BYOND adverts on "Play Now" are too obtrusive. in BYOND Discussion

ID:132586
 
Apr 13 2010, 7:43 am


As you can see, the advert thats always at the top on the first server is far too large....

It pushs the players names over to one side & leaves a huge gap at the other. Looks very messy.

We have adverts down one side, isnt that enough? How about if it was moved to the bottom of the page? A banner would be better, not sure.
#1 Apr 13 2010, 7:55 am
I agree with this. At the least, moving the ad to either side of the live game listing (instead of in the middle...) would be better.
#2 Apr 13 2010, 8:04 am
In response to Kuraudo (#1)
Moving the ad to the side is not an option. We tried that, and the middle is far and away the better choice.

We're open to suggestions about ads and their placement, but this one in particular is more important than most and has already been tried in several configurations.
#3 Apr 13 2010, 8:21 am
In response to Lummox JR (#2)
Lummox JR wrote:
Moving the ad to the side is not an option. We tried that, and the middle is far and away the better choice.

Is this "not an option" based on the amount of revenue generated? Otherwise, I don't see how the following could be less aesthetically pleasing than the current situation:
*

If the sides really aren't an option, what about left-aligning things instead of centering them, and creating less bluespace?
*
Obviously that could use a little more padding in each column at the discretion of a better designer than I, but I still find that to be significantly nicer than using as much spacing as is being used currently, particularly on higher resolutions.

<small>* Please excuse my shoddy copy&paste skills.</small>
#4 Apr 13 2010, 8:21 am
The ads are to support BYOND, they aren't there to make you enjoy the site more. Ads are supposed to be obtrusive, that way they are seen and collect views and clicks. If you don't like the ads, you're allowed to buy a membership which gives you the option to turn them off. It's all about supporting BYOND, we'd all like to get rid of the ads but BYOND needs them. The discomfort is a small price for keeping BYOND around.
#5 Apr 13 2010, 8:50 am
In response to Vermolius (#4)
Vermolius wrote:
The ads are to support BYOND, they aren't there to make you enjoy the site more. Ads are supposed to be obtrusive, that way they are seen and collect views and clicks. If you don't like the ads, you're allowed to buy a membership which gives you the option to turn them off. It's all about supporting BYOND, we'd all like to get rid of the ads but BYOND needs them. The discomfort is a small price for keeping BYOND around.

I am aware of this, however im not asking them to remove it, just move it from where it currently is.
#6 Apr 13 2010, 8:54 am
In response to Kuraudo (#3)
Yeah, it's revenue based.
#7 Apr 13 2010, 9:34 am
I've posted about this before and I still stand by my suggestion. Unlike the perfectly reasonable sidebar ad, the placement of the server listing ad is just so blatantly obtrusive, all in the name of more money. Head over to any regular website and take a look at their ads. They're in perfectly reasonable locations and don't intrude on the content at all. You can see both ads as soon as you load the page as well.

While it's true BYOND is free and we should be thankful we're able to use it without buying a commercial license, that doesn't mean we should also be thankful for the privilege of being used. Now I don't know anything about what sort revenue BYOND is pulling in, but I can safely assume a reasonable chunk of that comes from ad hits. Since the Play Now ad doesn't seem to be going anywhere despite a lot of people complaining about it, I would also guess a lot of that ad revenue comes from that particular ad.

Those Play Now ads are directly tied to the games we're making. We, as developers, are supporting BYOND by making the games which draw in those clicks, in addition to drawing in even more talent by showing off what BYOND itself is capable of. Not only do we not get a cut, we have no say in what our games are actually advertising. You can't say you're open to suggestions while simultaneously shooting down every single reasonable idea, so we don't even really have a say in the placement either.
#8 Apr 13 2010, 9:48 am
In response to SuperAntx (#7)
SuperAntx wrote:
While it's true BYOND is free and we should be thankful we're able to use it without buying a commercial license, that doesn't mean we should also be thankful for the privilege of being used. Now I don't know anything about what sort revenue BYOND is pulling in, but I can safely assume a reasonable chunk of that comes from ad hits. Since the Play Now ad doesn't seem to be going anywhere despite a lot of people complaining about it, I would also guess a lot of that ad revenue comes from that particular ad.

BYOND makes very little from ads-- so little, in fact, that I'll consider pulling them altogether if memberships (and other stuff) can bring in more money. I have never liked the ad model on the Internet but desperate times have called for desperate measures. It is particularly annoying in this case because we are often advertising competing games, although I have tried to block them as they come up (I see Evony has sneaked through yet again, nice).

The hub ad is our big breadwinner-- far outperforming the sidebar ad on the same page-- due to its obtrusive placement. When we had it in a different location in an earlier iteration, it didn't bring in anything. This implies to me that a lot of the revenue is through "misclicks" (which, while deceptive, isn't necessarily bad for the advertiser since they still get targeted traffic to their site). Again, I don't like this, but we kind of need this paltry contribution just to make ends meet right now.

I think that the alternate suggestions posted by Kuruado below are decent, particularly his second mockup since that preserves the same basic layout in a more friendly manner. We can play around with it more.

Or, if people could help us advertise BYOND itself to the outside world (by making and promoting good games), maybe we could bring in enough new members to scrap all of this crap once and for all.
#9 Apr 13 2010, 4:28 pm
They won't be moved unless they figure out an even more obtrusive position to place them in. Like Verm said, they're mean't to be like that. The ads are not effective unless they are placed somewhere that annoys the hell out of you.

Plus, if they move them to somewhere which is less annoying, thats one less reason to become a member, since memberships allow you to turn them off. Why would BYOND give you one less reason to become a member?
#10 Apr 14 2010, 12:30 pm
You can get extensions for Google Chrome and Firefox I'm sure as well to block ads like that on all sites.
#11 Apr 20 2010, 11:41 am
In response to Tom (#8)


How about this?
#12 Apr 20 2010, 2:22 pm
In response to EternalDuelistSoul (#11)
EternalDuelistSoul wrote:


How about this?

Personally, I don't think so.
If all the information is on the left side, why bother letting your eyes drift to the right? Putting the ad on the left side and all the info on the right would be the best solution, imo.
#13 Apr 20 2010, 2:27 pm
In response to DivineTraveller (#12)
That Grand Theft Auto advertisement is huge, bright, and colorful. You can't miss it.

I doubt anyone who sees your message will not spot the gigantic Grand Theft Auto ad.
#14 Apr 20 2010, 2:45 pm
EternalDuelistSoul wrote:


As you can see, the advert thats always at the top on the first server is far too large....

It pushs the players names over to one side & leaves a huge gap at the other. Looks very messy.

We have adverts down one side, isnt that enough? How about if it was moved to the bottom of the page? A banner would be better, not sure.

It's not enough, byond needs money. Advertisements are supposed to be obtrusive or nobody clicks them and therefore byond makes less money.
#15 Apr 20 2010, 2:46 pm
In response to Lummox JR (#2)
Lummox JR wrote:
Moving the ad to the side is not an option. We tried that, and the middle is far and away the better choice.

We're open to suggestions about ads and their placement, but this one in particular is more important than most and has already been tried in several configurations.

Better off to make the ads as noticeable as possible to me. I'm fine with it if it helps fund Byond.
#16 Apr 20 2010, 7:08 pm
In response to Marquise10 (#14)
Marquise10 wrote:
It's not enough, byond needs money. Advertisements are supposed to be obtrusive or nobody clicks them and therefore byond makes less money.

No, advertisements are not supposed to be obtrusive, they are supposed to be respectful; or would you like to see nice big popups and those banners that extend across the screen or maybe some lady talking about how you just won a free iPad? No. If BYOND wasn't a site I've been using for so long and I have a connection to, those hub ads would be gone immediately, thanks to AdBlock plus. The side ads are fine.
#17 Apr 21 2010, 1:56 pm
In response to Airjoe (#16)
Airjoe wrote:
Marquise10 wrote:
It's not enough, byond needs money. Advertisements are supposed to be obtrusive or nobody clicks them and therefore byond makes less money.

No, advertisements are not supposed to be obtrusive, they are supposed to be respectful; or would you like to see nice big popups and those banners that extend across the screen or maybe some lady talking about how you just won a free iPad? No. If BYOND wasn't a site I've been using for so long and I have a connection to, those hub ads would be gone immediately, thanks to AdBlock plus. The side ads are fine.

Your obviously not an Internet Marketer. The more intrusive the ad the more money is made. That includes how big the ad is and how noticeably it is placed mainly.
#18 Apr 21 2010, 5:41 pm
In response to Marquise10 (#17)
Marquise10 wrote:
Your obviously not an Internet Marketer. The more intrusive the ad the more money is made. That includes how big the ad is and how noticeably it is placed mainly.

The more intrusive an ad is, the more likely you are to turn visitors away and lose money. There is a very careful balancing to an ads placement and other attributes, and being overbearing is not a good stance to take.
#19 Apr 22 2010, 5:13 am
In response to Airjoe (#18)
Or we can all just pay to be members and turn off the adds. That would solve the problem without ANY intervention from the staffs part. win-win o_o