Ads

[Tigerbomb13]

Does anyone else get these constantly on their smart phone lately?

 

[Tiger337]

This site is becoming almost unusable now for me with all the pop up ads.  Is everyone else seeing a big increase in ads?  

[ben9753]

Do you have an ad blocker?

[MotownWebGuy]

On 6/10/2025 at 5:41 PM, Tiger337 said:

This site is becoming almost unusable now for me with all the pop up ads.  Is everyone else seeing a big increase in ads?  

Sometimes Google likes to make some changes on their own, which changes the level and frequency of the ads shown.  I'm happy to make adjustments when this happens, so just let me know when you start to see more than the normal amount.  This was not done intentionally.

[MotownWebGuy]

On 6/10/2025 at 5:55 PM, ben9753 said:

Do you have an ad blocker?

Thanks for your support of this free website.

[Tiger337]

On 6/10/2025 at 5:55 PM, ben9753 said:

Do you have an ad blocker?

I've tried them on occasion, but I find that they get in the way of stuff that I need and I have to remove it.  I solved the problem on this site. Whenever I get a popup that won't go away, I hit "continue".  

[Tiger337]

On 6/12/2025 at 4:47 PM, MotownWebGuy said:

Sometimes Google likes to make some changes on their own, which changes the level and frequency of the ads shown.  I'm happy to make adjustments when this happens, so just let me know when you start to see more than the normal amount.  This was not done intentionally.

Yes, I know you don't do it intentionally.  You do a great job with this site.  

[MotownWebGuy]

46 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I've tried them on occasion, but I find that they get in the way of stuff that I need and I have to remove it.  I solved the problem on this site. Whenever I get a popup that won't go away, I hit "continue".  

When you say you get popups, is what you are seeing something like this:

Vignette ads - Full screen ads that appear between page loads

 

If so, there should always be the option to close those out either with an "X" in the upper corner or some other wording under the ad I believe.  You should never have to continue or click to enable.  Of course if you are seeing something else, let me know.  A screenshot (if you are able to capture it) would help me figure out if it is something different. 

 

Vignette ads should not be appearing more than one per hour, according to my current settings with Google.

[chasfh]

Vignettes ads on my iPhone appear about once in every three to five or so clicks. On my iPad, though, I can't recall whether I've seen any at all. Strange because they are supposed to be mirror operating systems, or so I would assume.

[Hongbit]

On 6/19/2025 at 11:16 AM, MotownWebGuy said:

When you say you get popups, is what you are seeing something like this:

Vignette ads - Full screen ads that appear between page loads

 

If so, there should always be the option to close those out either with an "X" in the upper corner or some other wording under the ad I believe.  You should never have to continue or click to enable.  Of course if you are seeing something else, let me know.  A screenshot (if you are able to capture it) would help me figure out if it is something different. 

 

Vignette ads should not be appearing more than one per hour, according to my current settings with Google.

I’ve recently started to see a few vignette ads with no x anywhere and forces me to watch.  It doesn’t always go away once the ad is finished and I have to refresh to get back.   Oddly enough if I turn my phone onto landscape mode, the ad goes away and I can view the site again. It seems to happen most with the Gateway Community College ad.

Edited Sunday at 04:01 PM by Hongbit

[lordstanley]

I can't access the site on my iPhone today. A video clip ad pops up and then when it is done just stays on the screen. Only button is to rewatch the ad, which gets you no further ahead. No issue when on my PC.

[CMRivdogs]

Got several popups this morning covering the entire iPhone screen. Kaye Jewelers and AARP most prominent. No way to close them. 
I turned my phone on its side (portrait view) and they finally left the screen.

Becoming a PIA

[Hongbit]

Sounds like we are all having the same issue on iPhone.  

[CMRivdogs]

Usually there is an arrow or something that allows you to remove them. Several of these don’t unless you can maneuver your phone

[MichiganCardinal]

Wasn't having the issue until the last hour or so, but now inaccessible on my iPhone. Refreshing the page just loads the same or a new ad with the same problem where you can't scroll to the 'minimize' button.

[MotownWebGuy]

I turned off Vignette ads on Monday because Google does not make it easy (if you can at all) to identify specific ads that are causing issues and eliminate them, so I stopped them all.  This issue should have been resolved then...

If you are still getting them, then it's Google screwing us. There has been a drop in revenue in the past two days which reflects the changes I've made.

I'm currently on vacation and don't have a lot of time to deal with this issue, but I'll check again and see if there is any additional changes I can make.  Hopefully this resides soon...  Maybe a cache refresh is need on users end?

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, MotownWebGuy said:

I turned off Vignette ads on Monday because Google does not make it easy (if you can at all) to identify specific ads that are causing issues and eliminate them, so I stopped them all.  This issue should have been resolved then...

If you are still getting them, then it's Google screwing us. There has been a drop in revenue in the past two days which reflects the changes I've made.

I'm currently on vacation and don't have a lot of time to deal with this issue, but I'll check again and see if there is any additional changes I can make.  Hopefully this resides soon...  Maybe a cache refresh is need on users end?

thank-you for the effort!

[Hongbit]

I was still having the problem this morning but looks like a cache reset solved the issue. 
 

Thanks MWG!

[CMRivdogs]

28 minutes ago, MotownWebGuy said:

I turned off Vignette ads on Monday because Google does not make it easy (if you can at all) to identify specific ads that are causing issues and eliminate them, so I stopped them all.  This issue should have been resolved then...

If you are still getting them, then it's Google screwing us. There has been a drop in revenue in the past two days which reflects the changes I've made.

I'm currently on vacation and don't have a lot of time to deal with this issue, but I'll check again and see if there is any additional changes I can make.  Hopefully this resides soon...  Maybe a cache refresh is need on users end?

If it helps, one was an AARP ad. I cant remember the other one. It was just weird, if I turned my phone sideways the ads were manageable. (landscape??). The normal way the hung there forever.

No issues today. Thank you for your efforts

[MotownWebGuy]

35 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

If it helps, one was an AARP ad. I cant remember the other one. It was just weird, if I turned my phone sideways the ads were manageable. (landscape??). The normal way the hung there forever.

No issues today. Thank you for your efforts

Someone also mention a college ad also causing issues? Ideally you'd think I could go into Google AdSense and see all the ads that are running and pick and choose which ones I want to run or not but if that option exists, I don't know where to find it.  I've learned in my years working with Google products for my personal and professional endeavors, they make nothing easy to find and/or understand.

When I looked into these issues on Monday with my iPhone, I experienced the same problems.  Landscape did seem to help me, but I also wasn't able to figure out where to click the ads off.  So that's why I turned it off and will look into it more when I return from vacation next week.

Sorry for the issues, it's never my intention to make the site difficult to navigate.