Originally Posted by
Dread Pirate Jeff
I opted out of all cookies when I logged in just now, and I run an ad blocker for 99% of websites, and to the right of this text input box are two boxes imploring me to think about the FlyerTalk team and how it's so easy for me to help them out by disabling my ad blocker.
Ironic, considering this is a website and forum dedicated to frequent travelers, a significant number of whom A: use VPNs when abroad for any number of which use VPNs when abroad and B: are unable to access anything on FlyerTalk while abroad using those legitimate VPNs. As this thread is now 7.5 years old (It'll be 8 this November) and this is STILL an ongoing problem that the "FlyerTalk Team" has no intention of fixing, No thank you, I will continue to deny you the ad revenue. Sorry, I'd be happy to help you out there, but you can't be bothered to even let me participate without using an insecure network connection. Such a sad, ironic shame.
IF the ads and cookies (including those here on FT) didn’t also come with trackers, retargeting, “analytics” elements and other wholly unwanted and surreptitious tech then many of us would allow them in support of the sites we find value in visiting.
However, publishers and site operators, some unknowingly, display ads that act as a trojan horse to inject unwanted tracking code into the user’s browser, which follows them around long after they’ve left the website that injected the code. It sucks for everyone except maybe the retargeting companies and data brokers.
I value FT and would happily pay a reasonable fee annually for them to be able to provide the site without the invasive tracking technology. Unfortunately that’s not an option, and it’s not easy to convert an ad based site to a subscription one.
On the issue of VPN I also agree, it is sadly ironic and tone deaf to be trying to make savvy travelers of all demographics disable one of the few protective measures we have available to us. I did ask FT and they obliged me to whitelist a single VPN server. I appreciate being able to access the site again but it is a chore to switch to that server just for one website and admittedly my visits here have been a fraction of what they once were due to the extra hoop I now have to jump through.
I operate a small forum of my own and I realize it’s a balance between keeping the spam bots out yet keeping the site accessible and convenient for your users. Seems like it’s too heavy handed in the direction of the former concern, at least from where I sit.
Those are my two cents and FT Team and Mods, know that many of us very much appreciate this place and your work to keep it going. But please also consider the concerns expressed in this thread about the technology decisions that have been made. For every one of us being vocal about it there are likely many more who just stopped visiting and participating or don’t feel compelled enough to speak up.
edit: quoted wrong post.