What follows is the second, revised-and-updated version of a new thread I tried to post on the help forum yesterday. If what I put up yesterday eventually goes through, I'll add the new stuff from this in a reply; otherwise, this will be my second attempt.

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Mentioned this briefly in the 'new server' thread, but since I think it's unrelated, I'll post it separately:

Over at DiscApp #199610, we've been seeing increasingly intrusive ads. I fully understand that advertising is part of having a free service, but I do think that at least some of what we're seeing isn't as intended by the YourWebApps team.

Things we have noted, with quotes from forum users:

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*Full-screen adverts appear quite frequently, and exhibit some very intrusive behaviour. This can include unclosable ads which have to be 'back-button'ed out of:

(1) "I just got a full page ad (I'm on mobile [Android]) three times in a row. There is no x. It's for some kind of antivirus thing, supposedly. When I hit the back button, the popup saying that my phone 'has a risk' disappears, but the thing underneath remains and some sort of loading bar fills up. There's no way I'm clicking on it, so I don't know where it leads. When I hit the back button again, I don't end up on the page I was trying to view (which often loads fine right before the ad comes): I'm at least one page back, and have to navigate back to the page--going forward generally just brings the ad back".^{[DawnFire 1]}

(2) "Just got that full page malware/antivirus ad twice in a bloody row while trying to see Nesh's post above. Exactly the same as what I described in the first post, but twice instead of thrice. [...] antivirus ad again just now. It definitely dropped me back a page when I hit the back button. This is... a pretty high concentration, actually. Normally it doesn't happen so many times in a row... Or maybe I just get annoyed and take a break from using the Board faster."^{[DawnFire 2]}

(3) "Antivirus ad again just now. It definitely dropped me back a page when I hit the back button. [...] I double checked that going forward brings me straight back to the ad; I tried closing the tab and opening a new one--same thing."^{[DawnFire 4 & 5]}

(4) "What's also frustrating is on the phone, adds randomly appear (and yes, I supposedly have them blocked), and they're so huge they fill the entire screen, and for some reason there's often no X to click, forcing me to reload the page. When there is and X, it just takes me to the ad's main site."^{[Iximaz 1]}

(5) "Ads have also become more obtrusive. I've noticed that the site is using more side scroll-in ads that cover a good chunk of the links. They can also sometimes repeatedly layer themselves, meaning that there is still an ad there even if you click the "hide" tab. I had eight copies of the same ad layered on top of themselves at one point."^{[PoorCynic 1]}

(6) "On both [Windows 7 and Android phone], there's also a half page ad that looks like it's for Facebook. It's annoying on mobile, because when you move down, it flickers out of sight and then comes back until you x it. On the laptop, it stays constant until xed, and is a banner at the bottom of the page. The x doesn't redirect in either case."^{[DawnFire 1]}

(7) "Loading times aren't that bad, but ads are killer. To the point where I stopped using my computer to read the 'Board - there was just too much risk, I either had to have NoScript and Adblock, and even then I worried. So on my phone (iPhone), about 1/3 of the time, I get an ad that covers the entire screen, and can only be removed by refreshing the page and hoping it doesn't pop up next time."^{[VixenMage 1]}

(8) "And now my laptop's being flooded. Seven identical ads all stacked on top of one another in one go kicked it off, and now every time I go to the main Board, I get a side-scrolling ad (or several) to deal with."^{[Iximaz 2]}

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*Automatic redirects, which mostly seem to be seen on phones:

(9) "I avoid checking the Board on my phone whenever I can because I get ad redirects or the App Store randomly opens, and it's probably the most frustrating thing I've had the displeasure of encountering."^{[Iximaz 1]}

(10) "Relatedly, sometimes the site runs ads that will automatically redirect me to the App Store if I'm browsing via iOS."^{[PoorCynic 1]}

(11) "Moto G running Android 4.4.4. I definitely get auto-redirected sometimes, plus things that pop up and want me to do something or go somewhere else that can only be got rid of by reloading."^{[Neshomeh 1]}

(12) "Just got redirected *three times* to the Google Play Store [on an Android phone], for a 'Wizard of Oz Free Slots Casino' app. Not even kidding. I didn't click on anything besides Irish's post, but a redirect page (just a URL) came up and then I was redirected to the Google Play app. Now, I will give you that I watched a clip of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on YouTube either yesterday or the day before; that's the only connection I know of, and it seems pretty random otherwise. When I hit the back button, I ended up first back at the redirect page (which didn't redirect me again) and then on Irish's post when I hit it again. Of course, I was promptly redirected in the same way twice more from his post until I hit the reply button."^{[DawnFire 3]}

(13) "I can confirm that there most certainly are auto-redirects, at least on the iPhone."^{[TheShyIon 1]}

(14) "(iPhone) 1/3 of the time, I get redirected and the App Store opens. What I usually do to combat this is as soon as the content of the page loads, hit the "stop loading" button on the URL bar. Not always, but usually, this stops the ad from loading. [...] I still read the posts that interest me, but the subject lines have to clear a pretty high bar of interest for obvious reasons. :P This has been the case for about… I dunno, at least the past few months. Several months probably."^{[VixenMage 1]}

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*The problems appear to be worst on phones:

(15) "For whatever reason, it is significantly worse when browsing on my phone or tablet. My computer gets the pop-ups or redirects occasionally, but mobile devices seem to get them a lot - I've basically given up reading the Board on my tablet. I've also had the problem of some ads filling the whole screen and not having an option to close them, but only on my tablet."^{[the Irish Samurai 1]}

(16) "I use my phone to check the board fairly often when I'm on my break, and these redirects occur, I'd say, at least a third of the time when I click on a post. At worst, though, they appear at double that rate and make it nearly impossible to navigate the board since the redirects create a queue of at least three blank web pages before sending me back to the page before the one I was trying to view."^{[Fasoula 1, with confirmation by Iximaz and Pippa's Ghost]}

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*Some users have reported what appear to be direct viral attacks:

(17) "Twice now I've had a new tab created for me saying that my computer has a problem, and that it's very serious. The ad looks official, and the only way to close it is to use Task Manager and shut down your entire browser."^{[Alleb 1]}

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The full-screen adverts may be intended to be there, I don't know, but I suspect they're supposed to always have an X button. I'm nearly certain the X button isn't supposed to act as if you'd clicked the advert, though that may be linked to it being on a phone. Based on what Tamara said here, I'm pretty sure the auto-redirects aren't supposed to be there.

As I said, I know that some advertising is an essential part of keeping YourWebApps free, but I'm almost certain some of this behaviour is not what you intend to be happening. In the interests of keeping the service running smoothly, I figured you'd like to know what was going on.

One final quote which may help you to investigate the situation:

(18) "Also: this isn't constant, the ads. There are always the ones in the place designated for them--sometimes these are really large and can distort the page layout--but the majority of the time, I'm able to use the Board without seeing the full-page ads. Maybe even 8 or 9 times out of 10."^{[DawnFire 1]}

hS

Seven identical ads all stacked on top of one another in one go kicked it off, and now every time I go to the main Board, I get a side-scrolling ad (or several) to deal with.



So much for the laptop being my safe haven. :/

But after having my computer infected by a virus thanks to an uncloseable pop-up banner even if I didn't click on it and closed the browser right away with Task Manager...

I decided I wouldn't take chances anymore, ever. Ad blocker, with additional element hiding helper addon in case something slips through.

Or in case the site shows a big "Disable AdBlock" banner. I either block the hell out of that banner too or, if that doesn't work, go to a different site.

Also, to me the Board loads really fast to me (less than five seconds at most.) I suspect that the reason is the excess of ads - they bog down the browser. Preventing them to load frees up bandwidth for the actual site to load up.

So, I might be an evil unsupporter of Youtubers and similia, but I'm not going back.

To the point where I stopped using my computer to read the 'Board - there was just too much risk, I either had to have NoScript and Adblock, and even then I worried. So on my phone (iPhone), about 1/3 of the time, I get an ad that covers the entire screen, and can only be removed by refreshing the page and hoping it doesn't pop up next time. 1/3 of the time, I get redirected and the App Store opens. What I usually do to combat this is as soon as the content of the page loads, hit the "stop loading" button on the URL bar. Not always, but usually, this stops the ad from loading.

I mean, I still read the posts that interest me, but the subject lines have to clear a pretty high bar of interest for obvious reasons. :P This has been the case for about… I dunno, at least the past few months. Several months probably.

At best, it's a minor annoyance on my computer. However, twice now I've had a new tab created for me saying that my computer has a problem, and that it's very serious. The ad looks official, and the only way to close it is to use Task Manager and shut down your entire browser.

Granted, I've had the same browser (Firefox) and OS (...Windows 7, I think?) for the past few months, with no problems. And I only use my desktop for browsing on the Board, so I wouldn't know how it is for any other combination.

I don't get those problems with my computer, but I avoid checking the Board on my phone whenever I can because I get ad redirects or the App Store randomly opens, and it's probably the most frustrating thing I've had the displeasure of encountering.

What's also frustrating is on the phone, adds randomly appear (and yes, I supposedly have them blocked), and they're so huge they fill the entire screen, and for some reason there's often no X to click, forcing me to reload the page. When there is and X, it just takes me to the ad's main site.

I know Darkotas has had these problems as well, which is partially why he's been asking me to relay posts while he's at camp: too much reloading involved eating up his data.

Over here. She says:

DiscApp 199610 loads quickly on both my computer and IPhone. As far as we can determine, the new server is faster than the old server. I would need to know what OS and browser he is using to cause the issues you describe. On the iPhone, there is only a banner ad and he would need to click it to be redirected to the App Store. There are no auto redirects.

(Sorry for messing up the link last time, don't know what was going on there.)

If you want to chat directly to find out if it's a problem at their end, you can; or I can relay messages.

hS

On June 29th,, they apparently migrated disc.yourwebapps to a new server. That probably explains the load times. (Previously we've had problems with loading the Board's css, because it was hosted on Freewebs; since I moved it to Google, I don't think that's come up).

The cover-everything ads are annoying, I agree, though I've not seen them layered. There seems to be no way to turn them off without paying $92 per month for premium access, though.

I'll mention your observations about loading times over on the support forum - I've noticed it a bit as well. For that matter, I'll mention the layered ads! There might be a problem they don't know about.

hS