Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2007 » Seriously annoying ads on the Freep & DetNews now « Previous Next »
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4931
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 3:11 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As if it wasn't annoying enough a few weeks ago that the Detroit News and Free Press websites suddenly started using pop-up ads sprouting up from behind, I was just greeted with a frickin' huge banner ad splashed my screen before I eventually got to my headlines. I wrote a nasty letter to Mike Wendland at the Freep complaining and he was at least kind enough to forward it to the website techie people at the Freep but obviously that had little effect. Instead we get deluged with more annoying ads.

And like I had mentioned before when the pop-up ads started appearing, don't these ads have a reverse effect with consumers? I know that they supposedly raise consumer awareness of their brands and all but does it also make consumers hate their product/ service that much more for their blatant annoynace factor??

And I guess the local fishwraps are really desperate for cash nowadays if they've got to resort to this sort of ugly advertising- it's annoying and pitiful. Why not employ non-invasive banner ads along the sides of their articles? We understand the need to have ad dollars & revenue but this is just a horrid way to reach audiences.
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Peter
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Username: Peter

Post Number: 37
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 3:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

at least it's not as bad as the Metro Times ads...
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Sirrealone
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Username: Sirrealone

Post Number: 10
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 7:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The part that kills me is that you'd think that if the designers are smart enough to get ads up that can avoid pop up blocking software, that they could figure out a way to make it so that if you see the banner ad once, or get the pop-up once, that you wouldn't have to see it again. But, every time I switched pages I got to see the same Kohl's ad this morning.

What is going to happen is that they're going to irritate me to the point where I cancel my Sunday paper. I think that'd be the way to talk to them....start calling and threatening cancellation specifically because of website ads. Maybe they'll realize that they could lose more money with lost subscriptions than the money they're gaining with these ads.
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Craig
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Username: Craig

Post Number: 155
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 7:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

These ads bug me too, but haven't you heard about how readers are abandoning news papers for other media? The old-line media are withering, and pop-ups and banners are a part of their effort to secure ad revenue and thereby remain viable. You're looking at the future - papers as we knew them are going away and you get "this" in exchange.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 628
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 8:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It is annoying. Sadly, with nobody buying newspapers anymore - and therefore ad revenues have plummeted - the industry is trying to do all it can to get money. Think of it as a full-page ad in the print edition and just "flip past it." : /
It's no worse, in my opinion, than the video ads that play on the TV stations' Web sites.
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 2533
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 9:21 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well if they keep up with the crappy banner adds they are going to lose their local readers. There are plenty of other news sites out there that don't do this crap.
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Tetsua
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Username: Tetsua

Post Number: 1155
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 9:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

The part that kills me is that you'd think that if the designers are smart enough to get ads up that can avoid pop up blocking software, that they could figure out a way to make it so that if you see the banner ad once, or get the pop-up once, that you wouldn't have to see it again. But, every time I switched pages I got to see the same Kohl's ad this morning.



Sounds like they know what they're doing if you KEEP on seeing it.
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Stecks77
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Username: Stecks77

Post Number: 333
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 9:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Smogboy

If you use Internet Explorer I would suggest switching to Firefox (mozilla.com) as your browser. You can then add an extension called Ad Blocker which kills pop ups and an enormous amount of advertising built into the page. It works wonders. There are also other extension associated with Firefox that can block text based advertising as well.

Give it a try.
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Tetsua
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Username: Tetsua

Post Number: 1156
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 9:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Firefox is far superior to IE indeed. You get less spyware / adware on your PC as well.
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4933
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:01 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Odd... The ad that I was referring to was this huge splash ad touting Kohl's. It filled the entire screen with a [SKIP AD] feature on it. It would linger for a split second and then disappear to reveal the Detnews or Freep content. Now it seems to be gone as of this morning.
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4934
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Could it be the DetroitYes karma working or maybe someone at the DetNews & Freep got tired of seeing it as well?
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Stecks77
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Username: Stecks77

Post Number: 334
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We can only hope so.
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Club_boss
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Username: Club_boss

Post Number: 17
Registered: 12-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It "popped up" the first time I went to the site this morning.
Subsequent visits were pop free.
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Smogboy
Member
Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4936
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:12 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Are there any marketing people or advertisers here that actually think those ads work??

And when I mean "work", I mean generate awareness and positive feelings toward your brand. As it is with me, it just pisses me off and makes me feel less toward them. Can someone explain the rationale for this form of advertising?? And why this form of obtrusive advertising over less obtrusive (and just as visible) banner ads tha run along the edge of an article?
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Jelk
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Username: Jelk

Post Number: 4307
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

I wrote a nasty letter to Mike Wendland at the Freep complaining and he was at least kind enough to forward it to the website techie people at the Freep but obviously that had little effect.



If the Free Press moved their offices to Pontiac would you also write an angry letter to John Gallagher? Hard to take someone seriously if they are so stupid as to think a newspaper's tech reporter has anything to do with the look and feel of the paper's website.

God damn Michissippians are stupid.
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Jdkeepsmiling
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Username: Jdkeepsmiling

Post Number: 238
Registered: 01-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 10:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

<~~~~~~~~~~ Using Firefox to peruse DetYes.
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4939
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 11:29 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jelk, trust me in knowing that Mike Wendland isn't the do-all, end-all when it comes to making changes on their website. I included it as PART of a longer email regarding an article he wrote about privacy on the web. So before you label anyone "stupid enough" to do just that, ask first before you make assumptions.
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Smogboy
Member
Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4940
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 11:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And technically speaking, Mike Wendland is NOT just a tech reporter (he shares those reporting duties with Heather Newman), his title is Detroit Free Press Convergence Editor.

Hoo boy.
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Crew
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Username: Crew

Post Number: 1190
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 11:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hey, you get what you pay for. The Freep has to pay its bills and running their site for free isn't cheap. If you don't want to click through a single ad, don't go to their website.
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Focusonthed
Member
Username: Focusonthed

Post Number: 903
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 05, 2007 - 12:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's likely they set that ad up originally without frequency capping. Frequency capping is used to prevent unique users from seeing a particular ad more than a certain number of times in a certain period. Interrupting ads such as these are usually frequency capped to 1 per 24 hours. I imagine they made a mistake, and corrected later.

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