Ads on the left side of screen?

Posts: 9,350
10/1/12 7:48 A

My pop-up blocker is enabled!!! Thank You! but it does not block 100% I do intentionally click on any ads, as I stated.Seems like any time I state my opinion, the rude people come out and attack.

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9/29/12 4:43 P

I can't speak for any others, but I do have the pop-up blocker enabled. This helps a lot, but although I try to be really careful to avoid clicking on any ads, it has happened once or twice. Both times were when I didn't realize that the page had not fully loaded yet and I went to click on something I actually wanted (such as an article). Then suddently, the page shifted just a little just as I'm clicking and I found myself clicking on the ad by mistake. So, it does happen.

The ads are gone from the left of the screen, but the page is still off-center. It's a pain, but I'd rather have that blank space on the left than the ads.

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Posts: 15,379
9/27/12 3:14 P

If you don't want "to put up with all this junk", do something about it!
Seriously.
You have the choice of enabling your pop-up blocker, or even blocking all ads.
Your choice!

And if you don't want emails from ads you click on... don't click on ads.

Posts: 9,350
9/27/12 2:15 P

Yes the ads are very annoying! and the popups are extremely irritating! I go to click on something and accidentally click a popup and get al kinds of garbage! I have evem been getting emails from some I accidentlally clicked on. This is really upsetting! I feel my privacy has been abused.
i am thinking of joining WW....It costs but I won`t have to put up with all this junk!

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9/26/12 12:13 P

The ad is not back on mine, and I don't have an ad blocker, that I know of. I feel fortunate for that. That bugger made me nauseous. But I do have the gray bar that made my page shift to the right. That, I can handle.

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9/26/12 10:07 A

Mine are still blaring, flashing ads and since we read from left to right, my eye is constantly drawn to it. If this isn't fixed shortly, I will be downloading ad blocking software and won't see ANY ads. I don't think this is what SparkPeople wants.

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9/26/12 10:00 A

The ads are back, but at least the ones on the left aren't blaring, flashing ads now. Still, I don't like them.

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Posts: 16,532
9/26/12 9:09 A

They were back on mine last night, too. Same thing.

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9/26/12 8:40 A

Well, the ads just reappeared. They are back with a vengeance.

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9/24/12 11:28 A

Same here, and I haven't had any pop-ups either. It is better. As far as the shift in the page goes, I just get to where I am going, and I center it. I don't have a problem with that.

Thanks, tech team! And my eyes thank you, too!

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9/24/12 10:19 A

Yes, the ads do seem to be gone, but the white space is still there.

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9/24/12 10:09 A

The ads seem to be gone now, but the page is still shifted to the right.

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Posts: 1,246
9/22/12 3:17 P

Yeah, Cochese, the Netbook is not the ideal viewer for webpages\websites. Assuming you have the standard 10.1" screen, which usually runs 1024 x 600 resolution, you're not looking at having the ideal layout of site data as the site can only accommodate certain aspect ratios and the default vertical resolution for a horizontal 1024 is 768 on a standard display so, right there, several lines are "lost," causing you to have to scroll quite a bit.

I'll sometimes look at sites on my TouchPad and notice that items could be laid out better for smaller screens but then, on my larger system monitor, it's just fine.

As for Chrome allowing more pop-ups than Firefox, anyone interested in upgrading\changing browsers, and considering Chrome, might want to check this out: support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl
=en&answer=95472 As with IE, FF, Safari, etc., you can manage pop-ups by modifying the appropriate settings (as addressed in the above link). I never really bothered changing mine from default, though, as I run StopZilla which has yet to fail me. (^_^)

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9/22/12 2:34 P

I went to Firefox from Chrome because it was letting all sorts of junk onto my browser windows. I like Firefox with Adblock, but it is possible that the shifting is because I am using a Netbook to browse. With my small screen, maybe it is just really noticeable to me because now half of the page is off the screen and I have to keep scrolling back. It is only about 3/4" different but it makes is irritating. The Start Page, my page, the SP blogs and the recipes do not do it.

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9/22/12 1:51 P

I use Google Chrome and have absolutely no issues. IE (Internet Explorer) is notorious for lesser desired "features," shall we say, such as this.

Chrome is probably one of the MOST secure browsers. In fact, Google regularly holds a little shindig where they invite people to try and hack their browser. Only one person has been successful thus far and of the award offered, which could have been up to $1,000,000 if he'd have really knocked their socks off, his efforts garnered a "meager" $60,000 and Google will have a fix for that little snafu out pretty soon.

While I do like Firefox greatly, I'd definitely recommend Google Chrome over any other browser.

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9/22/12 12:52 P

grr that linkie thingie on the left with the tweet/facebook/pin has started mushing over to my main screen and smooching the right today on sparkpeople section using both IE/Firefox with blockers. the only way i am having full visability on the right is having my window just about maximized which takes up too much screen space.

any suggestions on how to get rid of that?

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9/21/12 12:26 P

LUANN_IN_PA
Thank you! Just tried this and it worked straight away!

Really SP are doing themselves no favours here. If the ads were bearable I'd leave them there and maybe click on one from time to time. But if they make them so intrusive I have no guilt about blocking them altogether. If anyone from SP is reading this thread perhaps they could take note of the problem.

Thanks again Luann
Sue

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9/21/12 11:54 A

I use Firefox + AdBlock Plus.
NO ads on any site.

And nothing is shifter to the right on my page (a previous poster mentioned she had that trouble).

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9/21/12 11:31 A

I came here to post about the recent change which puts far more ads on my screen and noticed that you guys are ahead of me! This is DRIVING ME NUTS. I appreciate advertising helps fund the site but this is so irritating that I can't stand it. Literally, I have to quit SP because it gives me a headache. It wouldn't be so bad if they were static ads but the scrolling ads are appalling. As are the pictures that kind of bounce towards each other and away again - does anyone else get those?

COCHESE321 I use Firefox too - how did you manage to block these ads please - would be very grateful to know!

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Posts: 4,730
9/21/12 9:37 A

I agree that for Spark People to be free (for the most part) it needs to have ads on the site, but this latest addition of more ads to the left and more popups is getting to me. If especially the left sidebar ad is not removed I will be moving to another site. These are really becoming annoying.

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9/21/12 9:26 A

Agreed. The ads on the left are awful. It smooshes the nutrition tracker too far over and they are all moving ads which distracts the eyes all the time. I've used SparkPeople for years but this is one move, along with the recent popups, that make me consider using another site.

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9/21/12 9:06 A

The ads on the left side of the site are awful. I really hope this gets fixed soon.

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9/21/12 8:15 A

The ad on the left is AWFUL - I can only see part of it anyway - can't even tell what the product is! I have been a big fan of sparkpeople and have recommended it to MANY people - individually and on large message boards - but not any more, if this mess doesn't change. At least I can shrink the bar at the bottom of the page (does anyone actually use that?). If the nutrition tracker is going to be shrunk or reduced any further, I'll be looking at other sites or some software to use for tracking.

Posts: 2,356
9/20/12 9:30 P

I do hope the tech folks can do something soon. It's verry annoying. Same with the pop-ups, which are somehow managing to get through my pop-up blocker. And I've noticed another ad on the right under "My Spark Points" that is in a box called "Sponsored Listings." I don't think that was there earlier.

I agree that ads are a necessary evil to keep SP free, but there's got to be a better way to place them so that they don't detract from the user's ability to view the page. Since the two items under "Sponsored Listings" are also at the bottom of this box, it's a nuisance times two!

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9/20/12 9:30 P

I didn't realize that there were ads on the left of the page. I have my ads blocked (Firefox). As a result, it just looks like the whole page has been shoved to the right and I have to keep moving it back to the left. As a result, I am exiting Spark and heading to more friendly territory. I will keep checking back and see if it has gone away. Probably not - they probably call this an update. :-(

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9/20/12 7:21 P

It is actually making me nauseous. I can only see half the ad on the left, and half of the Today on SparkPeople section, the left half. It is hard on the eyes. I've been here as little as possible this evening, but I have teams I need to check in on. I hope this goes away soon. Like now.

current weight: 170.0

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Posts: 18
9/20/12 7:15 P

The ads on the left are driving me nuts too. I've started getting popups too. What a pain.

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9/20/12 3:54 P

I have been getting pop-ups and notification of blocked pop-ups for a few weeks now.

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9/20/12 3:45 P

I agree that is it terrible. Not only that, but I have a chocolate frosted flakes add that is not in English. I think it is Spanish. The ad is on the left of the screen and under the tool bar. And when there is not an ad there, I still have to center my screen. I rarely bellyache, but this is a big fail. And I've noticed today, that I keep getting pop ups, and I get notifications that my browser blocked a pop up. That never happened before.

current weight: 170.0

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9/20/12 3:18 P

This is terrible. That silly ad on the left of my screen takes about 1/3 to 1/4 of the page and pushes everything over to the right. I hope this gets fixed. I'm done here until it is.

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9/20/12 2:50 P

I noticed this too. It wasn't like that when I logged in this morning. When I logged in after lunch, I noticed it. It's very annoying!

I also don't like that the tool bar to save/print/share an article is on the left side of the screen instead of the top or bottom. Sometimes I have to widen my window to see it.

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9/20/12 1:06 P

You're not alone. This is driving me nuts!

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9/20/12 1:02 P

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback, I have passed it along to the appropriate group.

Be well,
Kelly

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9/20/12 12:38 P

Maybe it's just the way my page is set up or something, but today I've noticed that there are ads showing up along the left side of my screen. I'm pretty sure it wasn't like that yesterday. I don't want to click on them anyway, but even if I did, they are useless the way they are set up. You can only see half of the ad and it smooshes the page I'm trying to see (my SparkTeam page, SparkPoints, etc.) about two inches to the right and I can't see the entire screen. If you use the 'bar' at the bottom to move the page over, only the SparkPoints, etc. page moves and part of it gets hidden behind the ad box. The ad stays half on and half off of the left side. Does anyone know why this is happening and if there is something I can do? I know that ads are necessary, but they need to be at the top of the page, not to the side.

Or, is this just a glitch and all will be well tomorrow?

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