Where are my Ads

November 4, 2010 5:55 AM

So whats up with my ads? In the US I receive them and in Spain I don't. I want my front page ads via the deck. They are interesting and teach me things.

I'm permanently logged in on each of my machines. Lenovo at home in Spain; Acer notebook while travelling. Both with Firefox and AVG. Are the ads an area thing? Us peasants in the "old" countries would like to see them.

posted by adamvasco to Bugs at 5:55 AM (48 comments total)

Have you tried logging out and back in with the browser you're not seeing them in?
posted by pb (staff) at 5:57 AM on November 4, 2010

When I log out I don't see them either. *sobs*
posted by adamvasco at 6:06 AM on November 4, 2010

Do you have adblock installed?
posted by pb (staff) at 6:14 AM on November 4, 2010

Negative
posted by adamvasco at 6:41 AM on November 4, 2010

Do you see the spot where the ad should be, with the text: "Ads via The DECK (hide)"?
posted by pb (staff) at 6:47 AM on November 4, 2010

Piggyback in re the deck - I especially like it when we get blue ads on the front page, green on askme, grey on meta and so on..
posted by By The Grace of God at 6:59 AM on November 4, 2010

At present I see
Ads via The DECK (hide)
but I want the nice shiny box! and a different ad every day just like in America!
posted by adamvasco at 7:22 AM on November 4, 2010

Hey Matt, you signed up with an ad system so good people are expending efforts to see them.
posted by The Whelk at 7:30 AM on November 4, 2010 [6 favorites]

ok, we have verified that you don't have the local cookie we set to hide ads. As far as I know The Deck does not do anything different based on your geographic location, and neither do we. I'm guessing that for some reason or another the network you are on can't get to the network the ads are hosted on. Try clicking this link. This file holds the code that we use to display the ad. You should be able to click that link and see a little bit of code in your browser.

There are a number of reasons you might not be able to reach that file. One of the most common is intermittent network flakiness. Maybe your network couldn't resolve the hostname and the browser "remembered" that. Sometimes a hard refresh will force the browser to try again, that's Ctrl + Shift + R in Firefox. Maybe there's a piece of software sitting between your browser and the network that is blocking that domain for some reason. You don't have the adblock extension installed, but sometimes malware/antivirus software will flag some domains as bad and stop them from loading. And sometimes that type of software is installed by whoever runs your network.

Sorry you're not seeing them. Based on what you've said it sounds like a network hiccup somewhere so I'm not sure there's much we can do on this end.
posted by pb (staff) at 7:32 AM on November 4, 2010

I have no idea if the Deck people filter out european IPs for ads, but it sounds like more of an access or connection issue.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:44 AM on November 4, 2010

I can see the The Deck ads in the UK fine.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:49 AM on November 4, 2010

pb's link works from the Netherlands
posted by DreamerFi at 8:00 AM on November 4, 2010

Hey Matt, you signed up with an ad system so good people are expending efforts to see them.

Yeah, nice. I have friends at Omnigroup, and I'm always like "Oh, hi!" when their ads pop up.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:13 AM on November 4, 2010

OK this is interesting.
pb's link above works.
I have just opened my travelling machine (the Acer notebook) and I have a nice shiny ad.
So it must be something in my home system blocking it. What I am not sure but that is my problem. The travelling machine is accessing through the same network as the home machine
I don't think I have ever opened metafilter on the traveling machine while at home so I have no way of knowing if this has always been like it is.
Anyway thanks for your time and assistance and yes I think its cool that Matt has an ad company that chucks up ads that some of us really want to access.
posted by adamvasco at 8:16 AM on November 4, 2010

Can you try a different browser on your home machine? If the ad shows up in IE or Safari that would narrow it down to a problem with Firefox. Any other extensions installed that could be interfering like Greasemonkey or NoScript?
posted by pb (staff) at 8:37 AM on November 4, 2010

The Whelk: "Hey Matt, you signed up with an ad system so good people are expending efforts to see them.
"

Yeah, this. Listen, I'd like to see an Ad Gallery somewhere because there's been one or two things that I've seen and am like WHOA I NEED TO GET THAT while I'm clicking a link and then I go back to the page and then there's a different ad.
posted by boo_radley at 9:07 AM on November 4, 2010 [4 favorites]

"Hey Matt, you signed up with an ad system so good people are expending efforts to see them.
"

Yeah, this. Listen, I'd like to see an Ad Gallery somewhere because there's been one or two things...

I think the Deck ads are pretty great too, but seriously, this is starting to make me feel dirty, like I've stumbled into some Internet ad guru's fantasy role play scenario. "There's this intelligent, fairly cutting edge group of early adapters, and they want MORE ads. MORE ADS!"
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:12 AM on November 4, 2010 [13 favorites]

I think NoScript keeps them from showing as well. I had to disable both Ad Block and NoScript to see them. (I'm also outside of the U.S.)
posted by taz at 9:16 AM on November 4, 2010

I clicked through pb's link and found I did actually like a couple of the ads, so I just did something I've never done before: disabled AdBlockPlus in order to see ads!

As someone who once worked in the online ad business and felt very dirty because of it - thusly taking every opportunity to opt out of the experience ever since - this is quite the landmark in my online history.

Well done, The Deck & Matt! Ads people want to see on a site already rich with content & distraction!
posted by batmonkey at 9:29 AM on November 4, 2010

Where's the bit in my Profile where I can just enter my CC number and it will auto-purchase every service or product advertised on the Deck? I tried putting it in the About field but it's not working.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:30 AM on November 4, 2010

Wait, I think it's working.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:41 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Was there an ad on The Deck for 50 Samsung widescreen TVs?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:41 AM on November 4, 2010

MCMikeNamara: "I think the Deck ads are pretty great too, but seriously, this is starting to make me feel dirty, like I've stumbled into some Internet ad guru's fantasy role play scenario."

OH! I have so much disposable income! Won't somebody tell me how to spend it?

"I put on my suit coat and fedora."
posted by boo_radley at 10:05 AM on November 4, 2010 [10 favorites]

The solution here is probably just to block MeFi in any country besides the US. That would solve that annoying "USIAN" debate, too, actually.
posted by koeselitz at 10:19 AM on November 4, 2010

The solution here is probably just to block MeFi in any country besides the US. That would solve that annoying "USIAN" debate, too, actually.
True, but you wouldn't get through nearly enough "u"s and "s"s to hit quota. You'd throw the internet lettersetting gnomes completely out of whack!
posted by metaBugs at 10:32 AM on November 4, 2010

This must be the alternate universe I have heard about. People wanting ads!
posted by Cranberry at 10:40 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

I clicked on an ad and bought something. Fuckers!
posted by meech at 11:43 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm not complaining, but I don't see the ads most of the time when browsing from my phone. I see the "Ads by the Deck" box with nothing in it. It doesn't matter if I am logged in or not. I cleared my cookies and cache and still no ad. The ad does display correctly maybe one in ten times I load up the main site, I can't guess what magic variable makes it work. I can see the ad when I click on pb's link. It's an LG phone on Verizon. The brower says it is Obigo Q7.2-1.1, with no extensions or scripts on my end to block it. I assume it's something Verizon is doing to block the ads.
posted by peeedro at 11:52 AM on November 4, 2010

I wish I had a problem like this. But I never go anywhere.
posted by JanetLand at 1:12 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

this thread's going to end up in a TED TALK, I just know it.
posted by boo_radley at 1:40 PM on November 4, 2010

Current showings at The Deck. Or whatever you want to call that...list of current ads.

(Who the hay is this Coudal guy, anyway? He's popping up everywhere and making me feel empty inside)
posted by circular at 2:12 PM on November 4, 2010

>> I want my front page ads via the deck. They are interesting and teach me things.

Me too.

>> Yeah, this. Listen, I'd like to see an Ad Gallery somewhere because there's been one or two things that I've seen and am like WHOA I NEED TO GET THAT while I'm clicking a link and then I go back to the page and then there's a different ad.

Seriously. I feel a little bit off-kilter and surreal for saying it, but I like the The Deck ads and I have had this exact experience.

It's a combination of things: the advertisers are cool, useful and well-curated... and the ads themselves are attractive with punchy effective taglines.

PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP, I REALLY FEEL DIRTY. THIS FEELS DIRTY.

But God help me, it's all true.
posted by pineapple at 2:53 PM on November 4, 2010

I don't see any ads at all when I'm signed in. Nor do I see an "ads by deck" box. Now I would like to see what's so great about these ads. How do I see the ads?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:56 PM on November 4, 2010

The ads don't show in Australia, just the "Ads via the DECK (hide)".
posted by unliteral at 3:13 PM on November 4, 2010

(Who the hay is this Coudal guy, anyway? He's popping up everywhere and making me feel empty inside)

He's Jim Coudal, the president of Coudal Partners, who are also behind the popular Field Notes, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.
posted by grapesaresour at 3:15 PM on November 4, 2010

circular: "(Who the hay is this Coudal guy, anyway? He's popping up everywhere and making me feel empty inside)"

He about 12 feet long, with a wingspan of about 15 feet. It weighs about 1,800 pounds. He is considered a celestial outsider. In meetings, he will use his detect thoughts ability on any creature that arouses his suspicions. Since he is highly intelligent, he usually casts spells from a distance before closing.

He casts spells as a 9th-level sorcerer and can choose spells known from the sorcerer list, the cleric list, and
from the lists for the Air, Good, and Law domains.
posted by boo_radley at 3:27 PM on November 4, 2010

Do i have to "hide ad" everytime i logon, or should it be a permanent preference?

Currently, its the former.
posted by hal_c_on at 3:28 PM on November 4, 2010

It's currently not a permanent preference. When you click 'hide', we set a cookie that tells us not to show the ad to you. If that cookie is removed for any reason such as logging out, you'll have to click 'hide' again to set that cookie. That's understandably annoying if you're logging in and out frequently, but it's also a single click and there are options such as AdBlock, NoScript, and Stylish if it's a major headache.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:58 PM on November 4, 2010

boo_radley: "OH! I have so much disposable income! Won't somebody tell me how to spend it?"

mathowie: "What's wrong?"

The Deck: "It is just that the Deluxe Package has so many more ads. It saddens me to think of your readers... missing out."

mathowie: "Oh, don't be sad! They're clamoring to see more and they're incredibly savvy."

The Deck:

__ __
.  .

posted by Rhaomi at 6:05 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

There are ads on the internet? Since when?
posted by fourcheesemac at 6:07 PM on November 4, 2010

There are internets on the ads? Since when?
posted by item at 6:39 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

You people are all weirdos.
posted by 1000monkeys at 6:50 PM on November 4, 2010

"no dog food for ze deck tonight!"
posted by boo_radley at 6:54 PM on November 4, 2010

I disabled the AdBlock rule for the Deck ads after seeing this thread, and...huh. I've already learned about two services that might be good replacements for what I'm using now.

I'm rather unnerved by useful ads.
posted by catlet at 8:05 PM on November 4, 2010

I have now resolved this because I was a dickhead and don't know what I am doing. I didn't realize that adblock was a firefox addon, I checked my programs to see what I was running (used to use lavasoft). So in my firefox toolbar I go to tools; adblock plus references; then scrolldown to ||decknetwork.net^$third-party; uncheck the box; click apply and voila, I has ads, and I has happy. YaY. ( Do I get a free shirt for pimping the deck?)
posted by adamvasco at 12:33 AM on November 5, 2010

Man, I must be way outside the target demographic, because none of the ads I've seen so far interest me in the least.

Note to The Deck: Less boring business shit; more ice hockey, motorsport, and pornography ads.
posted by clorox at 4:31 AM on November 5, 2010

MetaFilter: I has ads, and I has happy.

(also suitable for t-shirts)
posted by catlet at 8:06 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I figured out how to make the ads come back. They came back. I bought something.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:17 PM on November 7, 2010