About those crazy ads.. in Site Updates
- March 20, 2024, 3:28 p.m.
- |
- Public
Hey everyone,
First, thanks for all of your help with the initial testing of the beta site! We still have a lot of work ahead of us to iron out the bugs, but it’s really promising to have made so much progress in such a short amount of time. A breath of fresh air, truly. More to come on that front soon.
Anyway, let’s talk about that craziness with the ads that was affecting those of you that don’t subscribe. A week or two back I started getting emails from users telling me “enough with the ads!!”. I had no clue what was going on, so I hit up Buffy. Here’s a little peek behind the curtain:
Okay, it wasn’t either of us. So uh.. what could it be? I dug into it, and it turns out that for some reason Google Adsense (the platform we use to run ads on the site) decided to start running experiments on its own. Like, it just went for it. This included ads in the middle of entries, in comment lists, basically anywhere it felt like shoving them. The feature is called “Auto Ads” and yeah — it’s a lot! I went in and turned it off, and, well.. it then turned itself back on. Multiple times! As a sanity check Buffy went in to try turning it off himself, and I guess it likes him better or something because it stuck after that. Whew.
The funny thing about all this is that despite the frankly horrible user experience, revenue did go up by 15% during the experiment. So, in Google’s eyes that was a total success. Me? Not so much. Yeesh.
Anywho, that’s that. We’re busy bees behind the scenes working on the beta, more to come on that very soon.
A story in three parts:
<3,
-J
Last updated March 20, 2024
Pretend Mulling ⋅ March 20, 2024
There are extensions that should block the worst of the ads. I'm on Firefox and use AdGuard AdBlocker and Privacy Badger. Both are free, and they work really well. (I don't use Chrome or Safari, so I don't know what extensions they have.)
josh Pretend Mulling ⋅ March 20, 2024
Those extensions are great and I use them myself, but I'd politely urge you to turn them off on Prosebox (or subscribe if you want to get rid of the ads completely), as our already pretty meager ad revenue has been steadily declining year over year.
Jodie ⋅ March 20, 2024
I wonder why I have never seen an dde here? Maybe they like canadoians better and maybe we have different laws? Just so you and Buffy both know I really appreciate everything you do for us.
Shattered ⋅ March 20, 2024
I am also noticing the spam is making a comeback…
TellTaleHeart ⋅ March 20, 2024
Thanks for fixing that!
DE_KentuckyGirl ⋅ March 20, 2024
I sent an email. The block function isn't working for me.
NorthernSeeker ⋅ March 21, 2024
Bedtime for Moki, that's the story I see. Thanks for your work.
Mr. Mofo ⋅ March 22, 2024
Is Mochi preparing for their opera debut?
Oswego ⋅ March 23, 2024
How do we donate to Prosebox. I’ve been here ten years now, and it’s a vital part of my daily life! Thank you!!
synapse ⋅ March 30, 2024
thanks for the update (and explaining why it is worth it to Google). glad you don't share their priorities. sorry I'm too broke to hold up my end. I'm no developer but if my time is needed please do HMU.
SambucaofDoom ⋅ April 03, 2024
Mochi is so cute!!! ^^
Charlotte, Light and Dark ⋅ April 12, 2024 (edited April 12, 2024)
Edited
DISGUSTED to see snti-Biden merchandise being advised here. I thought you were better than that. Damn.
josh Charlotte, Light and Dark ⋅ April 16, 2024
The process by which ads are chosen by Google to show up on the site is opaque and automated. I don't go out and hand pick them, and I certainly don't "partner" with the companies that pay for ad impressions. An ad being shown on Prosebox in no way implies endorsement. That said, the tasteless t-shirt ads have all been blocked. If you see other ads like that show up please shoot me a screencap. I assume it's only going to get worse as we get closer to Nov
Charlotte, Light and Dark josh ⋅ April 25, 2024
Thank you! The stakes have never been higher!
sparklespeterson ⋅ April 14, 2024
I cannot find my account information
I've looked under settings, and there is nothing there
Could someone please help me?
I was told that I was no longer subscribed, but when I put in my email address, it tells me that I already have an account.
Thank you :)
Gilbert653 ⋅ April 30, 2024
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At Davy Jones's Locker ⋅ 1 day ago
Hello, I understand the spam conditions. But I am a new user wasn't warned, wrote out a new entry and the entire thing was deleted because I am unable to make public entries for three weeks. Now I am unsure what to do. My writing is lost, and I realise there is no point in even joining because I need to wait three weeks to even share?