Ad won't let me see the thread at all

[Fanatical Meat]

Here’s what it did to me following the above

Half works

 

[Carfax83]

These ridiculous ads are a complete turn off if you're on mobile. I don't even visit the forums anymore when I'm on my smartphone, because in just 2 seconds the entire page is filled with an absurd ad that covers the entire page and you can't scroll it away.

The fact that this problem persists (I remember complaining about it after they switched over to the new forum) shows just how incompetent the administrative staff is here at handling these issues. And when you turn on an ad blocker, they complain because their ad revenue drops

 

[Fanatical Meat]

These ridiculous ads are a complete turn off if you're on mobile. I don't even visit the forums anymore when I'm on my smartphone, because in just 2 seconds the entire page is filled with an absurd ad that covers the entire page and you can't scroll it away.

The fact that this problem persists (I remember complaining about it after they switched over to the new forum) shows just how incompetent the administrative staff is here at handling these issues. And when you turn on an ad blocker, they complain because their ad revenue drops

Per what a previous poster stated, I’ve found Firefox mobile browser fixes the problem but as you said now I don’t see any ads...

 

[Carfax83]

Per what a previous poster stated, I’ve found Firefox mobile browser fixes the problem but as you said now I don’t see any ads...

Yeah, but this problem for me is specific to Anandtech forums. All the other forums I browse with Chrome mobile don't have this problem. And the fact that it's been around for a LONG time now and they still haven't fixed it is really off putting.

If the "fix" is just to use Firefox mobile instead of Chrome, I'll pass and just stop browsing here on my smartphone.

 

[Perknose]

The fact that this problem persists (I remember complaining about it after they switched over to the new forum) shows just how incompetent the administrative staff is here at handling these issues.

While we understand (and share!) your frustration, we must humbly insist that you maintain a level of decorum in this FORMAL Issues and Feedback forum, please. The actual Purch folks who read what you wrote would have fixed this by now were it in their power to do so. Please do not insult them further, nor anyone else.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[lupi]

I was wondering why I havent visited much recently. Just now taking about 40 minutes to post a response as ads still making the site FUBAR for mobile probably top of the list

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I was wondering why I havent visited much recently. Just now taking about 40 minutes to post a response as ads still making the site FUBAR for mobile probably top of the list

I know this suggestion sucks because it’s only value is to view AT Forums
Load Firefox mobile browser. No ads are seen, no problems.

 

[BoomerD]

I know this suggestion sucks because it’s only value is to view AT Forums
Load Firefox mobile browser. No ads are seen, no problems.

I don't have the ad problem witf FF, but the shield square thing is a major pita.

 

[Stryke1983]

Blank white screen still happening on mobile site about 50% of the time. There is now also a Red Bull advert that not only puts a pop up along the edges of the screen that you have to close, but then it still has a third bar at the bottom obscuring more of the page that has a close button that doesn't always work.

 

[BoomerD]

For the first time, this hit me on Firefox on the iPad. Some damned "Prodigal Son on Fox" ad...and it's non-stop.

 

[EduCat]

Just checked the forum on my phone and the ads are STILL a major problem which doesn't let you use the site. Do the advertisers know that their ad/customer experience is so poor?

It's a shame they aren't going to fix this.

 

[Amol S.]

Blank white screen still happening on mobile site about 50% of the time. There is now also a Red Bull advert that not only puts a pop up along the edges of the screen that you have to close, but then it still has a third bar at the bottom obscuring more of the page that has a close button that doesn't always work.

For the first time, this hit me on Firefox on the iPad. Some damned "Prodigal Son on Fox" ad...and it's non-stop.

Just checked the forum on my phone and the ads are STILL a major problem which doesn't let you use the site. Do the advertisers know that their ad/customer experience is so poor?

It's a shame they aren't going to fix this.

I think I have come to the conclusion in my opinion from what I am seeing here, and especially in the three posts above. It seems to me that the web server or some JS was not configured properly for displaying the correct layout for mobile browsers. The server or JS does detect the mobile browser, and does display the correct forum layout that the site developers wanted, however in my opinion the web developers forgot something. I think they forgot to configure the JS or the forum web server to tell the ad site that it is mobile browser. Another very likely possibility is that the ad provider web server or developers just never did any configuration for specific device types, thus every request for an ad, the server will think that it is a PC that is sending the request.

The reason why I am coming to such a conclusion is because, on Firefox mobile if one does view desktop site in the drop down browser menu, the ad issue does not exist. The reason being that the AnandTech webpage is configured for showing the style on the page as a desktop, and mobile browsers usually scale things down in such mode, thus the ads are also somewhat scaled down.

Another reason why I came to such a conclusion was due to the screenshots of the black ad covering the page. When looking at such screenshots, I saw that bellow the large replay like sign, it says "Scroll Down to see Page". The terminology of "Scroll" usually is used for PC's not phones or tablets. Now one might say that the just flicking down should do the trick, however that is not always the case. Under some JS and CSS conditions of the webpage, the ad could just be acting like an overlay on top of the actual webpage. Under certain circumstances, the ad might have its layout measured in "pt" or in actual measurements rather than inches. In these cases where the ad is set for PCs mostly, due to the overlay issue flicking down would in reality move the page down, however the overlay is too large for the mobile or tablet screen and thus seems as if it is still covering the page.

I do not think it is an AnandTech issue, but rather its an issue over at the ad providers end.

 

[Indus]

Same problem today on my phone. Can't post anything, can barely read bits and pieces.. commercial of movie covers it all and says to scroll but you can't.

Please fix this horrible advertising code.

 

[Stryke1983]

Yep, full page blank white ad blocking screen again.

 

[Ajay]

Ugh! Full screen blue blank 'ad' on my iPad today in some forums. I scroll down and I can see the last post; scroll up and the the blank blue space appears again. Flickers sometime for added fun. Firefox 20.1, IOS 13.1.3. Using the mobile site, obviously.

 

[SHaines]

Ugh! Full screen blue blank 'ad' on my iPad today in some forums. I scroll down and I can see the last post; scroll up and the the blank blue space appears again. Flickers sometime for added fun. Firefox 20.1, IOS 13.1.3. Using the mobile site, obviously.

Thanks, I'll get this reported. Can you tell me the region of the world in which you're located (I could pull your IP from the post, but don't want to make any assumptions about your exact location and look in the wrong region for the offending ad)? That helps us pinpoint the problematic ads.

One of the reasons this will happen periodically is that we sell ad space on our forums in chunks, rather than having one specific company buy ads for one specific thread. This keeps marketing and editorial well separated, since only marketing is involved in those decisions. However, when one of the ad purchases does an ad that's intrusive, we need to go and cull them from the system. Very sorry for the inconvenience, but we'll sort it out ASAP once we can pinpoint the bad ad.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Wow!
A staff member who actually gives a crap.
I appreciate you Sir!

 

[SHaines]

Ugh! Full screen blue blank 'ad' on my iPad today in some forums. I scroll down and I can see the last post; scroll up and the the blank blue space appears again. Flickers sometime for added fun. Firefox 20.1, IOS 13.1.3. Using the mobile site, obviously.

Also, a screenshot and the URL the ad posts to would be incredibly helpful, if you're able to get either (or both) of those.

 

[Ajay]

Also, a screenshot and the URL the ad posts to would be incredibly helpful, if you're able to get either (or both) of those.

NH, USA. No screen shot - full page blue rectangle. URL https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/what-first-world-problem-did-you-have-today.2374963/page-733

Used switch to Desktop site and have no problems except tiny text. TIA!