New inline keyword text advertising annoying?

I noticed a couple of days ago the implementation of the "inline keyword adverts" that could be clicked...

First impression was, OK interesting something new and guess its OK to make money.

Now a few days later, it appears more and more keywords are inline keyword adverts...

It's starting to get extremely annoying.

You think a user is linking a word in their post for something relevant to the post and then you end up somewhere which has nothing to do with the post.

I've never been a big fan of these type of ads, but on here it is just plain annoying.

Anyone else care to comment and add their experiences, perhaps it just takes getting used to???

 

I've always found inline text ads on forums to be annoying, and it will only get worse as more advertisers come on board.

 

I agree... it's looking like *I* am supporting the links more then Digital Point is.

When I go "I just started my forum" and forum ends up being an add for some other site, it really makes me want to log out and not check back.

The link color of them needs to be changed at least so people know it's not the standard method of communication from the user.

 

They are affiliate links managed by services like skimlinks.com. I don't think they're necessarily annoying if they're relevant and not too "in the way."

 

+1 for changing the intext link color to something else, eg... blue

 

Was it on purpose that my example above is EXACTLY the example I was using? LOL

I look forward to the changes!

Would a double underline be possible?

<style type="text/css">
.double_underline {
	border-bottom: 3px double;
}
</style>

HTML:

(I googled the answer, as that's something I don't know. I'd also assume that it's possible to make that for links rather then text.)

At least with that, once people catch on that it's different they will know if/when it's the person or the add.

 

This is the first time I see them on forums and yes it has been annoying. Perhaps it just takes getting used to, I don't know?

The link color sounds like an interesting suggestion...

I think the problem is that we are all used to something. Or said differently, we are NOT used to clicking links and finding ourselves somewhere completely different and unrelated to the thread or post...

Yes this could be a way around it..

Sorry for criticizing your new implementation, Shawn I hope there can be a solution that works for everyone

I see the potential downside of colors... How about limiting them? In one plugin for WordPress I know you can limit the links to X per page?

 

forum keyword will link to advertising, its a way to make money online, it will be better than the google adverts

 

Yeah, they are a bit annoying... it looks like the poster is linking to something, not an ad.

So I guess soon almost every post will have one word or phrase that is an ad. Shouldn't there be a limit per page? Or is 20 ads on each page the plan?

 

I don't mind if every post has a link...almost every post has a signature, I think it's only fair that DP share in the wealth... but then again, the number of links on a page devalues them all. Right? So I guess there is certainly something in that.

I really think the key is to make it less annoying for the members here.

• It sucks cuz it looks like *I* am linking to something I'd not personally of linked too! How about some rev-sharing on this, lol
• It sucks cuz it looks like YOU are linking to something you are not linking too.
• The above two also means it sucks for the advertiser. How many have clicked into a link in a post to only find out it was an ad? What happens then? I'll tell ya! It means that the member clicks the BACK button and the shawn gets rich and the advertiser does not even come close to getting a conversion.

Thats suckage on three levels! Without something to make the link 'different' then it's loose/loose... and in the long run it's even a loss for DP! As the members get tired of it, they will stop clicking all together, as the advertisers get tired of invalid clicks they stop buying...as they stop buying DP looses revenue.

Had it not been for shawn saying this was a test version and that change would come, I'd have already left DP due to the links in my own posts.

________________

Suggestion:
Is there any way that premium members can be excluded from such linkage all together? They deserve more...

 

Ha.. I was just gonna add that suggestion to my post but you beat me to it. I think that would definitely make the premium membership more appealing.

 

take a moment to hover over it, you'll see it's an Ad. Yeah, they suck.

 

I did that for the first few days, now I'm simply ignoring ALL links here on Digital Point.

 

I already talked to shawn about this, and as you can see, my posts are ad-free now

 

Yes That's what I was saying

 

Do you guys still see the ads? My paying members don't see them (but I don't have inline ads so I guess it's different).

 

We still see the ads, but any ad that would have been in my post is removed.

For example:

make money | advertising | hosting

Did any of those link?

 

No... but then I'm not questioning it now that I know my suggestion was implemented before I even suggested it (I'm not a paying member, so I didn't know or notice). I'm now wondering if you see me linking to random things...

make money | advertising | hosting | facebook <- any of those link for ya?

I'm also wondering if me quoting you will place adds...