Just started getting an unbearable amount of ads. Is this intentional or an issue somewhere? I really hope the later.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9a7ac4fcb6.png

To be clear, you were logged in and more ads than usual were displayed on the site? And you were automatically redirected without clicking on anything?

Omni PR Sponsored Ads In non-Omni Forum
 

Do we really need this outside of Omni? If that were a user generated post it would have been removed.



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...056686997.jpeg

That ad should disappear within an hour or so and we've reached out to the company that generates them.

I'm still regularly seeing different "Sponsored" ones in the same position (third from top) on both AS and DL boards

I'm getting the "sponsored thread" advertisements in almost every forum for the past week. They are getting more numerous.

Same here. Very annoying :mad:

Sponsored threads have been active for about a year. Are you still seeing political ads?

The sponsored threads have spread from a select few fora, to nearly every one. This is new in 2021. They are clearly deceptive to appear to be user threads, but are actually advertisements. The "user" that is identified with the posts is "chatflights".

I completely disagree. The fact that so many people are bringing them to our attention is indicative that they are clearly advertisements. Sponsored Posts are a pretty standard advertising avenue for forum sites.

the issue isn't the ad itself, it's that it masquerades as a legitimate thread ... yes I understand the advertisers' business model, but that doesn't mean I have to like the sleazy instantiation

I used to subscribe to newspaper sites that started using ads that deceptively appeared to be news stories. They stopped getting my subscription money.

I had never seen one before today. I read every thread in the AC forum, and I saw my first today. I clicked it, assuming it was related to AC. "Top Business Class Destinations Right Now For Under ..." was a thread title that:

1. Needed to be reported for being too click-baity, in violation of the forum rules.
2. Might have been potentially interesting, depending on what the "..." meant
3. Actually contained nothing useful, which would have been clear if the title were descriptive

This was very clearly in violation of FT rule number 4 (https://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#threadtitles), and would have been edited if there were a button to report it. And it had nothing to do with AC, which would result in its deletion from the AC forum.

The first thing I did when I saw it was actually send it to an AC forum moderator.

But this sounds like off-topic threads with click-bait titles are allowed now?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c826945b23.png

Now that you've seen one, do you think you could glance at a thread index and notice the ones that are ads?

the blue "Sponsored" (circled in screenshot above) is a pretty good clue :/

checking random airline boards a few minutes ago, I saw that same ad in **ALL** of them; also a "Top Credit Card Redemptions" ad on the AmEx and Chase boards


again, I understand the advertising business model, but this implementation really detracts from the value of the site as a whole

Travel has been hit harder than almost any other industry. At the end of the day, this allows us to keep the lights on.

Scum on FlyerTalk email
 

I got an email from FlyerTalk and the ad in the email lead to a fake news site and then I didn't dare to click any further.

These fake "Antti Herlin tells how to get rich on on-line trading" - sites just make me sick. Now I was outmost disappointed to find FT using the same scum.

It is obvious that all these "free" services need some sources of funding, but the use of fraudulent news is too much. This is very close to selling stolen credit card numbers, drugs or any other forbidden material. And all of us using the sites earning their funds with frauds silently accepts this... just what happend in the 30's in Germany.

if someone know how to get the attention of FT Mgmt, please do so.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1ed471bdf7.png
And this is the fake news is was referring to
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e58e645575.png
This is the ad in the email I got

I will follow this conversation and if I don't see any change, I'll get out. I'll do my own little share by not accepting on-line fraud positive activities.

In the https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tech...-feedback-386/ section there are threads where disruptive ads can be reported. I assume complaints about other ads can be reported somewhere there.

Users like IBJoel and IBobi are linked to the owner/management, they can likely be contacted too.

I'll speak with our business team, but it looks like this is just a regular ad that was filled by a 3rd party. I checked the one I received and I just got an ad about face masks fogging glasses. Likely you got an ad based on geotargeting or search history.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bffcffff6d.png

Is anything being done about the AnyClip ads? Video is bad as it is...but hovering over content (and then continuing to hover after scrolling) makes mobile surfing unbearable.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...529274c58.jpeg

I'll report this. Also, does the AnyClip ad move into the lower corner of your screen as you scroll? Does it stick to first post it covers up? Does it stay in its position?

Hi IBJoel - 1. starts as full size on first instance (forget the fact there are two ads one above the other). 2. as you scroll past it, minimizes and overlaps content. 3. as you scroll on, stays on screen position and covers content.

Been mentioned few posts back as well - really disruptive. Can share more screens if needed.

OK, but it does stay minimized after it shrinks?

I am seeing these floating pop ups on mobile, no x to close and needing to go back and forward to take the chance of a normal ad appearing. Also now videos within this as well.

it has turned your site into something similar to the click bait Facebook ad sites that give you 10 pieces of information over 10 pages with 100 ads on the page l.

Could you please post a screenshot of the ads you can't close?

I continue to scroll to try to get back to the last page in the thread to make this very post and guess what...a new one pops up and gets in the way.

...I give up and send screenshots to my laptop.
Yesterday the same issues caused my Safari browser webpage to crash. I had to keep reloading to get back to the first page in the thread...and then crash as I tried to get back to the last page in the thread.

Gave up in the end - the thread is no longer readable.https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a04398432d.png
Add initial appears at the bottom
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5120f71bbf.png
Then Floats up to cover the thread - here all you can see are two different adds, the floating one and the in-thread one. Together they hide the discussion content. As can see - there is no way to close this video. Only if I continue to scroll fast to run away from it.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c3fa010f70.png
The Video follows me though - now it has an x- to close it. So I close it..
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e8f99ffe3c.png
I continue to scroll to try to get back to the last page in the thread to make this very post and guess what...a new one pops up and gets in the way. ...I give up and send screenshots to my laptop. Yesterday the same issues caused my Safari browser webpage to crash. I had to keep reloading to get back to the first page in the thread...and then crash as I tried to get back to the last page in the thread. Gave up in the end - the thread is no longer readable.

This happens on every thread I am in - in other words - I can no longer read any threads on FT!

You have plenty of examples in the last few messages of this thread, I have seen all examples. I cannot screenshot without actually hitting the link for these ads they are so disruptive. As someone says above, the perfect way to turn people off.

Here are some more that I experience trying to look at this thread.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a4d3f8a837.png
(Above) As can see - there is no way to close this add. It also causes the rest of the page to fail to load - it's just blank white space.
...

(Below)
I have to wait a long time for the page to finish loading all it's built in adds and then I can scroll back to the thread page I was trying to look at. The add then appears towards the bottom:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e64cc7f27d.png

(Below)
As you might see from the horizontal blue progress bar, the website tries to load some more (earlier screenshots indicate the browser thought it had finished loading...but each time I get to the post that I intend to read, the ads in between the earlier posts in the thread start to load and this changes the lenght of the thread, causing me to loose my place).

The floating add then changes to become even bigger
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dd709adab9.png


(Below) Then it turns into this one (also not able to close):
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ae54a5c20c.png



Then eventually after scrolls back yet again to the post I was trying to read I get this floating one appear:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...28b7ffca0f.png


Before I can click on the X to close it, the page crashes out:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f40cc951af.png


I give up...

iPhone 6s
iOS 14.4.1
Browser: Safari

I'm investigating this with Tech. I am unable to replicate on my Android, so we think it may be Apple/Safari-related.

I am using Samsung Internet on an android, and have seen all examples above.

I have this same issue in every visit to the forum for the past 2 weeks.

The site is unusable on iOS 14.4.1 on iPhone X because it gets stuck on that error page. I’m lucky if I can read 2 posts before that occurs - and I can’t get the link to open to post a screenshot.

What a bummer, used to visit daily.

Def not an iOS only issue. My instance is from Android.

This has been raised to you guys for weeks, with several users replicating the annoyance and there's no solution? Get your buddies at AnyClip (https://www.anyclip.com/post/interne...inous-platform) to explain what's happening and fix please

Sorry guys, I meant to reply earlier, but my home internet has been spotty this week.
Essentially, we can't replicate this. We had multiple people trying on long threads on Android and iOS. Anyclip, while yes, a little annoying, worked as it's supposed to: The video appears, shrinks when you scroll down, and you click the "X" and it disappears.

Hi Joel, '"working as it's supposed to" and "little annoying" shouldn't be acceptable to you (or your ad partner) when user feedback is:

"turned your site into something similar to the click bait Facebook ad sites"
"the perfect way to turn people off"
"I give up..."
"What a bummer, used to visit daily."

If a handful of us have ventured into technical support to raise this, thousands others must be feeling the same way. Genuinely hope you don't accept this as OK.

The reality is this: Online advertising is changing. Video ads are here to stay. They let us keep the lights on and as you can guess, FlyerTalk took a hit, along with every other travel site the past year. If video ads aren't on your favorite sites, they soon will be. I have discussed this with our tech team. I have discussed this with our business team. When we receive feedback, I make sure it is heard by the right people.

It's not video ads we're protesting here - by all means, go video crazy until traffic resumes. It's the way these video ads disrupt/obstruct site content, often can't be closed, glitch up and freeze that we have comments about.

There is a way to do video ads. This is not the way. If you were able to replicate (ask anyclip to give you a demo) what we're experiencing, I'm optimistic you'd get frustrated and come to agree.

I'm able to close every AnyClip ad. I don't know why a demo from the company would include bugs? I've spent hours on multiple devices, as has our tech team, trying to get one of these things to glitch up.

It seems that the video ads automatically force Spotify to pause on my iphone (when playing on a bluetooth connected Sonos). Flyertalk is the only website that causes that. Seriously annoying.

Paka Paka FlyerTalk
This forum is dead to me, the adds are unbearable.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...09f10f869b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...409be406f6.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...87c9124936.jpg

You can X out a few of those ads and the others are static and will just leave your screen as you scroll.