advertising stinks
 

Not a paying member yet, but I would rather NOT deal with the hassle of PM ads.

I am a paying member and I do not like the PM adds either.
I think it is WRONG !

SPAM
 

Yes i got the same Julie. behide you all the way. Not what we payed for.

Wonder what Ken's thoughts are on this?

I'm not thrilled about those notifications,but they're really no problem to delete/ignore.The owners of this site provide these forums for our use.The payback is that they sell advertising to sponsors,and try to have us view it. Annoying,yes,but I'm sure we all signed up for it in the users' agreement.Read the fine print.

Thanks for the link,Bobby.

I dunno. The PM spam is a bit of a nuisance, but if that's the only thing I've gotta deal with now, then my dues were worth it. The delete button is easy enough to use. At least the site loads quicker and I don't have all those *&@$* GM ads plastered up all over everything.

Interesting link, Bobby. Didn't that guy die, though? I wonder how a dead guy is still updating his photo gallery? :confused:

Yep...over in the Corvette forum, another IB forum, we call it Band (banned) Camp. The guys that started that one had a much better structural layout. They break down the 6 generations of Vettes, give them their own General, Technical, Parts for sale, Cars for sale sub-forums and then there are OTsections so you can pretty much reside where you want and the advertisers are allowed in the parts for sale only. Special deals promoted by IB are in the top stickys. I imagine that when IB picked up this forum, they kept whatever the structure was at the time and tweeked it as needed. PMs for new truck stuff in the old truck sub-forum doesn't make much sense but it probably isn't worth falling on your sword for it....just my $2,000,000,000,000 under the new Obama Math...

I checked out that link out of curiosity. There's something very familiar about that truck but I just can't seem to put my finger on it.

He sure had an interesting job:

"Missile Teat Engineer General Dynamics"

Didn't know missiles had em! Where do you apply??? I bet the line is very long...

Hope his son is doing well. It sucks to lose a parent. Especially when you're an only child.

Thanks for this info!! I now have both and it made using this site much easier and more enjoyable!

there is one thing yall have to remember. yes, you are a supporting member of the site. but there are less paying members than there are nonpaying members, and it costs money to keep this site running.
it is the advertisements that pay to keep the site running, not the supporting members.
the occasional private message advertisement you get offering savings from a site sponsor vendor is not that big a deal. if you don't want to read it, just delete it.
i mean really, it is not like you get one every other day.
they come out what, 2-3 times a year??

First, Ken's involvement with this site is a thing of the past... he might visit but ain't in the management area any longer...

Second... I agree with the ads in the p.m.s.. there are two forums already devoted to ads one is the 'aftermarket product' forum and the other is 'vendor specials discounts, product announcements and group buys' either one of these would be perfect for this crap... and where it was intended to go...

in my experience... talking to the mgmt is less than gratifying..

john

Interesting, I understand the need to have advertising to support the site and for people who are not supporters as it covers the cost of their use.

However it would have been a simple thing to at least let you know when you sign up that you are getting some PMs during the year advertising "specials". I had no idea until I got mine.
Is it a really big deal??? NO
Was I disappointed? YES I expected better.
jim

Bobby,

That is scary, Sandidandi's build looks like it could be Julies trucks alter ego. Also listing some of the same skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

I deleted the PM from the advertiser without opening it which wasn't that big a deal but I was still annoyed. I agree with Julie that you should be able to opt out of receiving messages like this, especially if you're a paid supporter.

OK, there's a bunch of different things going on here, and maybe I can address one or two, and I hope I don't screw things up more than you guys already think they are ;)

First and foremost, the broadcast PMs are sent to ALL registered members. There's no way for them to single out paying and non-paying members. The PMs are usually describing some discount or other that FTE members are made aware of, to their benefit. Yes, it's an "ad" but it's also like the coupons you get in the mail. Sometimes they are well worth it. I get one every month or two.

Secondly, the "pop ups" some of you get sound fishy to me. I get no popups whatsoever, and I have no special handling except for my paid "Supporter" status. If you are a "Supporter" and are getting pop ups, either set your browser to turn off pop ups, or make sure you don't have any Adware running on your machine by running an anti-virus or anti-adware/spyware scanner. If you still get pop ups after disabling them in your browser, something is WRONG with your machine.

Thirdly, slowness when you are a non-supporter: This has to do with the ad providers servers, not FTE or IB, and can have something to do with your PC, your Internet provider, or any anti-adware/spyware/virus or ad-blocking software you are running. When I am not logged in and browse this site, it's FAST, just as fast as when I am logged in and have no ads.

Slowness when you ARE a supporter, again, has more to do with your PC, your anti-virus software, or your Internet provider. One every few months, I experience some slowness, but that is usually due to high traffic on the site, or my own Internet provider's being overloaded.

QUESTION: How many of these PM ads have you guys gotten over the past 6 months?