[Announcement] Bye bye ads.

[Dave]

I've been thinking about doing this for quite a while now, and with the generous donations I received that paid for the site for 6 months (!) means that I won't need them for a while. So I've gotten rid of ads.

What brought this on? Well, one thing was the thread where @Tinwhistler showed me Ghostery. Turns out that at every page, HF was throwing around anywhere from 9-15 trackers, all but a few of which were ad related. I checked out some other sites and it seems that ads are far and away the biggest tracker reason. As someone who recognizes that people like privacy, I've disabled the ads.

Now, some things will still load. Google Analytics, for example. Also, if there's a thread from Amazon it'll probably have an Amazon Associate code. If you see others, let me know and I'll research them.

This will also help to speed up page load times.

 

[PatrThom]

Been using the Ghostery plug-in for a while now, just figured it was part of the ad revenue so didn't raise a fuss.
...but I'm not sorry to see 'em go.

--Patrick

 

[MindDetective]

I say keep them, personally. In six months you can rack up enough in ad revenue for the next few months following.

 

[Dave]

I've been doing some testing with pageload speeds and removing the ads can seriously damage performance. So that was a big factor as well.

 

[drifter]

People who don't want ads/tracking are likely already using plug-ins like Tinwhistler, so I don't really see the need to pull them if they're bringing in revenue. But whatever makes you happy

 

[Just Me]

Consider having ads for unregistered users. Would encourage registration, and still generate revenue from people arriving due to google searches and such.

Come on, who would search for us if he's not already interested in Minotaur penis?

 

[Ravenpoe]

Come on, who would search for us if he's not already interested in Minotaur penis?

How about this: can we -only- have ads about minotaur penis?

 

[GasBandit]

I've been doing some testing with pageload speeds and removing the ads can seriously damage performance. So that was a big factor as well.

How does removing ads damage performance? That seems counterintuitive to me.

 

[Chad Sexington]

How about this: can we -only- have ads about minotaur penis?

I don't understand why it took this long for this to be solved; how can we make Ravenpoe our marketing manager?

 

[Bubble181]

How does removing ads damage performance? That seems counterintuitive to me.

I'm fairly sure he messed up somewhere half-way through the sentence [DOUBLEPOST=1398025640,1398025603][/DOUBLEPOST]If we don't really "need" them, perhaps only keep some low-profile non-intrusive ones?

 

[Chad Sexington]

How does removing ads damage performance? That seems counterintuitive to me.

I think he just blended two thoughts "doing testing with pageload speeds and removing the ads" and "the ads can damage performance" but meant that removing the ads in fact improves performance.

 

[David]

I've never been bothered by the ads, I would say keep them if they would help keep the buffer for the bills ahead, especially if you're just going to have to turn them back on at the end of the 6 months anyway. Or like Stein said, ads for unregistered users only.

 

[CrimsonSoul]

I installed ghostery after tin was talking about it

 

[Terrik]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now how will I find the best sites for Asian dating?

 

[Covar]

Yay, the site fits the width of the viewport now!

 

[sixpackshaker]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now how will I find the best sites for Asian dating?

Wait, you live in the best site for Asian dating.

 

[GasBandit]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now how will I find the best sites for Asian dating?

Oh, I'm sure if you just start wandering the halls looking for green hair and knives, something will jump up at you.