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RCME forum - The shape of things to come ?


kevin b
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I have noticed that adverts are appearing within the postings in threads.

I know that they are for the magazine itself, but am concerned that that this is just the beginning of a trend.

It reminds me of the old American magazines where the editorial was a single column in the middle of every page.

The advertising was squeezing out the real content.

If you were having a conversation with somebody you wouldn't appreciate a third party suddenly piping in with "does anybody want to buy an ice lolly ?", or something similar (ARTF).

In my opinion not very professional.

I have two schools of thought.

1.   Wait and see what happens and if I am right exercise my rights.

2.   Wait and see what happens and then have some fun before I am thrown off  the forum.   🙃 

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I don't get any adverts appearing in any threads. 

In fact, I was completely unaware of this phenomenon. 

 

Adblockers are clearly working properly. . . Yayyy. 

Nobody should have to endure being rudely "slapped in the face" by relentless adverts. 

No doubt the advertisers think they are being very clever. . . In reality, their actions have the opposite affect on me, and I would refuse to do business with them. 

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4 hours ago, kevin b said:

I have noticed that adverts are appearing within the postings in threads.

I know that they are for the magazine itself, but am concerned that that this is just the beginning of a trend.

It reminds me of the old American magazines where the editorial was a single column in the middle of every page.

The advertising was squeezing out the real content.

If you were having a conversation with somebody you wouldn't appreciate a third party suddenly piping in with "does anybody want to buy an ice lolly ?", or something similar (ARTF).

In my opinion not very professional.

I have two schools of thought.

1.   Wait and see what happens and if I am right exercise my rights.

2.   Wait and see what happens and then have some fun before I am thrown off  the forum.   🙃 

 

4 hours ago, Tim Kearsley said:

I agree Kevin, a retrograde step.  Not helpful and not desirable. 

 

4 hours ago, Solly said:

Couldn’t agree more. There is a separate section for goods for sale, they shouldn’t be advertised on the forum.


This forum may be free, but it is still first and foremost a commercial enterprise. As a wise man once said, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.
 

Ads are undoubtedly critical to this sites existence, so if you do enable an ad blocker or leave to post elsewhere be aware of what that could mean in the long run. Remember what has happened to many UK forums in the past, most notably RCMF, who couldn’t cover their costs. Is there even an “ad-free” alternative anyway at this point? I’m not aware of one. If we all want a free, UK focussed, general RC model  flying forum to be available long into the future then a few ads are worth stomaching IMO.

Edited by MattyB
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Completely unacceptable - everywhere one goes in the digital world now, one spends more and more time dealing with cookies, refusing mailing lists, avoiding tracking. Dealing with anything slightly financial needs 2FA. By the time one has got past that lot one has forgotten what was wanted anyway. Where is it all going to end?? I guess we will have to subscribe for add-free content next!!! Not forgetting having to feel sorry for the people doing it to us whilst we are being monetised by stealth.. 

If anyone starts a thread or posts a comment who owns that forum content? 

No advertising at all is the desired state.

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The owners have to run at a profit and as with YouTube and so many others, advertising is how they provide a 'free' service. I don't see it as that much of a problem TBH. Maybe the website will eventually offer a subscription option with various extras etc - depending on the cost, I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. A recent survey that was  emailed to me seemed to be floating that idea. I don't subscribe or buy individual hard copies of RCM&E - maybe rarely if there was a plan or project that interested me.

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3 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

There is no good thing about adverts between posts, they simply should not be there.

Except that they are placed there because it's felt that they will have more impact on the target audience, hence better revenue and possibly enabling the forum to continue FOC. Just ignore them.

Edited by Cuban8
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5 minutes ago, Tim Kearsley said:
14 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

And the next thing will be more ‘strategically’ placed adverts between posts, sorry but it is wrong and what has been done should not simply be ignored.

Quite right. It's annoying, obtrusive and needs getting rid of. 

 

Indeed.

 

Ultimately, as the users of the forum, anyone who doesn't like the advertising between posts has three options open to them:

 

1. Ignore the adverts.

2. Use an adblocker that basically lets our computers ignore the adverts on our behalves.

3. If it is sufficiently onerous, stop using the forum.

 

If taking route 3, we would have to be prepared for the possible consequence that the forum membership reduces to below the level that makes it worthwhile. That would have to be a risk that should be considered. Of course there is no guarantee of its longevity anyway.

 

My PC has had an adblocker installed for a couple of years now, certainly not something I have regretted doing.

 

Brian.

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Very succinctly put Brian.  The ad adblocker point is interesting: If enough people use one it ultimately renders the adverts pointless anyway!  I take the point about income generation etc - I just hate all advertising wherever it is as it's not far removed from dishonesty in many cases.  We almost never watch TV programmes on commercial channels live any more, preferring to record them and then simply skip past the advertising.  It's interesting to note that a typical hour-long programme on ITV for example is about 45 minutes of actual content! 

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Hello All

 

I am the new Publisher of the title, so thought I would add some thoughts to this post.

We don't want to change your experience, but we must also recognise that this forum is free to use but not free to run.

So at this stage we are promoting the magazine that this forum is built around.

We very much hope that this will help increase our membership and therefore ensure that we keep this resource free.

 

I know how important that this forum is and therefore, we will tread carefully - so rest assured changes will be minimal and researched. We will also ensure that we listen to what is said here and adapt as needed.

 

So, in summary I really hope you don't find the change to problematic, understand why we are doing it and keep talking as we will listen and act if needed.

 

If I can ask 3 things, please fill in the RCM&E survey as this will help with how we take the magazine and forum forward.

Secondly, why not have a look at setting up a membership on www.classicmagazines.co.uk, we would love you to enjoy the full experience of what we are doing.

If a full membership it not for you at the moment, you can buy single copies here: www.classicmagazines.co.uk/issue/RCM

 

Finally, our advertising partners are essential to our success - please support them where you can.

They also play a huge part in keeping things free.

 

Regards

 

Steve

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