Promoted posts / “Sponsored post” advertisements
 

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f1a8cb8f68.png

How do I get rid of these wretched Eric & Gustaf promoted posts that now seem to appear on every forum?

You can't. They are a sponsored FT ad.

But why are they listed under discussions? Are we supposed to have a disussion about their bedding?

Really it's just another irritation.

On the desktop site the bedding thing is listed as a sticky. On that basis I won’t be buying.

I am however already tired of seeing this at the rop of every listing. What happens when there are 25 of these bloody adverts posing as posts? How far down the page will we have to scroll to get to the meat of FT?

Never mind, the way IB is going it will all be adverts, and we can go and have our discussions on Facebook. IMO a bad move by IB, that is well capable of annoying your regular readership. However ... their trainset. :td:

There are only 2 spots for such ads.

Thank <Deity> for that!

For the time being ;)

Ads disguised as posts — “Sponsored post”
 

Is this intentional?


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fc06b79529.png

Have you used the little red triangle to report the ad to mods?

It seems mysterious how the thread was set up to appear before the forum's sticky thread(s). AFAIK this shouldn't be possible.

ADDED: This one has disappeared but now I see Visit Palm Springs at the top of the AA forum.

There is no red triangle. It also shows that I responded to the thread, which is false.

It looks like I responded too, but I didn't.

Now my AA forum page is showing the snoring ad again.

I wonder whether one of the AA mods was hacked as I don't see anything similar on the DL, AA, or a couple random other fora.

ADDED: If you don't see the red triangle, check the bottom of the AA page to see whether an AA mod is currently on FT and send them a PM, or send a PM to all of the AA mods. Senior mods can also help with any forum AFAIK, so you could try contacting them.

It used to be possible to see a complete list of the mods and senior mods that generally also showed who was currently logged in, but I can't find that now.

Good ideas. PM sent to AA mod.

If I were a cynic I would say it looks like an IB test....

On a weekend?

Unlikely of course.. more likely some clever spammer. But just like TV news stories that are actually product promotion, it is not beyond possibility that IB might consider adding more subtle advertisements to content than they currently do.

The interesting thing is as a Moderator of the AA | A forum, I don’t see that add / “thread” with my current view and browser. I’m going to try a few things...

JDiver

Later: I can indeed see that “thread” — it’s labelled “Sponsored post”, so it’s an IB contract ad (kind of like Amazon has “sponsored” product offerings). As there’s an existing thread, I’ll merge them. JDiver, Co-Moderator

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d589af8dd.jpeg
Note “Sponsored post” tag.

I hope that IB doesn't resort to placing advertising inside legitimate thread lists. It is deceptive enough to cause inadvertently clicking through, especially since the false flag of having responded to the "thread" is displayed. The result of clicking is a sensational scammy website that has nothing to do whatsoever with American Airlines. :mad:

Sponsored post taking screen space
 

Does anyone know of a way to kill that bleedin sponsored post at the top of the AA forum? The username used is so long that it stretches the username field and means that the thread topic field is unnecessarily wrapping. No other user has such a long username, so I’m losing around 15-20% of the screen width on the other posts username fields with wasted white space.

It’s not an issue on the BA board

Perhaps this should go in the stupidest, least substantive topic.....

It's "View Forum Leaders"...
 

It's still there, at the usual place.

The link is at the center of the lower bottom on the FT forum homepage, listed as "View Forum Leaders" next to "Mark Forum Read", right before "What's Going On?" section. Look for the colored section dividing line (don't know how to call that different color), find View Forum Leaders at the center and click it, that shall take you to:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showgroups.php

Thanks. I guess this is further proof that I never go to the FT homepage and always stay in the fora area.

FT Forum Homepage vs. FT Homepage...
 

"View Forum Leaders" is under FT Forum Homepage (i.e. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/), not FT Homepage (https://www.flyertalk.com/). As a matter of fact, FT Forum Homepage has always been my default homepage and I always go straight into fora and/or jump in the discussion when I want to. I hated it, and still do, when the "higher up" redesigned the forum homepage with the trending threads layout years back.

Like you, I hardly ever visit FT Homepage. Too much marketplace-ish info and "noise" to my taste. This TravelBuzz thread proves my point.

Hi guys,

As you'll note from IBobi's first response in this thread, that is a contract ad, so there is no way to delete it. However, you can easily tell that it's an ad by looking at the replies and views column. They both only contain "-" and the Last Post column states "Sponsored". Plus, the "thread" title just sort of screams "ad".

Oh joy, a new "thread" today from a different sleazy merchant. Are FT users really this unhealthy? Can't wait for tomorrow's Erectile Dysfunction "thread."

The thread response indicator on the far left screams that I responded to the thread... which is false.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e5c0345c37.png

I assume perhaps this is the way that ads get placed in front of folks with blocking technology in their browser.

AFAIK, FlyerTalk isn’t the one placing adverts, but rather the parties paying for advertising rights. I’m guessing there are limitations, and I’m guessing the advertising companies may be less assiduous in what they place than Internet Brands might be in ad selectivity. But we can report ads that go too far and IB can then act and intervene with the advertisement placement companies.

Disclaimer: I’m not speaking as a representative of Internet Brands, FlyerTalk or Admin.

You called it. Mazda ads showing up in the United Airlines post list. Ugh,

Also in the Delta post list.

and Alaska ... typically about three posts down from the top

hover over the thread title ... that way you can see the first line of text in the ad before actually clicking it; the blue "Sponsored" is also a clue