Eagle-eyed readers — at least those who don’t use adblock — may notice something a little different about We Hunted the Mammoth today. Those giant banner ads that used to sit atop the page are gone! As are the ones following the posts. Indeed, all the Taboola ads are gone from the site.
Nope, I didn’t get kicked off of the ad network. They’re gone for a very happy reason: A very generous fan of the site — who is not a fan of the advertising on the site — has donated enough money for me to be able to get rid of the most obtrusive ads, those from Taboola, for the rest of this year and next. Enjoy!
The Google AdSense ads will remain, at least for now, but if enough of you can dig deeply in your pockets during the next fund drive, which I’ll be launching shortly, I may be able to make them go away as well. That will clear away even more of the annoying clutter and free up space in the sidebar to promote stuff that’s more in line with the values of the site, for free.
I cannot thank enough the very generous anonymous donor who made this possible! But I will try to make a start with this animated gif I just made on Blingee.
Yep, so easy to accidentally touch those ads when everything’s loading on a phone screen. What a mensch!
@ arctic ape
It is a bit disconcerting. You read those stories about how the internet knows you’re pregnant before you do. Then you get adverts for funeral directors.
I used to get the dental implant ones. Like, 4 on each page. Teeth. Just so much teeth.
I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of clicks those ads get are accidental.
The slower to load than the rest of the page ads are only the second worst though. The worst is those mobile ads that redirect you against your will and then you can’t just press the back button, it won’t let you. You have to close out of the whole window. There are sites you can’t even visit without ad blockers because of that. How does it benefit either the advertiser or the site when people stop visiting a website altogether because of invasive ads? I don’t get it.
Thank you so, so much, anonymous donor!
Wwth- I agree. I used to religiously read Pharyngula but the ads over there were just how you describe. Plus, the pages it would redirect to were very shady and would often freeze my entire phone up. When people made a fuss they were basically told to donate or stfu, so I just stopped reading. Which us a bummer because I like PZ’s content usually. I can’t imagine those ads make that much more money than regular ones. Wish they’d go the way of the dodo.
Thank you, not George Soros! Those adds always made navigating the site on my phone a pain. (And they were often shady AF)
If you want to use an ad blocker on mobile – use Firefox Mobile, the uBlock Origin addon works great. Then you can read Pharyngula again!
The site looks great! My laptop broke awhile ago and I’ve been using my mobile. Crash city no more!!!!
Oh nice! I’ll check what the site looks like from work, and if it browses fine I’ll whitelist it at home. (if it functions on Explorer with no adblock, it’ll function anywhere)
Thank you anonymous donor!!
*blows noise-maker, throws confetti*
Thanks, Anonymous Benefactor!
Sniper Kitty said
I saw that, too; I watch Rachel Maddow (have done since she used to sub for Olbermann when he had an MSNBC show) and was a bit disappointed by her apparent insistence on having the reporter call in to her show, too. It was evident that the poor guy was really rattled in the phone interview Chris Hayes did and every time Rachel said “We hope to have the reporter on the phone soon” all I could think was: Sheesh! Let the poor guy get his elbow treated!
Thank you anonymous!
I accidentally clicked on those ads so many times. They’re a virus risk, and once in a while I would see transphobic or misogynistic click bait. They were really trashy in general.
I’m so glad they’re gone!
OT But how about another article about the Drafthouse?
Aggrieved men seethe with rage over Texas theater’s women-only screenings of ‘Wonder Woman’
I particularly enjoyed the people complaining about how their husband couldn’t take their daughter to that theatre. You can’t… on this one (now two) showing? Go see it there at another time?
If I’m ever in that area I’m going to see a film there, and buy some food, something I never do.
Also, this part of the announcement:
😀 😀 😀
Спасбищщще! Whoever it was…. Every time i read one of those adverts i feel like my brain cells die, they are so stupid.
A minor correction to something mentioned above: There IS a Judge Dredd series in preproduction, but it is not associated with Netflix at this time. According to one of the producers, Karl Urban has expressed interest in appearing in the series, but isn’t sure he can find time in his schedule. They are willing and eager to work with him if it is at all possible.
Those Taboola ads were infuriatingly awful clickbaity trash. Thank you, Anonymous Donor Person! Your generosity is much appreciated.
Hip hip, Hooray! Those ads are like internet herpes.
Thank you anonymous donor who is not George Soros! I will now hopefully be able to view this site without it killing my WP browser every 30s, thanks!
Thank you anonymous donor!
And David: good on you! There cannot be a sweeter way to hear “keep up the good work”
That’s oddly specific.
Are you SURE George Soros isn’t bankrolling this whole endeavour?
look you can tell me I just want an in to hop on the Soros gravy train 😉