Forum:Advertising Overload

I noticed today that the ads on a number of wiki's is spamming all over the articles. Sometimes with 4 or 5 ads per page. It appears that the rules are changing on the ads. The Ads spawn after Heading 2 style is used twice, and it now repeats down the Article. I found this to be the case at Ghostbusters Wiki, Batman Wiki, and apparently at all the wiki's that have large articles. Any thoughts or where they explain this change? Am I the only one noticing this? Devilmanozzy 22:51, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi! Thanks for your post.  As Sannse explained elsewhere, over the next few months, we will be experimenting with different ad placements to determine what combinations of ads and ad placements perform the best with the fewest compromises with regard to user experience.  Today we removed some advertisements from the sidebar and added them elsewhere within the page.  These changes are ongoing, so it is possible that you may see some more tweaks as time goes on.


 * We spent a lot of time writing collision detection logic to help ensure that these advertisements do not interfere with page structure or layout, but that code may not be perfect yet. If you see anything unusual, please let us know so we can take a look and refine how it works.  Anyone who prefers not to see most advertisements is welcome to create a free account and log in.


 * Thanks! --KyleH (talk) 00:46, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reply, Yeah I understand why this is happening as bills need to be paid and all. I think that this sort of system may not be working right yet, however if there is a silver lining in at least the Ghostbusters Wiki, is that the ads are for sony's Ghostbuster official site which the wiki already promotes. I also linked to the message here on Ghostbusters Wiki Ads so they can read this and understand. Devilmanozzy 01:32, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I honestly don't understand why this is happening. It has maybe been a year since this ad system was implemented in the first place. This is how I'm viewing it:


 * 2 permanent ads in the main page implemented
 * A box or banner on every page implemented
 * An ad in the sidebar
 * Wikians told that the ads wouldn't be incredibly distracting, but let's face it, they are distracting
 * A couple months ago a report was released and everything was on the up and up.


 * Thus, the question is, if everything is working out as that report said it was, why is even more advertising necessary? -- LordTBT Talk! 16:52, 5 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Because of some changes in the global economy ? — TulipVorlax 19:19, 5 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi LordTBT,


 * As TulipVorlax suggested, a lot has changed over the past year. According to a report from PubMatic, a company that specializes in ad optimization, overall online ad revenue was down over 50% in 2008, and the downward trend seems to be continuing in to 2009.


 * Wikia has been affected by this trend, but the impact hasn't been quite that dramatic. As Danny mentioned to you a few months ago, Wikia has more editors than ever before, who are all creating amazing wikis which are attracting more page views than ever before.  This growth, along with some other measures we have implemented, has helped offset the decline.


 * Nonetheless, while we're healthy, we still need to keep trying different options to figure out the mix of ads which provides the best compromise for all of our customers--the contributors who build the site, the readers who view it, and the advertisers who pay for it.


 * Thanks,
 * KyleH (talk) 22:56, 5 June 2009 (UTC)