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sangiro

Subaru Outback ad campaign

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Hi everyone,

Yesterday and last night we discussed the Subaru advertising campaign with NameMedia, the owner of Dropzone.com. (You may recall that NameMedia's involvement with the site is to sell and serve ads. All management and operational responsibilities are delegated D4DR Media, the previous owners of the site).

NameMedia sold this campaign to Subaru without our knowledge or involvement. The campaign started running yesterday, and entails rich media effects across the browser screen. Our position has always been that we strongly oppose any kind of invasive advertising like pop-ups, page take-overs or interstitials, hence we urged NameMedia to remove the ads. They have the final call however and decided to keep the campaign running, tweaking the implementation to ensure that a particular user will not see more than 3 of the ads each day. Further:

- The campaign will end on Oct 17th
- There is an “x” box during the rich media extension that allows the user to stop the rich media.
- The campaign is targeted for US users only.

You are encouraged to send your feedback and views about the campaign to NameMedia at [email protected].
Safe swoops
Sangiro

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They have the final call however and decided to keep the campaign running



Firefox + ABP = I haven't seen any ad in a very long time. This was done when the ads went beyond the simple top banner ad (with no or very little animation) and started to become annoying. That's too bad since I would have loved to been able to contribute to the ad revenue for the site by clicking on some ads, but it looks like things are even worst so this site will stay ad-blocked.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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I sent a email to them. I have a great pop up blocker at home but my work computer is another story. Thanks for working on this and trying to correct the issue.
TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

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ensure that a particular user will not see more than 3 of the ads each day.

Is that particular user or particular IP address?

To me it's pretty short-sighted. The money that's gotten from a single advertiser is short-lived; the users who leave and end up on FB or just blowing off dz.com are gone forever.

And if there are enough ads like this, well, then there are going to be fewer and fewer skydivers, and then less and less money for advertising to skydivers.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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Thanks for the update. I can live with three times a day. I know you need ad revenue to run the site.

Might I suggest an angry e-mail to your LOCAL Subaru dealer?
They pay into an ad fund to pay for this shit. If you tell them these kind of ads will make you buy from a different dealer, they might get the message.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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An angry email to the dealership will do nothing.


Email sent to Namemedia.
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To whom it may concern

I have been a long time user and participant in the dropzone.com forums, in fact being a moderator of two forums for several years. The new ad comapain you are promoting for Subaru is extremely invasive, and it prompted me to add an ad-blocker to my browser. Never before have I felt the need to use one, and in fact, I would rather not use one as sometimes, worthwhile images get blocked.

I would have been happy removing that functionality, but your decision to continue running that ad confirms my decision to keep the ad-blocker on. As a result, none of your advertisers will get any benefit from me seeing their ads. I know for a fact that many other users of dropzone.com are doing the exact same thing.

Best regards


Remster

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I have cleaned out my dropzone.com email account and all private messages.

Please cancel my premium membership.

Mark



lol man take it easy...this site costs money to run...stop acting like such a little girl..

OMG THERES AN AD ON MY DROPZONE.COM PAGE!!!

this is the internet and this is how things work...
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www.facebook.com/agentlead

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lol man take it easy...this site costs money to run...stop acting like such a little girl..

OMG THERES AN AD ON MY DROPZONE.COM PAGE!!!

this is the internet and this is how things work...



Not quite.

He's a paying customer, so this is actually how things work. His choice. Have you shelled out the cash to be a premium member? Then I don't think you get it.

I work in interactive relationship marketing, and those people who are loyal enough to pay for a subscription are the ones you want to keep happy. Acquisition costs are much higher than retention costs. Subscribers are what we like to call a 'captive audience.' If Name doesn't understand this, well, that's their problem.

More importantly, invasive/intrusive ads are the ones that get a site quickly labeled as 'spammy' by its users (and drive many of them away). Any interactive media company should understand its detrimental effect on basic usability.

I personally have now installed an ad blocker, and while I'm missing seeing some of the ads from relevant advertisers, I find it works quite nicely.

Shame, really.
Signatures are the new black.

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Our position has always been that we strongly oppose any kind of invasive advertising like pop-ups, page take-overs or interstitials, hence we urged NameMedia to remove the ads. They have the final call however and decided to keep the campaign running,



Nice respect they're showing you.

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I received a reply to my complaint letter:

Quote

Andrea:

We heard everyone loud and clear. The ad was removed from the forums
and has been scaled down 99%.


She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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I received a reply to my complaint letter:

Quote

Andrea:

We heard everyone loud and clear. The ad was removed from the forums
and has been scaled down 99%.



So fess up... You threatened to paddle them, didn't you? :P

Thanks for your work! :)
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Actually, I threatened to resign. But, I'm sure it wasn't just my e-mail, I think they might have gotten a few. ;)

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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I received a reply to my complaint letter:

Quote

Andrea:

We heard everyone loud and clear. The ad was removed from the forums
and has been scaled down 99%.



Sangiro complains and gets a noncommittal response.

SkyMama complains and they promptly take it down.

At least we now know who is really in charge.:ph34r:
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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I received a reply to my complaint letter:

Quote

Andrea:

We heard everyone loud and clear. The ad was removed from the forums
and has been scaled down 99%.



Sangiro complains and gets a noncommittal response.

SkyMama complains and they promptly take it down.

At least we now know who is really in charge.:ph34r:


Now know??

It took you until now to figure this out??:o
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Nah, the three X a day and the "close" box option were definitely concessions. I was more wondering if they considered those to be the 99% eliminated...

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I received a reply to my complaint letter:

Quote

Andrea:

We heard everyone loud and clear. The ad was removed from the forums
and has been scaled down 99%.




I received a similar email. I guess I will not install the adblocker like I was going to . :)



for now.
CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

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