Yes, 36 ads being blocked on this page, and navigating this site is difficult.
You need to down load some ad blocker software folks, or use DuckDuckGo’s internet browser. Commercialism and ads have nearly destroyed the internet experience… and this is the only way to fight it. I use DuckDuckGo privacy essentials Chrome browser extension… and it works. As I type this I am doing on a clean screen.
1 Like
Advertising is necessary to provide revenue for the forum. However, to participate on this forum an ad-blocker is required. Should I have confidence in the future of this forum?
1 Like
It appears that Car Talk buys a slot from a provider. If that is true, then the Car Talk moderators don’t have a horse in the ad race unless their provider tells them to encourage our dumping of the ad blocks. Less talk about it means that the provider is less likely to know how widespread it is.
Stop it @davesmopar I like my purr ball 
3 Likes
Ad blocker schmad blocker.
I’ve been on and continue to be on umpteeen numbers of forums.
This one is the WORST for many more reasons than the jumpy ads that make things unreadable. WORST platform ever.
And PS, I’ve got my firefox adblocker going and the site is fine for me. But THAT’S NOT THE POINT!! This site is outstanding for its dysfunctionality and for the silence of the mods about it.
1 Like
There was a comment by one of the mods a few months back. The problem is out of their control. I recall her recommendation was to use an adblocker.
1 Like
Well out of their control. Not only is the car completely dead but this place is on life support.
Oh boy. A comment a few months back after things just recently went haywire? Widespread reports of really bad juju and still silence? Whatever was said “a few months back” is not relevant.
I’ll reiterate Bing:
One certainty, the more posters the healthier the community. If there’s a way to make the website more inviting to new posters, that would help.
A comment a few months back after things just recently went haywire? Widespread reports of really bad juju and still silence? Whatever was said “a few months back” is not relevant.
The comment a few months back to use adblockers is still relevant. The admins have no control over the site owners throwing more and more ads at us. Fortunately, common adblockers solve that problem.
I agree this place is on life support. I see two main reasons.
- A fat-to-meat ratio that has gotten so high that it’s a waste of time looking through new posts to find meaningful content.
- Frequent harsh replies that drive people away.
2 Likes
A third reason:
The Fakebook effect!
Members are flocking from both UseNet groups and moderated forums such as CarTalk to that social cesspool, and look what is happening over at Igor Sushko’s Automotive Forums:
The ratio of bots to human participants is frightening. Bots asking lame questions such as “what is the best utility to buy in 2023?”, '24, etc.
Sorry, but that doesn’t excuse the present silence. It also assumes that one saw some offhand, one-off comments a “few months” back. And yeah, the admins (or someone) have some control. Change platforms (i.e. find another service). This one is a mess.
I mentioned that to the aforementioned Igor at the Automotive Forums I also frequent, but they seem resigned to bleed members to Fakebook and Instascam, and the bots take over the forums.
Sad!
I don’t disagree.
Admins have made comments in the past (and I paraphrase) that the revenue to sustain CarTalk isn’t there like it was in the past. I interpreted that as admins not getting paid enough to spend lots of time monitoring this site, and that those running the site feel free to bleed it for whatever ad revenue it can get.
I’m noticing this website is a little improved today. Coincidence, or has something changed?
Unfortunately, 1 day later, appears to be back to its old tricks.
Why aren’t you just using an ad-blocker? They’re free and work PERFECTLY. I really don’t see what the fuss is all about.
Still awaiting a 100% guarantee the software only blocks ads, and doesn’t do anything else like compromising privacy… A free adblocker wouldn’t be free if it stole my bank account number.
If you’re afraid of an ad-blocker then you should be afraid of ever getting on the internet. When ever getting on the internet you should always have an anti-virus software. If not get one. I’ve been using ad-blockers for YEARS. There are trusted sources. Microsoft has certified several of them. Norton anti-virus has certified several of them too.
And if you’re real paranoid then get a VM and install ad-blocker on the VM. Then only use that VM when connecting to this site. It’ll keep your system separate from the ad-blocker.
3 Likes