How do you handle ad blockers on your community?

[Cedric]

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So I was browsing a forum and saw this big red header. Made me curious how you'd approach ad blockers on your forum. Some communities detect and request members to disable them, while others give an option, like going premium to avoid ads altogether.

1. Do you use ad block detection on your forum? If yes, what message do you show to users?
2. Have you had success with members disabling their ad blockers when prompted?
3. For members, do you tend to disable your ad blocker when asked, or do you ignore it? Does it bother you, or are you indifferent?
4. For admins, do you give the option to bypass ads through a premium upgrade, or is it mandatory to disable ad blockers?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences!

 

[Cory]

Right now, my board has no ads because I have Jcink Premium. Though, I use Adblock Plus myself. After my Jcink Premium expires, ads will re-appear on my board, but they are to sponsor the forum software itself, as I do not monetize my forum by any means. I keep Adblock Plus enabled on every site I visit unless the site forces me to disable it to view something I wish to view. I usually turn away from sites that force you to disable your ad blocker.

 

[Cpvr]

I don’t use ad block detection on my forum because I find that feature very annoying. I use ad block myself, but I turn it off when I want to support a site I like.

Currently, my forum doesn’t have any ads, but I plan to monetize it with Google AdSense soon. I’ll give my members the option to remove ads through an account upgrade or display ads for guests only. I haven’t decided what I want to do yet.

 

[frm]

I’ll give my members the option to remove ads through an account upgrade or display ads for guests only.

This (minus the account upgrade) was enough when I ran a geo-forum.

Tourists were too bothered to sign up and I'd rake in the revenue there.

It was enough to keep members free of ads and upgrades. After all, they contributed to creating the content to bring tourists there for that CPC revenue.

Ads were also opt-in, so some members chose to display ads in their forum preferences too.

 

[fdk]

I've never personally felt the need to implement anything to specifically target Adblockers, even during the era of the internet around 10 years ago when they were probably most prevalent (and most effective). Maybe it's because a basic principled part of me feels like people should be free to choose whether or not they want to see adverts on a website. Yes, a website owner needs income, and advertising is a good way to provide that - but ultimately, internet freedom prevails, and the possibility to choose whether or not to see advertisements should be a fundamental right of internet users - at least that's my opinion.

 

[Cpvr]

I've never personally felt the need to implement anything to specifically target Adblockers, even during the era of the internet around 10 years ago when they were probably most prevalent (and most effective). Maybe it's because a basic principled part of me feels like people should be free to choose whether or not they want to see adverts on a website. Yes, a website owner needs income, and advertising is a good way to provide that - but ultimately, internet freedom prevails, and the possibility to choose whether or not to see advertisements should be a fundamental right of internet users - at least that's my opinion.

I agree. With ad companies paying less and more users relying on ad blockers, traditional ad revenue isn’t as reliable as it used to be. While running ads can be a decent starting point, it’s probably better to explore other monetization options in the long run. Diversifying revenue streams, like premium memberships, sponsored content, or digital products, which might be a smarter approach for a forum’s sustainability.

 

[CTS]

I have used ads, and ad blockers. I have set it up before, where once logged in, no ads. But guests are mostly blind to ads. They rarely click on them unless you do something funky to make them accidentally (or otherwise) click on them.

My site is small, bandwidth needs even smaller. So financially it hasn't burdened me (yet). But when I get to a point where revenues are needed I will find a way to fund it. But I hate ads. As a webmaster, as a guest visitor, I hate ads. And websites that have more ads than content repel me. I dunno, maybe I will open a OF account. But I suspect ads would be more fruitful lol.

 

[CTS]

Something I just remembered that Steve Jobs said once...

but ultimately, internet freedom prevails, and the possibility to choose whether or not to see advertisements should be a fundamental right of internet users - at least that's my opinion.

If something is free for you to use on the internet, then you are the product. The customers are the ad networks.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never had ads on my forums, except for if they were hosted by free forum hosts. Anyways if I ever did get around to adding ads to my forums, I still wouldn't put an annoying pop up banner that won't go away until you disabled your ad blocker because honestly that drives me away from websites when they do this.