The ads really don't bother me. Well obviously they didn't since someone had to show me where they were . If they were the big bouncy top-of-the-page ads or the kind that expand when you get your pointer anywhere near them then I would be highly annoyed but having words to the bottom left of the page really doesn't effect me one way or another especially if it helps the site stay free & keep getting bigger & better

 

p.s... Mark it is my firewall blocking that vendor ads. I disabled it & they all appear.

 

Just to note...every other MINI-related site that we frequent has Google Ads as well. MotoringFile, MINI2, etc. The placements I used were already unused for any other purpose and were done in a scheme that looks and feels like the rest of the site. As I stated earlier...this is an experiment with the purpose of being able to provide another potential advertising option to MINI-related vendors that, for whatever reason, don't want to start with one of our other programs. One of the things I offer to all the vendors on NAM is consulting regarding how best to position themselves online. Having a targeted Google AdWords offering for these types of vendors would allow them to get onto the site plus reach other MINI-related sites.

You may have been viewing the site when I was changing things around. There should be any impact to scrolling or the normal forum content. If there is let me as I just found (and resolved) a formatting issue that I hadn't intended.

Mark

 

Based on your text above I would expect that you are seeing the Google ads and not the NAM Vendor ads. Is this correct or is it that you are only seeing the ads hosted on NAM (ie - those in the vendor directory, at the top of the forums, etc.)?

 

The service I'm using from Google is supposed to do this. Since I just implemented this I've been told that it will take some time to crawl the site and make the ads more relevant to each pages content. Again, given that I placed the ads in the left-hand bottom of the forum pages it should not impact the layout of the forum content.

 

Very strange. The banners you are seeing are hosted on NAM as well as 99% of the others. If you see any of them you should see them all. If you have the chance can you see if you see a different behavior if using Firefox (if you are using IE 7)? Thanks

Mark

 

This was a result of typo I made and has been corrected. The only areas you should see the Google blocks are on the NAM home page (lower left block and center bottom of page), lower left block on the forum pages, and center bottom of the Review system pages.

Mark

 

I use IE7. Don't have Firefox loaded on any of my puters sorry. I tried it a few years ago & it didn't work well for me but I really do need to try something new as IE7 isn't thrilling me

 

Firefox has really improved a lot in the last couple of years. I use it on Windows, OS X, and do all NAM development with it as the primary browser.

As for the vendor banners I saw that you solved that issue through your firewall. Thanks for providing an update on that.

Mark

 

Firefox and Adblock are my friends. That being said. Nice out of the way placement on the ads, Mark. Not in the way and far enough down the page to keep it from looking like a free hosting site.

Now I'm off to adblock them.

 

Using the Adblock I don't see the google ads or the ads hosted on NAM. Only ads hosted off of NAM. Same way with other website I frequent.

 

Me being ok with them is dependent on some things. With the sites design you need to worry about your ROI. You are investing into our satisfaction of the site. Since the site is made for us, I would say that we are the ones investing our enjoyment into these ads.

So, what are we going to see in return? Correct me if I'm wrong but NAM isn't in any sort of financial danger is it? So it looks like these google ads are just to generate a little more revenue?

I can deal with the GoogleAds if at AMVIV or MOTD there are even bigger and better things for us. Or if members get even bigger perks on the site. But if nothing changes, then why annoy us?

Another idea, what if you keep the Google Ads on for guests on the site, but take them off for members. Or... maybe as a perk for getting past 4th gear you take off the ads?

Just some ideas.

 

The text-based Google ads are mostly unobtrusive, as long as they try and remain relevant not just to the overall content, but MINIs as well. I know it's possible to fine-tune the 'sensing' to not let things tray too much into the irrelevant and annoying (or even inappropriate) territory. This could happen in Off-Topic, for example. Mark's implementation of the Google ads is 'tasteful' enough, by lining it up in the left-hand margin it keeps the overall site 'flow' intact.

By far the worst implementation of text-based contextual ads are those annoying Intelletext in-line scripts that turn key words in any text stream into ads that 'activate' when you mouse over them. Just flying past them opens a little pop-up text window with the pitch. Most Intelletext ads are double-underlined to differentiate them from regular links. Still, the random highlighting is at best awkward, mostly I find it a distraction, especially if my cursor happens to go over a link and it pops over what I am reading. Those things get immediately Adblocked at the script level as my opinion of the site takes a nosedive. I will never, ever click on a link or do business with an outfit that resorts to obtrusive advertising (popups, popunders, flash overlays, spastic banners, huge panels, etc).

 

MBE the trade off for Google Ads could be...
Letting us use custom avatars on at NAM


p.s... Mark I just downloaded Firefox. It has changed a lot for the better since I tried it last. IE7 makes you jump thru hurdles to insert images & smilies on NAM but Firefox doesn't. Firefox didn't offer inline autocomplete like IE7 does in the browser bar but I Googled it & found out how to turn it on so life is good. I think I will give Firefox a try for awhile

 

So they don't want to pay your fees so we have to look at Google adds? If they don't want to pay your fees then they shouldn't represent themselves as Vendors here....

Whatever. If you're keeping a tally, I'm in the "no" camp. I know how to use Google and other search engines, and when I want to find the lowest price on a Suzuki, I'll do it myself.

Matt

 

I'll second that. Then again we already have our signatures.

 

I just can't figure out how ads for mail ordered trees matches the needs of the typical MINI owner coming here for info.

 

This is something is supposed to improve over time. Just in the few days it's already more contextually relevant then it first was. I'm still communicating with Google to try to get it dialed in better.

 

I wonder what are the feelings of NAM Sponsors who have paid for their presence among the pages here when the 'googles' show up inside their sponsored forum page. I know that if I was a vendor I would not particularly be happy to have a competitor (up to four of them potentially) in my 'space'. My observations have dug up all sorts of scenarios here. Take a trip into Off Topic, then find the thread that talks about cigars. Most of the Google ads end up being for cigars, humidors and related. Not an obvious issue, since I know of no such vendors vying for such ad space here. That's how the system 'should' work. Go into Tire and Wheel, though, and you will get ads for companies competing directly against Tire Rack, a NAM sponsor in that space. Ditto for most of the specific-topic forums that have direct sponsorship in those spaces.

I know that most people here would not trot off to an unknown merchant that popped up in a google ad when so many of the sponsoring vendors have built up great reputations over the years from working with our community, but it seems to be a bit unfair to those merchants to have these 'unknowns' barge into their space. I am sure there is contractual language that can allow this, but I can remember on many occasions where someone is trying to sell something to the readership here and gets told that it's forbidden unless they become a paying sponsor. Then there is the few who will 'pad' their posts creatively with certain words in order to 'steer' the AdSense mechanism into bringing up preferred ads in the system. I doubt that would happen much here without being shut down, but it does happen in lots of forums. Same with 'link farming'.

Just my $0.02.

 

they won't sign vendor agreements, but now NAM gets click through revenue.

Sucks.

Matt

 

I don't much care if the ads are on NAM or not. If it helps pay the bills, great.

I did try one the other day, for free cellphone ringtones. Got to the site, but it did not give me a pin# as it was supposed to, so I gave up. Probably be my last time clicking on any of them.

Mark

 

Like I've said a couple of times in this thread...this is an experiment to see how it works or doesn't work. The more important aspect for me is to learn if there is a type of consulting service I can provide companies that can't jump into one of our current site programs. From the perspective of the MINI-related company you can target certain sites with AdWords. Given that we didn't have AdSense on NAM until know there wasn't the ability to target NAM except through our programs. With this type of program I can provide assistance to these companies in targeting NAM in a lower cost way AND, as a result, make the ads more relevant to the site.

Also, keep in mind that the location of the Google Ads right now does not give them any type of preference over the NAM vendor placements. They don't get a graphic, the text is similar to the rest of the text on pages, and we don't put it in a block that visually shocks your senses into looking at it. In other words this would provide a vendor the lowest cost way to get onto the site while other vendors wanting a stronger presence have other options through our standard programs.

As I said before it is an experiment and based on what I learn it may or may not stay long-term.

Thanks for your patience.

Mark

 

Keep up the good work Mark

 

Maybe they heard about the wreck on the dragon last year affected a few trees and are giving us the chance to replace them at a low price.

 

The most annoying drawback about the Google ads to me aren't the content of the ads themselves, but the delay it causes when switching to different threads. There is a noticeable delay when viewing in Firefox where the nav bars are displayed but the thread content is delayed until the ads are retrieved from Google which unfortunately isn't instantaneously.

Richard