STH Q2 2017 Refresh is Live: Let’s Talk Ad Space

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
7,625
2,043
113
I think you mean 2016

"In early 2016 we started experimenting with a novel concept, using fewer ads. By Q3 2017 we had dropped the number of ads each visitor saw, on average, by 11%."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
7,625
2,043
113
The other tech sites have so many ads, and intrusive ads now I actually won't even load some of their content if I realize I'm "clicking" onto one of their pages after I've made the click. NO I do not want to watch a 30 second or 60 second video to get "ad free" viewing, I want to read the article and move on. No I don't like it when you auto-play a video ad or any ad with sound.

A+ in my 02 @Patrick

I'm seeing some white space up top that could be thinned/narrowed, but liking the new look :)
 

Jeggs101

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2010
1,529
241
63
I like this a lot better than the old STH one. The last one kinda worked on mobile but let's face it, it sucked. This one I saw first on mobile and I was like WTF.

Hey - that ad space thing is really good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
1,532
288
83
Gotha Florida
Maybe just me but I'm on my mobile and when I click the menu icon on main site I can't seem to find forums link. I see something like click here for menu (going from memory, so not exact wording). I got to the forums using the link in the article.

On chrome on Android.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
Maybe just me but I'm on my mobile and when I click the menu icon on main site I can't seem to find forums link. I see something like click here for menu (going from memory, so not exact wording). I got to the forums using the link in the article.

On chrome on Android.
Thanks! Should be fixed now.
 

cactus

Moderator
Jan 25, 2011
830
75
28
CA
I like the new layout. Working well on Android.

I stopped going to Tom's all together after getting multiple full screen "Your Android device has a virus" ads.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

jfoor

Member
Feb 4, 2017
81
20
8
36
On the main page you might slow down the "Trending Now" scroll box near the top of the page. Bit too fast to read some of the longer titles.

That or I just ain't read gud
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

pricklypunter

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2015
1,708
515
113
Canada
I just spent a few minutes reading various articles on the main site, it looks good and is pretty fluid imo. I do like the design and I think most will agree. One thing I did notice, more than once, and it could just be my old tired eyes so don't put too much weight on this, but the right column feels like it is a little "twitchy" as you scroll down. It doesn't feel like it smoothly scrolls down with you, rather feels more like a snap, especially as the main header goes off screen. I was using FF 52.

You guys have done a great job, so definitely thumbs up :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

sherwood

New Member
Dec 14, 2015
20
10
3
@Patrick

The only issue I have seen so far is with the Palemoon browser (27.2.1 on Arch). It shows up as the mobile version and not the desktop. Not sure if this is because of the way the website is checking Palemoon or if it is because it emulates an order Firefox version (29 i think).

It works great on mobile (Android) and of course Chromium/Chrome.

Other than that it looks wonderful!!!

Thanks,

Sherwood
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: Patrick

niekbergboer

Active Member
Jun 21, 2016
154
59
28
46
Switzerland
That looks good, and on mobile too. In terms of ads; sure, nobody likes those, but it brings in money (and my salary ;)), and that is fine.

Given all the demoeval work that you're now doing, Patrick, what fraction of your turnover is running the website? Still the larger part?
 

Dev_Mgr

Active Member
Sep 20, 2014
133
48
28
Texas
As one of the very few sites I use, I have ABP disabled on (all of) servethehome, but I do use noscript and block anything from FB, Twitter, Googlesyndication and others that sound like they could be advertising or tracking related.

I get the Amazon ads in the '2nd block on the right side a bit down the page' (not sure how else to describe it), but I don't get the banner along the top, nor the block above the Amazon ads.

Not that I'm 'dying to see ads', but reading the article I saw the pink areas you marked to show advertisement real estate, and that's when I noticed I'm only getting 1 of the 3 advertisement sections/blocks.

As far as I know, I cannot disable Googlesyndication for just scripts linked from STH, so I'm not going to enable it (as it would enable it for all sites that I visit).
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
Yea there is an issue where enabling wp super cache adds an extra whitespace line at the start of the RSS feed and breaks the feed. Still working on that one.