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.

 

[modrobert]

Testing the waters here but what if...
- visitors/guests were to see regular ads (100%)
- newly registered members would see slightly less ads (75%)
- confirmed members (100+ posts or something - the same who have access to the trading area and more) would get significantly less ads, i.e. the least disruptive experience possible (25%)
- patrons would see no ads at all (0%)

I think it looks like a good plan, in addition, perhaps some kind of naming scheme (badges) of different levels of patrons depending on how much they contribute monthly as well.

The phenomenon I've described in my news post isn't isolated to GBAtemp (read more https://www.theguardian.com/technol...ing-drop-in-online-news-audiences-study-finds )

After reading the article, I stumbled across this part.

A month-long survey of almost 69,000 Google searches, run by the Pew Research Center, a US thinktank, found users only clicked a link under an AI summary once every 100 times.

I've been thinking a lot about genAI (LLM) recently, maybe it's time to take a stance by not using it as some members pointed out, not sure. Human errors like bad grammar and maybe even a spelling mistakes are starting to feel genuine and positive.

At first when ChatGPT was launched it was kind of exciting, and being a programmer I wrote a golang client for the terminal (Linux) to access the OpenAI API. However, over time I feel increasingly skeptic about genAI, looks like it will ruin a lot of good stuff.

 

[previous_member]

Testing the waters here but what if...
- visitors/guests were to see regular ads (100%)
- newly registered members would see slightly less ads (75%)
- confirmed members (100+ posts or something - the same who have access to the trading area and more) would get significantly less ads, i.e. the least disruptive experience possible (25%)
- patrons would see no ads at all (0%)

I like this idea, but if a new visitor comes to the site, the first impression should be one to convince them to stay and register. If a newbie comes, and the page is plastered with ads.. they're not coming back.

From my observation, it's very rare for someone using an adblocker to whitelist a site. So until someone becomes a patron, ads should be safe and not in the body. Then those who like the site might consider if nagged politely once in a blue moon.

My raffling idea didn't seem to generate much interest. I personally think it's a great idea. And if it is under the same umbrella as gambling, I'm sure there is a license or some sort of legal permit - once registered would allow it.

But, I've been thinking about what @Scarlett said here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/new-ad-network-2025-provide-feedback-here.673881/post-10708109 Yes, you could allow free entry, but if you do purchase, perhaps you get 10 or 50 entries instead of just one. I've known businesses to do this. No purchase necessary to enter contest, but if you do send proof of purchase, you get more entries into the draw, or if draws held every day, you're entered in each draw.

My first idea of raffling was to simply get a number. So, enter with no purchase - 1 number. Pay $5 - 10 numbers. Pay $10 - you get 25 numbers.

If the prize was a Switch 2 (forget the hating on it). How many might possibly pay $10 to get 25 chances to win?

Anyway, that's it. It will be the last time I mention raffling if still no interest in it.

I could deal with ads for a while, if other alternative methods of monetization were being implemented to phase out using ads. Other methods viable would be affiliate marketing (I know GBATemp would be limited to few businesses here) or fundraising. Sponsorship is still an idea too, but then you become the sponsor's mouthpiece.

 

[Deleted member 361542]

Normal User here, nothing special.

The Amount of ADs is... Overwhelming.
They are pretty Huge, everywhere and it makes absolute no fun to visit this Site.

Maybe i found something better soon, idk.

Post automatically merged: Aug 11, 2025

Normal User here, nothing special.

The Amount of ADs is... Overwhelming.
They are pretty Huge, everywhere and it makes absolute no fun to visit this Site.

Maybe i found something better soon, idk.

I mean, its really annoying.
There is this one position where the screen is like 90% ads and 10% gbatemp.
Bruh.

 

[LexDG]

This is covered and explained in the thread I made on the homepage - there aren't really a lot of partners willing to invest in traditional banners nowadays. This format has somehow lost a lot of value, and most of the times adblockers will also block these anyway so we're circling back to the same issue. Nowadays it's all about video, Youtube, influencers, instagram and whatnot.

Then go right ahead and make a gaming news youtube channel ala spawnwave. Daily or weekly. Podcast format or info dump style. Doesn’t matter. All these sites still cite articles from here so you may as well be first to deliver it.

 

[Deleted member 535703]

Testing the waters here but what if...
- visitors/guests were to see regular ads (100%)
- newly registered members would see slightly less ads (75%)
- confirmed members (100+ posts or something - the same who have access to the trading area and more) would get significantly less ads, i.e. the least disruptive experience possible (25%)
- patrons would see no ads at all (0%)

This would reward people for registering while improving user experience for members of the community, and hopefully if there were significantly less ads, maybe people would consider whitelisting the site in their ad blockers, which would even things out on the whole? Could help with user retention and convince lurkers to join too?

If not, what other ideas would you have to maintain sufficient levels of ad revenue (or other sources of revenue) vs. helping to reduce inconvenience to members?

We talk about these things internally with the staff but we don't always have all the answers so it's good to have an open talk like this. I can't reply to every single post here but if there's one thing I can say is I prefer constructive criticism we're trying to find solutions here, not shake fists and curse at each other. The phenomenon I've described in my news post isn't isolated to GBAtemp (read more https://www.theguardian.com/technol...ing-drop-in-online-news-audiences-study-finds )

Ad sequencing sounds... predatory at best. Sorry Costello. It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt in practice it will do much. Since the heaviest flow of traffic is gonna be from your regulars, cutting the ads for regulars = less generative income from a business perspective.

Honestly as utilitarian as it is, what's something you can sell to the masses for their experience on the site? GBATemp merchandise? A quick design in Canva, link it to a t-shirt dropship, and boom generate some small time revenue. GBATemp... game? Subscription service that provides something more than just customization but not to the point where the average Joe user feels left out?

GBATemp needs a brand identity, I think. Like I said in my previous post, there's nothing about this website that appeals to a larger market than pirates, hackers, and the niche enthusiast. Either the Temp needs to branch out or solidly establish itself among this community.

Even in a world where creators can just set up a YouTube channel, why not set up a GBATemp account? Make this place the forum to be. If you need to spend money to make money, find somewhat prominent hacking YouTube channels and retro tech enthusiasts and get them to plug GBATemp in their videos. Incentivize these creators in a way that means when new users come, you get money from ad and click revenue, you give creators a cut, and the site stays afloat.

Also, try to push down some of the discourse in here. We have people raging in the political forums that make it a hostile experience to come back to. Promote more of the content that is on topic for GBATemp and not the EoF. I think every third post in the recent feed is a political post? Filter it so it isn't, maybe?

A paid reward system so that users can promote content they enjoy via donating to the site is also not a half bad idea. Things like Reddit gold rewards, if you get what I'm saying. That way, you keep the democracy of the forum running while also feeding people's internet points egos to keep them coming back.

 

[Sicklyboy]

We're using this very site because we're primarily pirates, that is, people who do not pay for their games. This is not exactly the group known for donating to.. anything really.

On the contrary, look at the majority of usenet indexers and private torrent trackers out there - both things that are used virtually exclusively for piracy. The former tends to either hard paywall its functionality or put MASSIVE restrictions on its usage without a membership, while the latter tends to be free (once you are able to get in) but run those progress-bar style donation trackers. Some of the best usenet indexers out there tend to charge around $20-$30 USD for a year's membership, and the places that run those progress bar trackers tend to exceed the 100% pretty regularly from my own anecdotal observation.

Not making a statement that our stuff should be paywalled here, just that pirates can be compelled to pay for their piracy lol. The caveat is that we don't facilitate piracy here, just discuss it, among numerous other topics, so that's something that you don't "get" in return for donating.

That said, I'll offer a friendly +1 for the idea of a progress-bar style donation/expenses tracker. It does tend to gamify the donation process, being able to see that there is a tangible goal that the community as a whole is working to achieve, month after month (or whatever the timeframe).

 

[Chary]

We ran a T-shirt designing contest a few years ago and it was really cool seeing the designs contributed. Now that drop shipping exists maybe there's a better profit in it. I like that idea.

+1 to the donation progress bar, maybe put it under the portal boxes, unobtrusive but clear to see. $x to unlock retro temp style again. $x to trigger a site wide raffle. $x to remove ads for everyone for the month. Etc. People love this site. Ideally this can motivate people to keeping this special place going.

We've tried reaching out to affiliates and sponsors but afaik the rates for non video are dire.

More patron perks are needed. I like the one comment where someone said to make it full on super reactions and extra emoji options for liking posts.

 

[Sir Tortoise]

Testing the waters here but what if...
- visitors/guests were to see regular ads (100%)
- newly registered members would see slightly less ads (75%)
- confirmed members (100+ posts or something - the same who have access to the trading area and more) would get significantly less ads, i.e. the least disruptive experience possible (25%)
- patrons would see no ads at all (0%)
If not, what other ideas would you have to maintain sufficient levels of ad revenue (or other sources of revenue) vs. helping to reduce inconvenience to members?

First impressions are everything, so putting the highest ad burden on the newest visitors isn't going to help with retention. If a new visitor sees a page plastered with ads and never comes back, they have made less money than if we had a quarter of the ads and they click on five pages. And that's assuming the ad networks follow some sort of logical pricing. You want as many people as possible becoming regulars, don't put barriers in the way of that. Otherwise any short-term ad revenue boost will be cut short by nobody coming to view those ads.

So, what can we do? There's been a lot of support for donation drives, make it clear how much money GBATemp needs, gamify it with a progress bar. Can add rewards if that makes sense, fund the server by 100% of this month's costs to switch off ads for everyone, or longer term goals like new features or competitions. If ad revenue is collapsing, making the ads more intrusive won't reverse that trend. So start a new trend of increasing revenue from dedicated supporters.

More data in general would be nice, the progress bar is really just one facet of that. I want to donate, I just don't know if it'll accomplish anything if the plan is to cover the site in ads anyway. I especially don't want to donate if doing so would be taken as proof the new ad network is working, by encouraging ad-free upgrades. Spoilers, I have an adblocker, I'm not donating to unlock an adblocker.
But if I can tangibly see what effect it'll have, that'll encourage a lot of people to donate. That's a much more reliable revenue stream that ad networks, which have proven to be unreliable by...this thread's existence. Can't just keep making them more intrusive to compensate forever.

 

[Nephiel]

I want to donate, I just don't know if it'll accomplish anything if the plan is to cover the site in ads anyway. I especially don't want to donate if doing so would be taken as proof the new ad network is working, by encouraging ad-free upgrades. Spoilers, I have an adblocker, that is not why I want to donate.

Precisely, but it's a catch-22: if nobody contributes until ads are gone, then there's no funding to get rid of ads.

One way to break that cycle is to contribute first, so the site can secure that funding. I did, while also trying to make it clear it's to help the site, not to avoid ads. There's also a $2 tier which does not include ad-free.

 

[Sir Tortoise]

Precisely, but it's a catch-22: if nobody contributes until ads are gone, then there's no funding to get rid of ads.

One way to break that cycle is to contribute first, so the site can secure that funding. I did, while also trying to make it clear it's to help the site, not to avoid ads. There's also a $2 tier which does not include ad-free.

It doesn't necessarily need to come all at once, if we got more info then it would be easier to assess how plausible the donation model would be, even while the current ads are still up. There could also be a trial, with the understanding that the ads are reverted if it's successful.

 

[Sono]

Testing the waters here but what if...
- visitors/guests were to see regular ads (100%)
- newly registered members would see slightly less ads (75%)
- confirmed members (100+ posts or something - the same who have access to the trading area and more) would get significantly less ads, i.e. the least disruptive experience possible (25%)
- patrons would see no ads at all (0%)

This would reward people for registering while improving user experience for members of the community, and hopefully if there were significantly less ads, maybe people would consider whitelisting the site in their ad blockers, which would even things out on the whole? Could help with user retention and convince lurkers to join too?

If not, what other ideas would you have to maintain sufficient levels of ad revenue (or other sources of revenue) vs. helping to reduce inconvenience to members?

We talk about these things internally with the staff but we don't always have all the answers so it's good to have an open talk like this. I can't reply to every single post here but if there's one thing I can say is I prefer constructive criticism we're trying to find solutions here, not shake fists and curse at each other. The phenomenon I've described in my news post isn't isolated to GBAtemp (read more https://www.theguardian.com/technol...ing-drop-in-online-news-audiences-study-finds )

Sounds like an easy enough change to make, definitely better than nothing.

But... something I did not realize yesterday is... why are there not enough donations? There are more than enough payment methods, so that must not be it...
I can't imagine that a *very* significant percentage go "no no-ads in the 2$ tier? well, now I use adblock, plus not paying" :/ I'd definitely expect something like 1 to 3 percent (due to mobile-only users not necessarily having access to adblock due to various reasons), but I'd be surprised if it reached 10%.
Or perhaps, is the maximum tier too cheap? I see a disappearance of two tier paid model since 2020, and everyone has 3 tiers minimum. Since this is the business model of tech giants, I assume they have poured lots of research into this, and has fine-tuned it to catch most people while maximizing profit. The way I see it, it's "bottom of the barrel" tier, "average joe" tier, and "posh wannabe" tier.
Another "fun" thing that could be done, is instead of creating tiers, you just split the components to "packs". So, "adblock pack" would be 2$ for example. Then "customization minimum" does profile banner at 3$, "customization" includes profile at 5$, "customization maximum" includes username too at 8$, idk... I'm sure it is possible to minmax these to be okay for everyone. There is a reason cosmetics are a bit pricy, because people tend to pay for it anyway.

But then again, this is a shot into the dark. A survey is probably necessary at this point, so the wider audience (especially those who did not reply to this thread) get a chance at say via statistics.

 

[JuanMena]

Sounds like an easy enough change to make, definitely better than nothing.

But... something I did not realize yesterday is... why are there not enough donations? There are more than enough payment methods, so that must not be it...
I can't imagine that a *very* significant percentage go "no no-ads in the 2$ tier? well, now I use adblock, plus not paying" :/ I'd definitely expect something like 1 to 3 percent (due to mobile-only users not necessarily having access to adblock due to various reasons), but I'd be surprised if it reached 10%.
Or perhaps, is the maximum tier too cheap? I see a disappearance of two tier paid model since 2020, and everyone has 3 tiers minimum. Since this is the business model of tech giants, I assume they have poured lots of research into this, and has fine-tuned it to catch most people while maximizing profit. The way I see it, it's "bottom of the barrel" tier, "average joe" tier, and "posh wannabe" tier.
Another "fun" thing that could be done, is instead of creating tiers, you just split the components to "packs". So, "adblock pack" would be 2$ for example. Then "customization minimum" does profile banner at 3$, "customization" includes profile at 5$, "customization maximum" includes username too at 8$, idk... I'm sure it is possible to minmax these to be okay for everyone. There is a reason cosmetics are a bit pricy, because people tend to pay for it anyway.

But then again, this is a shot into the dark. A survey is probably necessary at this point, so the wider audience (especially those who did not reply to this thread) get a chance at say via statistics.

You forgot:
Making posts: $1 per word.

 

[mudrik]

Remember you can browse GBAtemp ad-free by purchasing an Account upgrade! You can also enjoy other perks and member benefits!

Adding more payments methods would help those not living in Western countries (YooMoney).

 

[Ryccardo]

I use firefox on strict privacy settings, maybe thats why I dont see ads?

Very likely, as per my previous post, most online ads are trying hard to track your activity and/or gratuitously use your processing power to do work for their interests (ie "real time bidding")

It could be different (there have been literally 60+ years of advertising before where that was at large impossible, and that's sticking to the time the average person was literate enough to understand an ad), but it doesn't fit the turbocapitalist agenda so...

And as Costello and other website owners have said, THEIR (ad networks') predatory practices have painted themselves into the corner of commercial suicide, so they can feel free to cry at their government for a bailout or whatever

 

[yankii]

You forgot:
Making posts: $1 per word.

OkayButWhatIfPeoplePullShitLikeThis?

 

[a_username_that_is_cool]

OkayButWhatIfPeoplePullShitLikeThis?

JustCheckForCapitalLettersLOL

 

[Skelletonike]

I've personally grown fond of the website after all these years, which is why I enjoy being a patron even if just to help out the website a bit.

If I recall, from something that I read a while ago, ads targeting adults (adult content), pay much more. Allowing those however, given the general demographic, would be suicidal.
Maybe adult users could have an optional toggle if they would allow these types of ads? It isn't ideal but... It pays more. Maybe some people are genuinely interested in meeting their singles in their neighbourhoods (I'm kidding about the last bit, of course they would want to meet them).

Another option would try to advertise the patron status.
I've been a patron since the option came out (back on patreon), but I don't remember seeing any pop-up or so suggesting people to become a patron, at least a couple months ago when due to an error I lost patron status for a bit. Same for the donate button, it's pretty hidden away. I had to actively look for it when I wanted to donate.

 

[AlexMCS]

On the contrary, look at the majority of usenet indexers and private torrent trackers out there - both things that are used virtually exclusively for piracy. The former tends to either hard paywall its functionality or put MASSIVE restrictions on its usage without a membership, while the latter tends to be free (once you are able to get in) but run those progress-bar style donation trackers. Some of the best usenet indexers out there tend to charge around $20-$30 USD for a year's membership, and the places that run those progress bar trackers tend to exceed the 100% pretty regularly from my own anecdotal observation.

Major difference: You're getting access to the actual media, not information on how to pirate, unlike here, where we have to scramble to find our own sources.

Another idea I thought of just now:
User Ads. SomethingAwful allows their users to post their own ads on their forums. for a price.
If I had to see ads at all, I'd rather have them come from the community itself, not soulless companies.

 

[Costello]

Major difference: You're getting access to the actual media, not information on how to pirate, unlike here, where we have to scramble to find our own sources.

Another idea I thought of just now:
User Ads. SomethingAwful allows their users to post their own ads on their forums. for a price.
If I had to see ads at all, I'd rather have them come from the community itself, not soulless companies.

I would much rather have this indeed, but no one has ever asked for this, so I don't think we would go very far with that.

 

[yankii]

JustCheckForCapitalLettersLOL

that'snotfoolproofyk