TBR Drop - Aug 2, 2023 (2.Viewing)

rlm said:

Honestly, I'm not so sure why people get so amped up about blocking ads. I just ignore them, pretty easy to do. Sometimes maybe I even want to see ads anyways.

More baffling is that we're all in an industry that literally relies on those ads one way or another. Even a guy who is periodically pitching to sell ad space for this very site, blatantly states he uses ad blockers. The irony is kinda funny.

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I white list sites i support, and block the ones that have crazy ads but you cannot white list bodis.

rlm said:

Honestly, I'm not so sure why people get so amped up about blocking ads. I just ignore them, pretty easy to do. Sometimes maybe I even want to see ads anyways.

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I don't mind regular ads, but there are some places out there that will hard-lock your browser with zero-click ads (complete with loud alarm sounds) and basically force you to either kill the browser process or shut down your entire system.

Awhile back, my parents got a zero-click page that locked the browser and disabled the "X" close button, started a very loud weeee-oooo alarm and stated that their system had been infected with ransomware that would cost them X bitcoins to disable.

Imagine who got the frantic call from my mother (my siblings never get bothered) who sounded like she was headed for a heart attack? After showing her how to close the browser thread, my next trip down there I installed serious ad blockers on all their computers and phones and have not had a problem since.

Those crazy bitch scam alarm ads are what created the growth of ad blockers but I do whitelist sites that I read/use to make sure they get ad revenue.

You're never going to get rid of the ad blockers now, as there is always some unethical SOB advertiser trying to roller skate uphill.

silentg said:

Ad Blockers Usage and Demographic Statistics in 2023

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That's crazy, I would never have guessed it would be that high, and I have to even question it if its legit. Is that corporate installations to block specific ad networks or do you figure those are really home users?

I'm on the internet as much as anyone, visiting countless websites for random domains. While I can't say I've never got the lander-from-hell with popups that crash your browser, it has been years since I've seen that. Do people actually still do that?

Reading through that article it also says:

While up to 41% of American internet users report using ad blockers, the share of sessions in which ad blocker usage is detected is significantly lower.

Ad blocking is detected in 18% of web sessions on computers among American users.

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It also says:

7% of mobile sessions involve detectable ad blocking, an increase from 2% in 2016.

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So some of those stats seem to be framed in a way to exaggerate them. Maybe 47% of people had installed an adblocker but it doesn't mean they still use it, or maybe they only use it for very specific sites.

For example, sites that are trying to monetize unauthorized video feeds or content by forcing countless ads, a user might specifically use the adblocker while using that particular site.

So as i suspected, the adblocker use really isn't as much as claimed, but I have to admit, even 18% is higher than I would have expected, unless maybe that comes from some corporate wide installations skewing the numbers.

@rlm - my number one peeve is landing on a parking page and getting a blank page, I then shut off the ad blocker to see the page but the average consumer thinks there is no website there.

As ad blocker use goes up, parking revenue goes down.

Install the adguard extension to see it work: AdGuard — World's most advanced adblocker!

rlm said:

And I've been using Bodis a long time so it was just a token of appreciation, not wanting anything in return. Scratch that, put better RPMs on my wish list, it has been horrible this year. It's actually crossed my mind that I might have to start looking for other options for the first time in a long time...

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It's been a tough time for the parking industry in general, not just Bodis. State of the world economy, recession etc have seen a drop in EPC across the industry. EPCs had a big boom during Covid when everyone was in front of their screens all the time, unfortunately for all of us it has gone back down again. We are doing everything we can to alleviate it.

Shaun

BODIS said:

It's been a tough time for the parking industry in general, not just Bodis. State of the world economy, recession etc have seen a drop in EPC across the industry. EPCs had a big boom during Covid when everyone was in front of their screens all the time, unfortunately for all of us it has gone back down again. We are doing everything we can to alleviate it.

Shaun

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@BODIS - was this AI keyword matching every implemented that I heard about in the spring? Did that make any difference?

Everyone one else - just out of curiosity, does anyone feel like the economy is actually bad? Sometimes I feel like its hard to tell, but from my own personal experience, it seems to me prices everywhere are jacked up, but yet stores are packed, restaurants are packed, tipping expectations seems to be at an all time high, traffic in my heavily tourist laden region is heavy, markets are up, etc, etc, etc... The US GDP has been increasing 4 consecutive quarters, unemployment is low, real estate is up, etc... I don't actually see any signs of the economy being bad. What am I missing?

rlm said:

was this AI keyword matching every implemented that I heard about in the spring? Did that make any difference?

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To be honest that didn't work as well as we hoped, however we haven't given up and are still working on it.