New advertising.

Yes me too

colinoscapee wrote:

Just noticed new popups on the forum, anyone else getting these when opening this page.

Yeah.

Blocked my entire screen on my phone.

Amazing that this website can make such technological advances with revenue-generating advertisements, but continues to turn a deaf ear toward many calls for the basic shell of this site to be brought into the 21st century.

I think it may be time to move to another forum, these popups are annoying.

Dowload and install AdBlock to your computer and never see a popup ad again.

I opened the history screen but not going to cut and paste a photo so you will have to trust me.  It blocked 6 ads on this page alone.  85,098 ads in total since I installed it.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Dowload and install AdBlock to your computer and never see a popup ad again.

I opened the history screen but not going to cut and paste a photo so you will have to trust me.  It blocked 6 ads on this page alone.  85,098 ads in total since I installed it.

Does it work well on android?

Any privacy concerns?

Thanks for the tip!

SteinNebraska wrote:

Dowload and install AdBlock to your computer and never see a popup ad again.

I opened the history screen but not going to cut and paste a photo so you will have to trust me.  It blocked 6 ads on this page alone.  85,098 ads in total since I installed it.

I already downloaded an adblocker on my android phone, it doesnt stop these ads.

colinoscapee wrote:

SteinNebraska wrote:

Dowload and install AdBlock to your computer and never see a popup ad again.

I opened the history screen but not going to cut and paste a photo so you will have to trust me.  It blocked 6 ads on this page alone.  85,098 ads in total since I installed it.

I already downloaded an adblocker on my android phone, it doesnt stop these ads.

This one (Google Play store) has a very high rating and 10 million downloads, HOWEVER, it's actually an alternative BROWSER.

I don't want to give up using Chrome or Firefox

This site is really going down the toilet!

colinoscapee wrote:

SteinNebraska wrote:

Dowload and install AdBlock to your computer and never see a popup ad again.

I opened the history screen but not going to cut and paste a photo so you will have to trust me.  It blocked 6 ads on this page alone.  85,098 ads in total since I installed it.

I already downloaded an adblocker on my android phone, it doesnt stop these ads.

It stops for the moment then will again appear.

Has anyone reported this?  Click on contact us, bottom of the page.

Just FYI, I use Firefox on my Macbook Air laptop and am seeing banner ads as earlier, but nothing that blocks the content.  I keep a seldom used copy of Chrome on my computer as there are some sites that don't play well with Firefox.  This site is not one of those.

I have a couple of ad blockers for Firefox, and have them currently installed but disabled.  I very seldom use my phone to go to this site as it would mean putting on my glasses. 

stumpy wrote:

Has anyone reported this?  Click on contact us, bottom of the page.

Respectfully, report what?

Report that your latest advertising advances are definitely getting our attention?

Isn't that what the webmaster wants?

Or do you mean to report that this website is very, very outdated with multiple features that are not user friendly?

I've made that second report before on more than one occasion.

I either receive no reply or I'm basically told that my very reasonable expectations won't be satisfied any time in the near future.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Or do you mean to report that this website is very, very outdated with multiple features that are not user friendly?

When you made these suggestions did you simply state that the site is outdated or did you provide concrete suggestions of software structures that they could rebuild the site with?  (I claim Churchill's right to end my sentence with a preposition.  )

THIGV wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Or do you mean to report that this website is very, very outdated with multiple features that are not user friendly?

When you made these suggestions did you simply state that the site is outdated or did you provide concrete suggestions of software structures that they could rebuild the site with?  (I claim Churchill's right to end my sentence with a preposition.  )

Of course not.

You know me.

I never elaborate or get specific about anything.

I was vague as vague can be...

stumpy wrote:

Has anyone reported this?  Click on contact us, bottom of the page.

I have reported issues in the past and never received a reply.

Hello everyone,

So sorry about this. Just took note of your thread and informed IT. I don't know much about these pop ups but will try to find out and keep you updated.

Have a nice day,
Bhavna

Hello everyone,

Really sorry to hear that you are getting problems with advertising on our forum pages.
We did not change anything in terms of advertising and we did not implement anything that pop up an ad (too aggresive and we don't want to lose users).

I tried to get the same pop up ad but never could, I think it is an ad that appears only on Vietnam, and if that is the case we should file a report to google.
Can someone please post a screenshot of the ad that are popping up, so that I can maybe determine where it comes from and how to deal with it?

@OceanBeach92107 indeed the website needs a refresh in terms of functionality and user friendliness, on that everyone here at expat.com totally agrees! This what we recently did to the Housing functionality by the way.
Bear in mind though, that this website is totally free for our users and our main focus is to keep the website healthy and going for you guys even if it is at the cost of user experience sometime.

Best regards,
Christophe

Christophe wrote:

Hello everyone,

Really sorry to hear that you are getting problems with advertising on our forum pages.
We did not change anything in terms of advertising and we did not implement anything that pop up an ad (too aggresive and we don't want to lose users).

I tried to get the same pop up ad but never could, I think it is an ad that appears only on Vietnam, and if that is the case we should file a report to google.
Can someone please post a screenshot of the ad that are popping up, so that I can maybe determine where it comes from and how to deal with it?

@OceanBeach92107 indeed the website needs a refresh in terms of functionality and user friendliness, on that everyone here at expat.com totally agrees! This what we recently did to the Housing functionality by the way.
Bear in mind though, that this website is totally free for our users and our main focus is to keep the website healthy and going for you guys even if it is at the cost of user experience sometime.

Best regards,
Christophe

I'm yet to see a forum where you have to pay. So your statement is irrelevant.

I got a few popups for a day but most have stopped save a couple when I use my phone.
Since it isn't the forum doing it, must be something Google did.

Spoke too soon - some russian visa rubbish just turned in.

Fred wrote:

I got a few popups for a day but most have stopped save a couple when I use my phone.
Since it isn't the forum doing it, must be something Google did.

Good old Google, still chasing that next billion usd.

Yep, google.
They've come back like a rabid tech geek just went mad with a pop up power.

Can't EB express its displeasure at what Google is doing.

So since this has been laid at the feet of Google, does this mean that it is only an Android device problem?

What ads? I've never seen any on Macbook/Chrome/Adblock. Same on iphone.
Aha! Turned of Adblock, seeing sticky Greenback ad in margin, and little Son Tra ads between posts. No popup tho.
Adblock going back on.
Personally I would subscribe to expat.com say $20 a year for the value it brings. And the entertainment. 

gobot wrote:

Personally I would subscribe to expat.com say $20 a year for the value it brings. And the entertainment. 

Please send your $20 to Prince Fred, Bank 419, Nigeria Account number 666

Christophe wrote:

Hello everyone,

Really sorry to hear that you are getting problems with advertising on our forum pages.
We did not change anything in terms of advertising and we did not implement anything that pop up an ad (too aggresive and we don't want to lose users).

I tried to get the same pop up ad but never could, I think it is an ad that appears only on Vietnam, and if that is the case we should file a report to google.
Can someone please post a screenshot of the ad that are popping up, so that I can maybe determine where it comes from and how to deal with it?

@OceanBeach92107 indeed the website needs a refresh in terms of functionality and user friendliness, on that everyone here at expat.com totally agrees! This what we recently did to the Housing functionality by the way.
Bear in mind though, that this website is totally free for our users and our main focus is to keep the website healthy and going for you guys even if it is at the cost of user experience sometime.

Best regards,
Christophe

Here are screenshots from within the past hour (10 AM local Vietnam time)

Samsung Android phone

When I first visited the site this morning, the interface looked totally normal.

Then, when I clicked on the bell-shaped "notifications" icon at the top of my screen (portrait view) this was the popup:



Before I closed the popup, I clicked on the three dots at the top left of the screen and got this second view:



Finally, when I closed out the popup, the original screen view before the popup returned, however, now there was a change.

See the banner for "Extraordinary Closet Design" at the top of the screen.



I got rid of that using my devices back button at the bottom of the screen.

NOTE: The ONLY thing I did to trigger the popup was to click on the website notification icon.

It's the same action which triggered the previous popups.

That's exactly the spam I'm getting but only on Android.

Hi OceanBeach92107, Fred,

@OceanBeach92107 thank you for the screenshots, we started to investigate what is causing those ads to appear.

I will keep you guys updated!

Have a good day,
Christophe

Maybe people on laptops need to log out of Google every time they finish with a feature.  If you are a GMail user that will mean logging in and reading all your mail once a day.  If you follow your stock portfolio in real time on Google Finance, log out and don't think about it.  If you are talking Android, I suppose there is no escape.

Finally we have been able to pinpoint where the problem was from and as all of you said it came from Google itself...

The problem should be resolved by next week, so bear with it just a little bit more.

Thank you all for your patience and I wish you an excellent week end   

Christophe wrote:

Finally we have been able to pinpoint where the problem was from and as all of you said it came from Google itself...

The problem should be resolved by next week, so bear with it just a little bit more.

Thank you all for your patience and I wish you an excellent week end   

Good news, because it seems to be getting worse...

Christophe wrote:

@OceanBeach92107 indeed the website needs a refresh in terms of functionality and user friendliness, on that everyone here at expat.com totally agrees! This what we recently did to the Housing functionality by the way.
Bear in mind though, that this website is totally free for our users and our main focus is to keep the website healthy and going for you guys even if it is at the cost of user experience sometime.

Best regards,
Christophe

As a part of your rehab of this "website", please consider how it is being viewed.

I recently ran a promotion on my Facebook business page and received 8.2 thousand "likes" of this photo

According to Facebook anylitics, 99.6% of those interactions came through a mobile device.

Only 0.4% were done via a desktop computer.

Instead of attempting to make this a great website that can also work well on a mobile device, perhaps it's time to turn that model on it's head, and design the site from the ground up as primarily mobile device friendly?

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Christophe wrote:

@OceanBeach92107 indeed the website needs a refresh in terms of functionality and user friendliness, on that everyone here at expat.com totally agrees! This what we recently did to the Housing functionality by the way.
Bear in mind though, that this website is totally free for our users and our main focus is to keep the website healthy and going for you guys even if it is at the cost of user experience sometime.

Best regards,
Christophe

As a part of your rehab of this "website", please consider how it is being viewed.

I recently ran a promotion on my Facebook business page and received 8.2 thousand "likes" of this photo

According to Facebook anylitics, 99.6% of those interactions came through a mobile device.

Only 0.4% were done via a desktop computer.

Instead of attempting to make this a great website that can also work well on a mobile device, perhaps it's time to turn that model on it's head, and design the site from the ground up as primarily mobile device friendly?

I thought surreptitious advertising was illegal here.
Probably not valid for everyone!

AkaMaverick wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Christophe wrote:

@OceanBeach92107 indeed the website needs a refresh in terms of functionality and user friendliness, on that everyone here at expat.com totally agrees! This what we recently did to the Housing functionality by the way.
Bear in mind though, that this website is totally free for our users and our main focus is to keep the website healthy and going for you guys even if it is at the cost of user experience sometime.

Best regards,
Christophe

As a part of your rehab of this "website", please consider how it is being viewed.

I recently ran a promotion on my Facebook business page and received 8.2 thousand "likes" of this photo

According to Facebook anylitics, 99.6% of those interactions came through a mobile device.

Only 0.4% were done via a desktop computer.

Instead of attempting to make this a great website that can also work well on a mobile device, perhaps it's time to turn that model on it's head, and design the site from the ground up as primarily mobile device friendly?

I thought surreptitious advertising was illegal here.
Probably not valid for everyone!

I would be happy for admin to delete the link once they have confirmed I am knowledgeable about that of which I speak.

However, you must realize, if you believe my intent to be "surreptitious advertising", you have aided and abetted me by quoting my post without removing the link...

Links are rarely allowed for new members but commonly eyed in the way Nelson was famous for with well established members as long as they're one off jobs.
Personally, I'm doing a Nelson but someone else may take a different view.

Fred wrote:

Links are rarely allowed for new members but commonly eyed in the way Nelson was famous for with well established members as long as they're one off jobs.
Personally, I'm doing a Nelson but someone else may take a different view.

Ozzie or Harriet Nelson?

😉

I'm thinking the disabled dude that had a stiff word with the French fleet some years ago. I think there's a small statue of the chap in London somewhere.

Fred wrote:

I'm thinking the disabled dude that had a stiff word with the French fleet some years ago. I think there's a small statue of the chap in London somewhere.

Ah! Horatio