other projects (movies, etc) do well? Or is DrunkDuck very independent from other divisions?

Two things about this are bugging me in particular. Maybe I'm out of line for saying so, but I'm going to because I really love DD.

1) I understand there's bills to pay. I do. But, I don't like that it's the regular comic author that has to take such a big hit. And I think we are. I don't like it looking like I'm endorsing certain ads/comics - which it does. It definitely does. The placement is really, really bad… and I'd go so far as to call it “shameless”. And this might be going too far, but I have to wonder about why I have to take this hit. I loved that I could make my page “my own” and it felt like I had my very own website, complete with a short link to my comic and my own design touch. I think this recent change spoils that to some degree. Maybe to a very minor degree to some and more so for others, but it does.

I wonder: where's the line if not here? You guys treat us great… (recalls story about Plat and DD taking all the Philly comic con folks out to bowling and more on someone's dime… probably Plat's, but possibly Volte's or someone else's)… but perhaps you under estimate the potential upsetting your user-base has. Maybe not… you guys do pretty well and so what if a few people are put off. I'd like to believe this is not true.

2) I also have to wonder that if it IS about money, why are there advertisments that link me to comics WITHIN Drunkduck? I understand that a redirected viewer may discover a popular comic like Watchdogs or Hero By Night (both great comics) and that may generate some sort of increased fanbase which in turn links in to increased print comic and merchandising revenue for DD… but seriously, how inredibly marginal will that be? It may be worth the cost of muddying up the middle of profiles and comic templates, but I serious doubt that to be true.


Ultimately, I know that my opinions have little sway over what occurs here, but I'd like to tell you that I'm disappointed in this recent change and I hope that THIS is the line.

Thanks for your time,
~Jerome~

EDIT: to restate… my beef is with placement, not the advertisement itself.

Platinum treats DrunkDuck with the same importance as anything else they have going on, if not more. They really believe in web comics, and know DrunkDuck can be bigger and better than any web comic community has become yet.

They put more money into DrunkDuck in a given month than I suspect any other web comic community does in many times as long.

I don't see any ads.

(Neither would you with the right firefox plugins.) ^__-

Well, let's just hope it doesn't become as bad as say… Flashkit.

Well I think this is the prime quote that needs responding…

2) I also have to wonder that if it IS about money, why are there advertisments that link me to comics WITHIN Drunkduck? I understand that a redirected viewer may discover a popular comic like Watchdogs or Hero By Night (both great comics) and that may generate some sort of increased fanbase which in turn links in to increased print comic and merchandising revenue for DD… but seriously, how inredibly marginal will that be? It may be worth the cost of muddying up the middle of profiles and comic templates, but I serious doubt that to be true.

We are manually selling our ad space, which means we GO TO ADVERTISERS and talk to them about advertising on DrunkDuck. Up until today we did not have that ad spot to sell, which means we have not got anything to put in that spot other than your standard ad networks (omaha steaks anyone? ). So as a compromise the plan has been to run internal ads in the meantime, allowing us to have an ad spot to demo.

On top of that, we have been trying to work out a system to set aside a percentage of ad impressions to run anybody on DrunkDUck's own personal ads in that slot. In this way we hope to also benefit the community.

fair enough.

but, I still dislike the placement. :P