New ad network 2025 - provide feedback here

[shaunj66]

We have switched to a new ad network. Please use this thread to report any browsing issues specifically caused by ads on GBAtemp.

Most ads include a "Report Ad" button so please use it to report any issues with ad content. There's no need to post about it on the forums, as we'll just direct you to that button.

Also, please keep in mind that these ads arent there just for the fun of it. We need revenue to keep servers going, to allow some staff to get (small) payments to keep the site alive, and giveaways, contests etc.

 

[a_username_that_is_cool]

I would be 100% down for it.
This would be a much better idea compared to adware being borderline malware running in the background collecting user data.

and as Sono said, we could also have milestones that give new features (e.g. return of Throwback style, or other things we've wanted for a while). much better than this current system of "patron or we shove ads in your face. adblocker bad" (hyperbole btw) that's causing a lot of tempers to leave

 

[Sono]

The other thing is, well, most people who say they'd pay an otherwise nominal subscription for something 'if only they'd just [x]' are being disingenuous. Like, the site doing that wouldn't actually motivate most of them to start paying.

If I'm reading this correctly, then not necessarily. The 2$ tier has no no-ads in it, only the 5$ tier has it.
Bringing out the emoji, this is a supply-demand issue. Some people may be able to *barely* cough up 2$, but can't spare 5$. They only want no-ads, but can't get it for 2$, so they either leave the site due to too many ads (which means no ad views, so 0$ paid out), or they just use adblockers, and not pay for the 2$ tier (which also means 0$ income).

I don't know how much ads pay per user per month, but ad rates are so bad, that I still think that 2$ per month would still bring barely more revenue, than with lots of ads and zero privacy.

However! If ads did pay better, then you could *still* prefer donations over ads, for one specific reason: reliability.
Users' browsing habits are effectively noise (they could get sick, get a power outage, need to go somewhere for a few days, etc.), and trends make ad payouts extremely volatile, so the site owner is really twiddling their fingers, hoping to get a good month, instead of a long-lasting drought.
Whereas with donations, if the donators are kept good care of, it's highly unlikely for that amount to vary *downwards* all over the place, so it's something you could effectivel rely on, even if it's much lower than ad payout.
To be honest, considering how long this site has been operating for, and how the interests are of the users (and hopefully the admins as well), reliable low income that a lot of people like is more valuable than some jank volatile maaaybe-high income that pisses everyone off. Just my two Eurocents.

You may be being genuine here, but if you are, you're outside the norm. Maybe this entire site is full of people who're outside the norm, to be fair. But a lot of people are driven to the alt gaming scene (i.e., mods and romhacks and fangames and all that stuff we love here) by either being unable or unwilling to part with their money, so I don't know that they're necessarily outside of the norm in that way. Maybe they'd prove me wrong given the chance.

Funnily enough, most people in this thread should watch predatory mobile game conferences. No, seriously! They poured a lot of capital into research and development, so I unironically trust them to be a source of valuable research information, even if their methods are gut-wretchingly scummy.
What they are saying is, is that the minority pays for the majority of the income. Must be some "rule of life", as this pattern seems to emerge quite a lot in the gaming scene (where payments are involved). I think we should also put some research into this information provided. I'm very certain it is possible to "negotiate" (I can't find the correct word for this, something about mutually asking eachother back and forth, since we have a common goal that we all benefit from) a better "deal" with the userbase, on top of others' very nice suggestions that I personally did not think of.

So yeah, we will definitely not be extracting any value from "free-loaders" (I'm not trying to twist your words, I just can't word my reply well enough, although please correct me if I misread / misunderstood what you meant!). Contrary to popular belief and "common sense", they never had the intention to pay, so it should NOT be counted as lost revenue, so they should not be put into the equation.
With that in mind, hopefully I have proven you wrong
But feel free to prove me wrong back I love and appreciate having open-minded civil discussion, maybe *I* could learn something new.

Post automatically merged: Aug 10, 2025

and as Sono said, we could also have milestones that give new features (e.g. return of Throwback style, or other things we've wanted for a while). much better than this current system of "patron or we shove ads in your face. adblocker bad" (hyperbole btw) that's causing a lot of tempers to leave

Oh, I actually meant per-user personal milestones, but glad that me being misunderstood lead to better ideas than I could have imagined

 

[Retrojunkies]

Thing with adverts, they need to be relevant and not block site content.

I saw the other pinned home page article. I could help hosting costs to 0 maybe.

 

[Nephiel]

The only way they'll ever be able to afford getting rid of the ads is if they have that userbase support first.

You know what? You're right. Let's turn it around. I'm subscribing right now.

However, I fear that doing so right now, when that obnoxious anti-adblock script was put in place, will send the wrong message: "Hey look, blocking them adblockers is paying off, because some users are now subscribing to be ad-free." Please, do not misunderstand. I am fortunate to have the knowledge and the means to get around these anti-adblock measures. That might change in the future, but right now, I do not need to pay just to avoid ads. I have no need for patron perks, either. And I do hate subscriptions.

No, I am subscribing to help, first. Because I do find value in the time I spend here, because I don't want GBAtemp to sell out just to survive, and because right now, I can afford it (again, that might change in the future).

Again, please reconsider the ad network change. At the very least, drop the anti-adblock measures. I honestly believe those will do more harm than good.

 

[DragonMals]

can't see the new adblocking system but listen to the people who'd disagree about the changes and find alternatives to using ads.

I wouldn't want people I really wished to speak to be gone from the internet without any other socials

 

[Costello]

can't see the new adblocking system but listen to the people who'd disagree about the changes and find alternatives to using ads.

I wouldn't want people I really wished to speak to be gone from the internet without any other socials

this thread exists so that we can get feedback and make adjustments to find the right balance.

Some people say they are leaving the site over… something that has not yet happened and will not happen (i.e. blocking users that have adblockers). I don’t understand this and won’t come crying after them to come back. But there isn’t anything set in stone at all.

The news article I posted merely explains the situation we’re in and says we are being forced to be more liberal with ads. How liberal this is will depend on a lot of factors and an important part of it is the feedback we collect in this very thread.

 

[DragonMals]

this thread exists so that we can get feedback and make adjustments to find the right balance.

Some people say they are leaving the site over… something that has not yet happened and will not happen (i.e. blocking users that have adblockers). I don’t understand this and won’t come crying after them to come back. But there isn’t anything set in stone at all.

The news article I posted merely explains the situation we’re in and says we are being forced to be more liberal with ads. How liberal this is will depend on a lot of factors and an important part of it is the feedback we collect in this very thread.

Thank you for the information. My personal suggestion to this is not to be too forceful with the ads. I've seen developing sites that unfortunately use ads to catch wind of financial stuff but their tactics usually are not as intrusive as the ones im seeing from the members that use this site.

 

[Nephiel]

Some people say they are leaving the site over… something that has not yet happened and will not happen (i.e. blocking users that have adblockers).

But it has happened? There is an inline script now in place, that prevents access to the site, unless allowed to reach the advertiser domains. There's evidence in this same thread.

 

[Costello]

Thank you for the information. My personal suggestion to this is not to be too forceful with the ads. I've seen developing sites that unfortunately use ads to catch wind of financial stuff but their tactics usually are not as intrusive as the ones im seeing from the members that use this site.

Yes absolutely. This thread is a good way to evaluate this effect. And there are also a lot of good ideas that have been posted here and will be worth exploring.

 

[Costello]

But it has happened? There is an inline script now in place, that prevents access to the site, unless allowed to reach the advertiser domains. There's evidence in this same thread.

if confirmed (i.e. confirmed that it isnt just a bug) then this is absolutely not intentional and does not reflect our instructions at all, so we need to wait until office hours for the ad network to hear about this and make the necessary changes.

Personally I have not been affected by this and dont know anyone who has (no one in the staff reported it) so it’s only by seeing reactions to this thread that we realize what is happening. We do need more information though because we need to understand why it’s happening to a small subset of people.

 

[Nephiel]

Try to reproduce it by DNS blocking html-load.com, or even in the hosts file. Many privacy-focused DNS blacklists include that domain. uBlock Origin has extra capabilities that can prevent anti-adblock scripts from running and intentionally defacing the site when unable to reach that domain, but other blockers that only rely on DNS blacklists can not do that.

 

[BlackZero500]

I dont know if anything has changed since the start of this thread, but i can use the Site just fine with Adblocker enabled.

I have to say im quite conflicted. Though i do sympathise with the situation the Site finds itself in, i do make it a principle to block ads everywhere i go.
I probably wont make an exeption for this site. That is for two reasons.

First, as i said i block every ad i can. Not only because they annoy me, but also because i think this kind of advertisement where personal data is used to tailor the ads to the user is a scourge.

Second, i cannot stand this kind of delegation of responsibility. Google, Social Media and co. cause less traffic and less revenue so the users have to endure more ads. if its the fault of Google, Social Media and co the user should not the one to suffer because of it. I do get that you cannot change the overlying situation but that does not change the fact that the normal user shouldnt be the one paying the price for it.

 

[Earthshine]

Don't know what kind of jank adblocker or adblocker settings some of you are using, but zero site issues whatsoever with uBlock Origin on desktop Edge & Firefox.

 

[Lostbhoy]

I personally moved to duckduckgo for an ad free experience across the web and tbh i find myself going back to chrome anyway for certain sites or things. I mainly use mobile.

The ads thing here did get horrendous and one of the biggest annoyances was either the ads loading well before or even after the site loads which causes all sorts of page jumping and the blocking of content giving to much reduced site space for reading or typing.

There is one that even has a stop seeing this ad button, it asks why, gives ad covers content as an option then says it will not show that ad again but the placeholder for the ad remains... Still blocking said content!

I am considering becoming a patron as this is a site i love, i have watched it over the years become one of the main goto sites on the web for everyone and anyone with gaming or modding queries and I have certainly learned and benefited greatly from the advice, help and general community spirit that always been sustained over the years. My thanks to you all!

I personally hate the whole web ad industry but these are reaons to support your favourite sites nowadays as unfortunately the web is no longer the free web we all grew up with.

I think it's honourable of @Costello to be transparent about this and certainly feel confident in his ability and willingness to keep the temp as user friendly as can be however it takes a community to sustain one.

 

[Deleted member 702243]

page load times with ublock origin on default filters:

disabled: 27 seconds
enabled: 3 seconds

very nice

 

[eternal]

I personally dont believe in subscriptions for most things. I dont even have any subscriptions for streaming services, as I consider myself tech savvy enough to find what I want to see somewhere on the internet.

Back when I stopped being a full-time lurker here, I added gbatemp as one of many sites I now secretly and publicly donate to because the add value/info here in my opinion is very high, and I got some long time lurker history ... to things I find important in some way or another.

I think you guys should take the advice like other users have said, and be upfront if possible about expected costs and let people get involved with graphical bars to goals around the site, and/or doing extra giveways, or even "donation seasons".

I looked at the patron stuff for subbing and for myself, it doesnt add anything I need as minimal profile is my go to. But if you guys wouldve added more emojis in the default like button for posts then I maybe (unlikely), wouldve subbed haha. In the meantime:
I'll personally keep donating as I can, and hope this site doesnt go the way of the dodo.

 

[Sono]

Actually... reading some more replies...

If we could have some operating transparency (not necessarily a detailed breakdown of cost, but some estimates binned into categories, like hosting, labor, feature implementation costs, raffles, etc.), and how much we need to fill for the month, and how much is left (like the example Vin showed) it could technically induce demand for donations?
So for example, it is possible to use the live bar to show users, that if we meet the goal, we can do X or Y. Kind of like stretch goals? Or Twitch stream donathon challenges? You could probably combine it with the raffles and such, when there is an overabundance of donations.
Perhaps it could also ease more people into dropping a dollar or two, if they see that there is a dire need for donations, or if the goals are just *barely* met.

Sadly I don't have any data for how effective or ineffective this is. It's definitely something cool to consider though.

 

[Ryccardo]

As for the original question, this is how it looks for me when I'm home (= are willing to turn off blockers because I'm not on limited data):

The vertical banner soooometimes gets an actual ad in (generally one in good taste - no fake news/virus warnings/download buttons/singles near local earth orbit, I must concede), but most of the time they're blank space wasters that occasionally blink and refresh (probably meaning "bidding" is going on, IMO one of the worst cancers in advertising along with client-side tracking through arbitrary code execution, when newspapers and magazines and billboards have obviously always used less intrusive means)

 

[Snintendog]

Still dont get why you don't just make a dedicated Ad page for people to go to IE "a taste of the current Internet Ads" place a vid frame there along with a bunch of banners to keep the site running well but contain the insanity Ads have become and use it like a tool to measure the WORST of the internet styles without it being purposely Malicious.
From there find the Tamer of Ad types to use for the rest of the site.
Curiosity alone from Ublock users will go there just to test Filters and see how bad a site can get and lets face it some will turn it off to see what it would look like.. Perhaps even Section it off between Ads-Video types/ Banners/ Anti ADblock/ Hidden content if Ad blockers are disabled/ Privacy Invaders/ Resource Stealers/ Foreign Ads.
Wouldn't be a long term solution but it would allow some diversity of ads from the big bads to see the site using them.

 

[orangy57]

More transparency about how bad the situation is would be helpful. Make it a goal with a fun progress bar, we are $X behind our server costs right now. Gamers love that stuff.

More stuff like what newgrounds does for their supporters would be interesting too.
Maybe a name on the front page for the newest supporter? add your own blurb? idk. It would be pretty cool and add more incentive to get people to help out. Newgrounds practically lives off of donations (but I get that they're a bigger site with insanely diehard fans)

The team also has to keep up with new crowds in the spirit of GBATemp if you want to get more clicks onto the site.
The Steam Deck people are ALL OVER modding and stuff but GBATemp weirdly never got a board for this. There (was) a big opportunity to get all the steam deck people on here by making a steam deck board but all of them just go on reddit or other personalized sites for that stuff. The peaks of this site are usually when homebrew is popping off for a specific console, but right now we're in the lull period between switch 1 and switch 2 modding.