Skittish Eclipse ([info]foxfirefey) wrote in [info]no_lj_ads,
@ 2007-04-19 21:15:00
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Entry tags:ad implementation

login.bml and ?format=light now displaying ads
Remember our Avoid ads by not logging in with the front page guide?

1. Go to http://www.livejournal.com/login.bml or (https://www.livejournal.com/login.bml for a more secure login) instead of the front page of LiveJournal. It's still there, it still works, and it doesn't have ads on it. Yet.

Well, surprise--now login.bml displays a box ad.

Most of us don't like ads on the front page. Brad doesn't either. But at least the front page is a prime area that gets a lot of incoming traffic every day. Ads there stand to make a good amount of money, and I can definitely see why it might be hard to resist that temptation.

But login.bml's only front facing purpose is to log existing users in, only one of those user types will end up seeing application ads, and it is an underplayed page. Is LiveJournal really so strapped for cash that such an out of the way property, one that serves no purpose to non-LJ visitors and that non-LJ visitors will rarely if ever see, needs ads on it?

?format=light now also displays Google Text Ads on Plus journal pages or pages on official communities / staff pages where the ad bit has been set. However, even though ?format=light is meant for the mobile platform (and dial up), the ads rely on JavaScript.

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[info]ellarien
2007-04-20 05:06 am UTC (link)
My usual login route is to go to my own profile page -- either via my browser bar history or the link on my journal page -- and log in via the handy little box at top right. Would that provide an ad-free experience for non-paid users?

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[info]foxfirefey
2007-04-20 05:13 am UTC (link)
Yep, it's still one of the options on our list above. It should continue to be an option as long as profile pages of Basic and Paid users do not display ads to logged out users.

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[info]clipdude
2007-04-20 06:58 am UTC (link)
It's rather foolish, actually. It severely undercuts their argument that only logged-out and Plus users are subjected to ads. I suspect some paid users will not renew their subscriptions because of this. (A number have left already.)

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[info]ex_shattered767
2007-04-20 07:36 am UTC (link)
Slippery slope was brought up so many times when LJ made the first big announcement about ads. Staff claimed left and right that they were concerned about this, and it wasn't their intention to make a mess of things and go overboard.

Hello, LJ, are you listening? You're 2/3 of the way down the mountain already.

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[info]nakeisha
2007-04-20 08:39 am UTC (link)
That's how I always log in and it's had ads there for several days now, if not longer :-(

In fact the more secure one has more than the less secure one.

It irks me no end. But I'm not going to stay logged in all the time, so I put up with it.

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[info]janinedog
2007-04-21 09:25 pm UTC (link)
The SSL version of login.bml shouldn't have ads. I fixed it (won't go live until next release though). Though I'm not sure why you said the SSL version has more ads than the non-SSL version? They both have a single box ad.

http://community.livejournal.com/changelog/4920200.html

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[info]nakeisha
2007-04-22 09:04 am UTC (link)
Thanks for that.

Maybe it was pure coincidence, but for the week or so (or however long the ads had been there) before I saw the 'secure version' the only ads I was getting were in a neat horizontal box, and they were just text, nothing flashy. But when I looked at the secure version you kindly linked to, it was much larger and animated.

And of course ever since then my usual log on, i.e. non-secure, has been the same. But before that, the ads were completely unobtrusive, and 'nice', and the box was in a different place.

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[info]uniquewonders
2007-04-20 12:52 pm UTC (link)
Still using https://www.livejournal.com/mobile/login.bml whenever I need to.

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[info]ex_shattered767
2007-04-23 04:16 am UTC (link)
For the reconrd, still no response from staff on my question on the newspost.

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[info]foxfirefey
2007-04-23 04:18 am UTC (link)
Link to it here maybe, for record keeping?

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[info]ex_shattered767
2007-04-23 04:23 am UTC (link)
In all of its "For such a whiner, you're still here." glory? Sure. ;)

http://news.livejournal.com/98192.html?thread=44349840#t44349840

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[info]ex_shattered767
2007-04-24 05:04 pm UTC (link)
Still no response - I wonder if that changelog entry is supposed to be it. ;P

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