Posted on by wherethejourneytakesme

Help…..

I was so disappointed yesterday to learn that one of my readers is not happy to comment any more because of the amount of pop up advertising on my blog. Because I am logged in to WordPress I never see this advertising even when I visit other free WordPress blogs (the ones that end in ….wordpress.com). I believe that on Blogger you have the option to turn off the ads – on a free WordPress blog you do not – you have to pay for that privilege.

However, I checked out my blog on DH’s computer and sure enough my site is bombarded with ads yet when I looked at some other free WordPress blogs they had none. I have no idea why this should be and have sent an enquiry to WordPress support – but I do not expect an answer from them. WordPress have been bombarding me with emails recently to upgrade to their paid plans and this will stop the adverts but this does feel like blackmail if they are heavily advertsing on my site to push me into a paid plan.

I have not as yet decided what to do – I have been unhappy for a while now with the constant changes at WordPress and I may move to Blogger but perhaps you could help my decision by letting me know in the comments if this is affecting your reading and or commenting and if you are seeing more adverts now than previously.

And thank you Simone if you are reading this for alerting me to the problem.

Have a great weekend. x

41 Replies to “Help…..”

    1. It could well be as we use Firefox and have it set for no ads where we are able to which gets rid of many. We had to search for my blog through Internet Explorer to see the ads on my blog on DH’s computer. Thanks for leaving a comment – I will see if anyone else is troubled as I didn’t really want to have to buy a paid WordPress plan to get rid of the ads. I have been with WordPress since 2012 and not had problems with the ads before…well not knowingly!

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  2. Hi,just one advert comes up when I read your blog and it’s an American advert for a beauty box. I just ignore it it doesn’t deter me from reading your blog.
    Kind regards Margaret

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    1. I think it must depend on which browser you use – if I search for my blog on both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome there are far more adverts on my site than if I use Firefox or Opera. Thanks for letting me know – WordPress do say that they advertise with one small ad just above or below the related stories before the comment box – so maybe the other ads are to do with individual settings in readers browsers and the choice of browser. So paying for a WordPress no ads blog might only resolve part of the problem anyway. The mysteries of the computer!!

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      1. I usually see one or two adverts when visiting your blog although, as I mostly read on my phone I don’t notice them so much, they don’t really bother me.
        I have found advertisements on other blogs to be much more intrusive. X

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        1. It seems it could be more complicated than I first thought and that even if I sign up to a paid WordPress site some of the ads may appear for some people due to the browser used. Thanks for letting me know Jules it is good to understand what it is most people are seeing. x

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  3. Hello there, when your email comes through there’s a little note that says, this post is ad supported, then there’s a small ad. Yes the one for a beauty box that Margaret mentioned.
    Yet when I come to your actual site I don’t see any ads at all. I’m using my iPad run on Safari.
    It might be as you say, all to do with browsers and individual settings

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    1. I am beginning to think this is the reason. WordPress only mention placing the one ad not several and not pop ups – but they are there, I have seen them when I am not logged in to my blog and am using Google Chrome. I found out that Google chrome may have recently altered their ad blocking policy due to some technical changes they have made. However it is interesting to know what everyone is seeing. If it is individuals browsers settings there is an easy way for anyone who wants to to get rid of the ads.

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  4. Yes, the adverts annoy me too, but I still read your post. Don’t ask me what browser I use or anything technical as I don’t know because my husband sets it up.

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  5. Hi Vivien! Just to let you know that I use Firefox. I don’t have an iPad and I access your blog through a desktop computer. The reason the ads ‘bother’ me is I have to keep scrolling up and down the post to leave a comment because the ads keep popping up and sometimes I click on them by mistake. Just now the ads were for O2 networks and Caudalie suncare (3 times). The ads pop up at the top of the post, below the post and in between comments. My eyes are all over the place! I will try to comment more often but as I explained it is quite a task to even be able to leave a comment when I have to navigate around the ads. I hope I haven’t been unkind in pointing this out but I thought if I feel like this (and I love visiting your blog) then other people may be reluctant to stop by and comment too. x

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    1. Don’t feel bad Simone I am really grateful you pointed this out and I can replicate the ads you are seeing by going in through other browsers when I am not logged in to my WordPress account. I agree they are bad and popping up throughout my posts and comment section and really irritating – I can see your problem!! At the moment I am not convinced it is just down to WordPress ads alone. Firefox also have certain settings to block ads but you have to activate these which we have done on our PC’s but of course not everyone does this. I have DH working on a solution to this at the moment – he is quite techy on this kind of thing I am better at software maintenance – each to their own!
      I may end up switching to Blogger but then I am not sure if it is a browser issue if that will cure the problem for everyone affected. I will let you know what we find out and if I can make it any better. have a lovely weekend – if nothing else it is always lovely to hear from you. xx

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  6. There are even more ads on some blogs where people are actively trying to make money. I do avoid them and especially if people change from a blog to a dot com website with loads of ads.
    The ones on your blog are dotted about between the comments, not too bad, just takes longer for the post to load as it goes through all the “waiting for…….”

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  7. The ads on your blog don’t deter me from reading, but for your information there do seem to be a few. They put a couple of ads in between every few comments, a banner ad at the top and a couple at the end of the blog post. In all there are 7 as I’m writing this. Presumably the more comments you get the more ads there will be.

    Personally, I’ve been having trouble on Blogger with spam comments lately and have had to change my settings to start moderating comments as a consequence.

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    1. Thanks Ann and thank you for counting them I have passed this info on to WordPress – we will see what they come back with.
      I have read that Blogger blogs seem to have more trouble with the spam comments than WordPress -thankfully something I am not pestered with (touch wood!!).

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    1. Hi Joyce and thank you for commenting. I wasn’t aware there was so many popping up on my blog as on the WordPress admin page it says some viewers may see an advert here – which makes it sound like just one ad at the end of a post not littered throughout, not as a banner above the header, and not littered throughout the comments!

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  9. I don’t get any ads on your site if I use my iPad which I do 99 per cent of the time.
    Personally I’d be sad if you moved to Blogger as I have to work a roundabout way to comment on the posts I read there. It used to be fine but about six months ago everything changed and I was frozen out unless I used a name rather than sign in on my google account.
    Very confusing!
    I love your blog and a few adverts won’t put me off but some people may find it annoying so it was kind of Simone to alert you.
    Sue

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    1. My problem with Blogger is that they can close down your site without notice and have done for some people who have long gaps between posts. Also I think Blogger does not deal with spam comments very well and there are an awful lot of Blogger bloggers who have some dreadful comments – I have never been subjected to these on WordPress. The down side of WordPress is it has become more restrictive – you cannot instal plug ins or use CSS unless you pay quite a bit and there is no facility to turn off the ads like blogger has. I do not mind paying for an ad free site if WordPress can confirm that all these ads that people are seeing are down to WordPress and not to someones browser settings – otherwise I wouldn’t be any better off.
      In respect of commenting on Blogger blogs I had to open a Google account but I am able to use my blog name to comment and it links through to my blog.
      Thank you for commenting Sue it is appreciated.

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      1. About spam comments on Blogger. I moderate all comments. I find the spam filters on Gmail effective. Current spam errs to one size fits all comments – which people don’t always recognise as spam, and an excuse to link dump.

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  10. I only have the beauty box ad when I read your post on email. If I read your blog ordinarily, I get other ads on things that I might have look at during the day. So I think, as others have commented, it will vary on individuals’ settings.

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  11. No ads appearing for me today although I seem to remember some in the past. I don’t pay any attention to them.

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  12. I have used Adblocker – ever since someone suggested it. I see NO ads on your blog and can read in peace.

    Some sites will say – we see you are using Adblocker. I may be able to continue reading. Or there may be a pay wall.

    Another workaround is to read the vanilla version in a Reader like Feedly or Bloglovin. But you do need to click thru to get the comments.

    I did briefly have ads on my Blogger years ago. What I dislike intensely is the ads are personalised to each reader – I as the blogger will never know what ads each reader sees on MY blog. No, thank you. Then rather choose a deliberate ‘pay the blogger’ ad.

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  13. Yes, I see plenty of ads on your site – 14 today, with 12 of them being side by side ads in between comments. I use Firefox, but will go into settings today to see if I can do something about blocking them on my end. Must admit, a lot of the ones I’ve seen in recent times were particularly unappealing (gut worms…), not what you would like in between your lovely photos, but I’ve just tried to skip past them. Glad Simone brought it to your attention. I just figured it was what these platforms do in order to ransom you to a paid position.

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    1. I never knew it was so bad – I have had a reply from WordPress but as yet they are looking into it and will see what happens. Sorry you are having to put up with the ads…hopefully not for much longer as I will resolve it one way or another.

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  14. Just a follow up–I changed the settings on FIrefox to “Strict” and now none of the advertisements are showing. Not sure how this will effect other sites I visit–assume cookie trackers won’t be happy, but I’m glad to miss unappealing ads.

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    1. That is good to know. Once I have all the relevant info I can make suggestions for other readers and if that does not resolve will have to consider paying or moving to Blogger or some other platform. Thank you for taking the time to comment – much appreciated.

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    2. Hi Mary – just had a word with DH – the problem with ‘strict’ is some sites you visit may not be accessible because they rely on using cookies and ‘strict’ stops the cookies so my computer is set on the next lower setting that blocks most things but not cookies.

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      1. Thanks to DH for the follow-up message. I’ve adjusted things again to customize my security issues.

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  15. Same as you, I read all WordPress blogs on the WordPress reader since I have an account here, so I don’t see any ads. I pay for No Ads on my own WordPress blog which costs me about $35/year. I use an Ad Blocker when I go to other websites so I don’t see many ads. I have had problems leaving comments on Blogger posts for years – at various times I used a Google+ account or Open ID – I think it depends on the strictness of the settings that the individual blogger selects. Most will now allow anonymous comments so I can just sign my name!

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  16. I’m just catching up on three months of blogging hiatus. I hope you haven’t switched to Blogger. I’m happy with WordPress and won’t be able to comment if you have a Blogger blog. I read on the app so see nothing. Just paid for my Lucinda site as I exceeded the media allowance. I could have started a new blog, which I did for my year off, but didn’t want to for my main blithering site.

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