Forum advert banner

[Tonyf33]

I rarely pay any attention to banner ads wherever they are, so...
If it benefits CTC and enables them to promote cycling and/or give them more clout to force through legislation to make cycling better/safer through the additional funds I'm all for it, I don't see keeping the subs down as a priority, it's already too cheap IMO.
Whilst CTC members will feel they should have a say about what does/does not appear on the forum I for one don't feel that a few ads on the banner area will ruin the 'look' of the forum at all when it is the written text and/or photos of bikes etc that you're looking at.
EDIT to add in place of the removed section of my post!
It was not an insult in any way shape or form and not directed at anyone personally just a heavy expressed criticism of a seemingly large swathe of out of date/blinkered view points that have cropped up on the previous 5 pages. That far worse much angrier posts have been left on the forum time and time again leaves me to believe that this forum does not even allow expressive criticism of others even if that criticism is valid...
I'd even go so far as to say it seems the mods themselves are swayed by personal feelings on the subject matter..whatever

This blinkered viewpoint appears to be NIMBY'ism of the highest order, that some forum members are outraged at not wanting a simple advertising banner that will in all liklihood help the CTC as a whole (& thus cycling/cyclists) shows they are selfish in exactly the same way NIMBY's are in the real world.

[GavinC]

I I wonder if it would be possible to make that adverts appear only to visitors?

It is possible - that's what happens on the Cyclechat forum.

[John1054]

Nothing's free. An advert banner could easily be ignored. Any income must help us all long term.

[jamesgilbert]

I visit another (unrelated) forum quite frequently, the banner adverts there haven't put me off using it at all. Unregistered users also get adverts between posts, which would be fairly annoying!

As the CTC forum already allows avatars, signatures and animated smilies, I wouldn't consider a banner advert as adding much more clutter

[Edwards]

I now have a good example of the type of third party tracking cookie.

I just clicked on the thread about the large online cycle retailer based in Portsmouth who also runs the CTC shop.
They tried to put a cookie on my computer.

If we get tricks like that now I wonder what will happen with direct advertising on here?

[Mick F]

This blinkered viewpoint appears to be NIMBY'ism of the highest order, that some forum members are outraged at not wanting a simple advertising banner that will in all liklihood help the CTC as a whole (& thus cycling/cyclists) shows they are selfish in exactly the same way NIMBY's are in the real world.

That's a bit strong and also a bit blinkered too.

I have no objection to a banner, so long as it's small and unobtrusive.

BUT - mark my words - it is the thin end of the wedge and very slowly the advertising will increase and spoil a wonderfully clean forum.

NIMBY'ism? Yes, I suppose so, and if it does come into my back yard to any intrusive degree, I'm off like a shot.

[Si]

EDIT to add in place of the removed section of my post!
It was not an insult in any way shape or form and not directed at anyone personally just a heavy expressed criticism of a seemingly large swathe of out of date/blinkered view points that have cropped up on the previous 5 pages. That far worse much angrier posts have been left on the forum time and time again leaves me to believe that this forum does not even allow expressive criticism of others even if that criticism is valid...
I'd even go so far as to say it seems the mods themselves are swayed by personal feelings on the subject matter..whatever

This blinkered viewpoint appears to be NIMBY'ism of the highest order, that some forum members are outraged at not wanting a simple advertising banner that will in all liklihood help the CTC as a whole (& thus cycling/cyclists) shows they are selfish in exactly the same way NIMBY's are in the real world.

You (as in all forum users) were asked your opinion on the pros and cons of advertising. You were not asked to make judgements on the characters of others, especially negative judgements which included name calling, as not only does this put the thread off track again but it also contravenes the forum rules and makes the forum a less nice place to be. I don't believe for moment that if you were to stop and think you won't be able to see the difference between these two approaches, but if it is really the case then I suggest that you do not contribute further to the thread as, apparently, some people find it annoying to have typed out a post and then see it disappeared due to breaches of forum rules.

[JohnW]

I now have a good example of the type of third party tracking cookie.

I just clicked on the thread about the large online cycle retailer based in Portsmouth who also runs the CTC shop.
They tried to put a cookie on my computer.

If we get tricks like that now I wonder what will happen with direct advertising on here?

I know I'm ignorant in these matters, but what exactly is a cookie? - what does it do? - how does one know it's there? - and how does one remove it? - is it harmful in any way?

One of the local authorities that I deal with tells me, when I go onto it's site, that it's putting a cookie (or cookies) on to enable them to give me the info that I want.

[kwackers]

I know I'm ignorant in these matters, but what exactly is a cookie? - what does it do? - how does one know it's there? - and how does one remove it? - is it harmful in any way?

One of the local authorities that I deal with tells me, when I go onto it's site, that it's putting a cookie (or cookies) on to enable them to give me the info that I want.

Cookies are simply bits of information (a file) a site can store about how you use that site. For example if you shop on Amazon their website will create a cookie that says what you've looked at and bought. Next time you go to the Amazon site it'll 'recommend' things based on what you last looked at. They exist to allow the site to personalise itself with regards to you without you having to log in.

This site (forum) doesn't need cookies precisely because you have logged in so it knows who you are and can store information on its own servers rather than on your machine.

The 'abuse' people witter on about is usually where a family of related sites share this information. So for example doing a google search will store the search items on your machine in the cookie. Subsequent sites can look at this information and personalise the site to suit (i.e. usually by spotting you've searched for 'bicycle' and filling their advert space with bicycle related ad's. (The alternative is you get random ads you may not be interested in).

Whether you think this is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. Personally I think it's a storm in a tea cup, some folk are simply uppity...

You can delete your browsing history and cookies etc from the tools section on your browser, just look for the option or 'google' <browser name> delete cookies.

[jonathan.pontet]

HI all- Google explains cookies very nicely: "This allows websites and servers to distinguish the browser from other browsers that store different cookies, and to recognise each browser by its unique cookie ID."

So, a cookie allows you to remain logged in to the CTC Forum when visiting different pages and, for banner ads, it would be used to deliver an ad to a visitor that hasn't been displayed already (although we dont actually use that feature at the moment).
Be assured, they would not be used to display ads based on your browsing history (i.e. behavioural advertising).

We use Google DoubleClick for our banner ads and a banner here in the forum would look and function exactly as you see it on ctc.org.uk.

BTW, if you don't like tailored ads on other sites, you can tell Google here: http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/?hl=en-GB
There is also an EU initiative for this as well: http://www.aboutads.info/choices/

[[XAP]Bob]

Conditional on the adverts not intruding on the actual forum (i.e. threads, posts etc.), and not "hogging" screen space by trying to keep in view (like some sites do) then I'm fairly ambivalent.



PS - This post sponsored by....

[Mick F]

This site (forum) doesn't need cookies precisely because you have logged in so it knows who you are and can store information on its own servers rather than on your machine.

It may not NEED cookies, but it does use them and allow them.

I reset my computer browser and deleted all website history and stored data, then logged on here - and here alone.
(Mac using Safari 5.1.9)

I now have cookies:

[JohnW]

kwackers and johnathohn - thanks for that - that's helpful and explains a lot.

Thanks again.

[kwackers]

This site (forum) doesn't need cookies precisely because you have logged in so it knows who you are and can store information on its own servers rather than on your machine.

It may not NEED cookies, but it does use them and allow them.

Yep, I'd ignored the fact it needs cookies to remember the login info (as pointed out above by jonathon).

[Edwards]

That does not explain why the CTC shop needs to use cookies and tracking software on this forum.

The point I am getting at is that Third party companies are using this forum to track its users who may have never been on their web site let alone bought from them.
So if commercial advertising is allowed will this forum be tracked by the advertisers just because they paid for adverts?

If so I would prefer a CTC banner linking this forum to the main site. That to me would give the forum more status as belonging to CTC.