# Inappropriate and intrusive adverts



## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Today have had adverts for a gambling website and an anti-barking device.


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

I think they look inappropriate when mixed in with peoples serious posts. If someone is looking for help or writing sad news, having adverts in between the posts looks bad. I get adverts on top and bottom of posts I am reading but not consistently.

I got adverts of such content recently: grow my wealth, buy exotic birds and report misconduct by clergy.

This one I got a few minutes ago, looks out of place among the thread content.
Please, @petforum, leave the inside of threads alone and just have adverts at the top of the page or side.


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

Has anybody else noticed that quite often the ad is vaguely relevant to the post title?

Im sure I’ve seen this more times than just coincidental.

Edit: post: Flea problem ad for pest control.
post: Kitchen fitter ad for kitchens.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Linda Weasel said:


> Has anybody else noticed that quite often the ad is vaguely relevant to the post title?
> 
> Im sure I've seen this more times than just coincidental.


I can't say I've noticed any connection, probably worth noting when it happens.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

On principle I won’t even look at them but I’ll take note and use this thread to note anything inappropriate.
None today so far.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Pet cremation service I think this is really inappropriate.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

I know this is a pet site, so this one is relevant
But
Having an advert for individual pet cremations on the main title page, is not only distasteful 
But
could be very off-putting for a new person looking for advice for coping with end of life of their pet


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

Not inappropriate but annoying that on the CC Trivia thread there was an ad for Automatic Transmission Gearbox Specialists at the top of the page and also between the 1st and 2nd post. So unnecessary.
Tbh, I always treat ads as I do junk mail through my door. Straight in the bin, unopened. If I want something I'll ask trusted friends for advice rather than risk wasting my money.


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

Just go this one and an video advert. I think we will lose members or at least see a reduction in posts if the adverts keep up the way they are, especially in between posts on threads.


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Summercat said:


> Just go this one and an video advert. I think we will lose members or at least see a reduction in posts if the adverts keep up the way they are, especially in between posts on threads.
> 
> View attachment 447305


Absolutely not on! We were told adverts like this had been weeded out!


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

lymorelynn said:


> Absolutely not on! We were told adverts like this had been weeded out!


The problem is, you CAN'T 100% weed them out all the time. It's like scam e-mails, they keep coming up with new and inventive ways to bypass the filters.

Still ad free here - Adblock Plus for the win! Also massively speeds up the internet cos I'm not downloading all the extra junk all the time


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Jesthar said:


> The problem is, you CAN'T 100% weed them out all the time. It's like scam e-mails, they keep coming up with new and inventive ways to bypass the filters.
> 
> Still ad free here - Adblock Plus for the win! Also massively speeds up the internet cos I'm not downloading all the extra junk all the time


Oh yes, hadn't thought of that, my internet had appeared to be faster, I thought it was because I had dowa loaded the latest update on the iPad. Like you it's still working fine and keeping those drafted ads at bay


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

I've just downloaded Adblock plus, so I shall see how it goes.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

I use ad -block (never use a mobile device to access the internet as a rule) and if it goes back to nnot being able to post when using one, i simply wont bother using this place anymore.

Its nowhere near as busy as it used to be as it is. Member activity has dropped a good 60% since i was a mod. If not more.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Is this gambling?


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Not all the time, but STILL getting adverts sandwiching posts:Banghead:Banghead:Banghead


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

SbanR said:


> Is this gambling?


I thought it was originally but now I think it's instant loans. It's very sleazy looking though!


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Jesthar said:


> The problem is, you CAN'T 100% weed them out all the time. It's like scam e-mails, they keep coming up with new and inventive ways to bypass the filters.


Maybe not but a while ago the mod team worked hard to get rid of a lot of nasty spam - this is just a kick in the teeth for the hours we put in


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

SusieRainbow said:


> I thought it was originally but now I think it's instant loans. It's very sleazy looking though!


It keeps appearing all the time, and has done so for quite a while now


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

ForestWomble said:


> I've just downloaded Adblock plus, so I shall see how it goes.


Let me know and I might consider doing the same. It's a toss up between leaving the forum (that I've enjoyed for 10 years) or finding a way round the ads - which I don't agree with.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Let me know and I might consider doing the same. It's a toss up between leaving the forum (that I've enjoyed for 10 years) or finding a way round the ads - which I don't agree with.


Will do, is working fine so far, haven't had any trouble looking at posts or posting anything and no annoying ads 
If I haven't updated by the end of the weekend, please remind me.

Edit, I have just discovered one problem, I can't 'fix' something in the middle of a post, anything in front gets lost and I end up loosing it or having to retype it all.


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

SbanR said:


> Is this gambling?


No, it's an advert for buying in game currency in a game called Fortnite - a rather violent player versus zombie/player versus player online combat survivial game.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Jesthar said:


> No, it's an advert for buying in game currency in a game called Fortnite - a rather violent player versus zombie/player versus player online combat survivial game.


So inappropriate, and as I said before, very sleazy.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

ForestWomble said:


> Will do, is working fine so far, haven't had any trouble looking at posts or posting anything and no annoying ads
> If I haven't updated by the end of the weekend, please remind me.
> 
> Edit, I have just discovered one problem, I can't 'fix' something in the middle of a post, anything in front gets lost and I end up loosing it or having to retype it all.


Ah yes, that's been mentioned before. Wouldn't be any good for me. I regularly edit during and after posting


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Ah yes, that's been mentioned before. Wouldn't be any good for me. I regularly edit during and after posting


I tend to edit a fair bit too, will just have to see how it goes. If the ads improve I'll turn off the ad blocker.


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

Yes I had that problem and it was a real nuisance so I hope it doesnt come back.


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

Maybe the message is getting through ? An hour or so ago I was getting them pop up everywhere but now they seem to have disappeared again !


edited to add - spoke too soon


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

ForestWomble said:


> I tend to edit a fair bit too, will just have to see how it goes. If the ads improve I'll turn off the ad blocker.


Can't remember if anybody's found a way around that issue.....I'm sure they'll enlighten us if they have


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## Teddy-dog (Nov 2, 2017)

I seem to randomly get adverts. Some (actually most) threads I have none but some I have one! Like this one, just had an advert for amazon at the bottom but have been browsing threads for 10 minutes and this is the first one I’ve seen


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

I've just downloaded an ad blocker so this post is sort of experimental to see if I can post, amend etc.


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## LeArthur (Dec 20, 2016)

I have just been getting things I've looked at on Amazon up to now. Then there was this just now.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Appalling !


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## Gemmaa (Jul 19, 2009)

If it's any use, I've been using Popup Blocker Ultimate on Firefox for a while..it seems to be working well and no problems posting. 
I've only had adverts on my phone.


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## HarlequinCat (Nov 29, 2012)

Not inappropriate or intrusive. Just annoying. It doesn't fit the page so you have to scroll left to see alerts and it just looks odd
View attachment 447467
View attachment 447468


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Jesthar said:


> The problem is, you CAN'T 100% weed them out all the time. It's like scam e-mails, they keep coming up with new and inventive ways to bypass the filters.
> 
> Still ad free here - Adblock Plus for the win! Also massively speeds up the internet cos I'm not downloading all the extra junk all the time


Unfortunately I had to turn my ad block off because I can not post with it switched on


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## kimthecat (Aug 11, 2009)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Ah yes, that's been mentioned before. Wouldn't be any good for me. I regularly edit during and after posting


Me too. I write Gobbledygook most of the time. Its not a language many understand :Hilarious


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Teddy-dog said:


> I seem to randomly get adverts. Some (actually most) threads I have none but some I have one! Like this one, just had an advert for amazon at the bottom but have been browsing threads for 10 minutes and this is the first one I've seen


I'm having the same thing. Some pages I get an advert or two, other pages I get nothing. 
I was just scrolling through New Posts and the first page of New Posts had adverts but by the time I got to page 3 and 4 there were none. 
Then other times I open a thread and there's like 3 adverts on the page.

@petforum are you going to discuss any of this with members? Are you going to post on the forum at all?


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Ah yes, that's been mentioned before. Wouldn't be any good for me. I regularly edit during and after posting


I have no trouble editing posts, I've been using adblock plus (firefox) for 15 years.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

It appears to me the new owner doesn't give a fig about the members here, just the ad revenue. Soon there will be no one to look at his stupid ads.


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

StormyThai said:


> Unfortunately I had to turn my ad block off because I can not post with it switched on


Maybe try a different ad blocker? Or a different browser - I'm using Firefox


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## HarlequinCat (Nov 29, 2012)

@petforum, looking at their info, was on earlier this morning. They do seem to be ignoring everyone. Not a good impression they are giving now, it's as if they don't really care


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

HarlequinCat said:


> @petforum, looking at their info, was on earlier this morning. They do seem to be ignoring everyone. Not a good impression they are giving now, it's as if they don't really care


I suspect they don't ! But they might when traffic on the forum goes so far down that no advertiser will be interested - mostly they want high traffic forums to push their goods.
I'm doing my best to ignore the ads and carry on as normal (difficult when every conversation is being broken up by large, intrusive ads ) - I never have, and never will, click on any advert on any forum or website so their wasting their time as far as I'm concerned.


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

It may be they bought the site for a nominal fee, just to see if they could make a little in add revenue.
I don't know the old owner but for all we know, the new owner is sixteen years old, has no pets nor wants any and bought the site on some odd, online site buying site.
Who knows but he does seem very disengaged. 
A small number of people will likely stick around and random newbies will still pop up, asking questions with fewer people around to answer them.
Maybe an idea, is to buy the site from the new owner. Ask for donations first for upkeep and then decide if an annual fee for use is needed, for say, making more than ten posts. So newbies can still pop on but decide if they want to stay.


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Jesthar said:


> Maybe try a different ad blocker? Or a different browser - I'm using Firefox


Yeah that's probably the simplest solution...But, I'm a fussy bugger and really like chrome :Arghh

Besides, this is the only site that I have issues with so really cba getting used to a new browser just for one site.
I'm waiting to see if admin even bother to address our concerns before I decide what I do


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

I use adblock on Chrome with no issues. It seems like everyone is having a completely different experience with these ads. My adblock tells me it's now blocking 9 ads on every page, but when I use my phone sometimes there are ads and sometimes there are none at all. And the only ad I've seen is one for an online petition against unregulated puppy imports, which is surprisingly appropriate.


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

For me, it's not the ads themselves that is the problem - but they way they are positioned, right across the page, way to big and too many of them interrupting the flow of a conversation.

If we must have ads then positioning them in a single column to one side of the page would be far less intrusive.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Should have introduced themselves as the new owner in the first place!!!
It’s as if we don’t count. We are “Petforum”.
No members, no forum and there aren’t many as popular as this place.


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## LeArthur (Dec 20, 2016)

I think ads at the top or bottom of a thread would be best.

If they appeared at the side for PC/laptop users then they'll probably appear in the middle of the thread for tablet and phone users.


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## petforum (Oct 30, 2007)

Hi everyone, 

Your feedback has been taken on board. In the next couple of days you will see that there will not longer be any ads appearing in the actual thread. They will only be appearing at the top and bottom of the page from now on. Additionally, we are fixing the ipad formatting issues where the ad do not fit the page. We do appreciate the feedback and we apologies that we do not answer each of you individually.

P.s. I read above that I am 16 and that I do not have any animals. I am actually 32 and have a beautiful whippet of 3 years.


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Thank you for responding. 
Is that a royal "we" or is there more than one owner?


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## petforum (Oct 30, 2007)

O2.0 said:


> Thank you for responding.
> Is that a royal "we" or is there more than one owner?


There is more than 1 owner to Petforums. What I meant by with we is that the tech team is working on finding a solution to the issues reported.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

petforum said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Your feedback has been taken on board. In the next couple of days you will see that there will not longer be any ads appearing in the actual thread. They will only be appearing at the top and bottom of the page from now on. Additionally, we are fixing the ipad formatting issues where the ad do not fit the page. We do appreciate the feedback and we apologies that we do not answer each of you individually.
> 
> P.s. I read above that I am 16 and that I do not have any animals. I am actually 32 and have a beautiful whippet of 3 years.


Appreciate your response and efforts to make the Ads more user friendly. Look forward to it.
Would be great to see pics of your beautiful whippet and here all about him/her.


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## kimthecat (Aug 11, 2009)

Pleased to hear that ads won't be in the threads. I can cope with top and bottom ads.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

I will be happy with ads only at the top and bottom of threads too 
Thank you for your reply @petforum


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Should have introduced themselves as the new owner in the first place!!!
> It's as if we don't count. We are "Petforum".
> No members, no forum and there aren't many as popular as this place.


I agree. Would have been considerate of Mark to pop in and let us know he'd sold the forum. Unless something has happened to him. Which of course I hope isn't the case, even if it does mean he just threw us to the wolves without warning.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

lorilu said:


> I agree. Would have been considerate of Mark to pop in and let us know he'd sold the forum. Unless something has happened to him. Which of course I hope isn't the case, even if it does mean he just threw us to the wolves without warning.


None of this makes us feel valued forum members, does it ?
Well, I love you all !


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## stuaz (Sep 22, 2012)

lorilu said:


> I agree. Would have been considerate of Mark to pop in and let us know he'd sold the forum. Unless something has happened to him. Which of course I hope isn't the case, even if it does mean he just threw us to the wolves without warning.


A lot of forums get brought by companies wishing to use the sites for add revenue and data collection. I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't the case here. Sometimes these companies go around just hoovering up all the forums.

Everyone has there price...


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

petforum said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Your feedback has been taken on board. In the next couple of days you will see that there will not longer be any ads appearing in the actual thread. They will only be appearing at the top and bottom of the page from now on. Additionally, we are fixing the ipad formatting issues where the ad do not fit the page. We do appreciate the feedback and we apologies that we do not answer each of you individually.
> 
> P.s. I read above that I am 16 and that I do not have any animals. I am actually 32 and have a beautiful whippet of 3 years.


thank you


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

@petforum 
Actually, I didn't say that was who you were but that you could be and you could be anyone, frankly.
Just curious, what prompted your interest in this site? Who are the current owners of the site (which company)? 
It is nice to hear the adverts will no longer be interrupting flows of conversation in threads.


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## 3dogs2cats (Aug 15, 2012)

Summercat said:


> @petforum
> Actually, I didn't say that was who you were but that you could be and you could be anyone, frankly.
> Just curious, what prompted your interest in this site? Who are the current owners of the site (which company)?
> It is nice to hear the adverts will no longer be interrupting flows of conversation in threads.


This article is about the takeover of Pets4homes/Petfourms
https://www.bcms.com/se/en-se

I was trying to link just the actual article but looks like its the whole site! If anyone does want to read its the first article when you scroll down but for those that don`t , basically Pet Media is now owned by a Swedish company that run an equine marketplace. Hasnet Sverige was looking to expand into the general pet marketplace and the original owner of Pet Media was looking to sell.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

3dogs2cats said:


> This article is about the takeover of Pets4homes/Petfourms
> https://www.bcms.com/se/en-se
> 
> I was trying to link just the actual article but looks like its the whole site! If anyone does want to read its the first article when you scroll down but for those that don`t , basically Pet Media is now owned by a Swedish company that run an equine marketplace. Hasnet Sverige was looking to expand into the general pet marketplace and the original owner of Pet Media was looking to sell.


So basically, they were only really interested in the Pets4Homes sides of things, but the forum simply came as part of the package. I wouldnt not be at all surprised if this place gradually disappeared now. If they cant monetise it sufficiently....


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Nonnie said:


> So basically, they were only really interested in the Pets4Homes sides of things, but the forum simply came as part of the package. I wouldnt not be at all surprised if this place gradually disappeared now. If they cant monetise it sufficiently....


To be honest I think it was likely to go this way before Mark left. He may have been interested in the forum initially but had very little input over the last few years and, as I am sure you know, getting hold of him was almost impossible.
The forum was left pretty much to the mod team to run and I am fine with that so long as we aren't kept in the dark over any changes and will be able to have help with technical issues that are beyond our remit.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

3dogs2cats said:


> This article is about the takeover of Pets4homes/Petfourms
> https://www.bcms.com/se/en-se
> 
> I was trying to link just the actual article but looks like its the whole site! If anyone does want to read its the first article when you scroll down but for those that don`t , basically Pet Media is now owned by a Swedish company that run an equine marketplace. Hasnet Sverige was looking to expand into the general pet marketplace and the original owner of Pet Media was looking to sell.


A snippet from the article 
"Pet Media Limited has been acquired by Hästnet Sverige AB as part of its strategy to become the undisputed leader in Europe with regards to operating equestrian and pet marketplaces *whilst promoting transparency, trust and safety between its users"*

Well sorry PF...........that's a great big fail as far as I'm concerned


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

Oh I must be totally thick
Not once did I equate pet forums UK with being part of pets4home group
@petforum
Any chance of sorting the posting glitch that comes with the adverts, not sure if it's just phone access or not, whereby if, whilst posting, you want to go back and change something, or, notice a grammatical mistake, the words jump over themselves, wipe half the next word, or, double up
It only started when the adverts did, went away when the adverts did, and, returned again alongside the adverts, so it definitely is linked
Thank you


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

lymorelynn said:


> be able to have help with technical issues that are beyond our remit.


This is my big concern, without tech support we are sunk ! I would be OK keeping it afloat for the members as far as we can for now.


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

No adverts on pc still, due to my ad blocker but the problem with not being able to backspace and edit has returned. What a real nuisance having to retype everything from the bit I need to edit onwards. Especially when it's near the beginning of my post.


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Cully said:


> No adverts on pc still, due to my ad blocker but the problem with not being able to backspace and edit has returned. What a real nuisance having to retype everything from the bit I need to edit onwards. Especially when it's near the beginning of my post.


Glad it's not just me having issues with ad blocker...it's obviously something to do with the ad settings because the issue wasn't there before the ads were introduced or when we had the short break from them. Are you only experiencing this issue on this site also?


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

@3dogs2cats 
Thanks!


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

3dogs2cats said:


> This article is about the takeover of Pets4homes/Petfourms
> https://www.bcms.com/se/en-se
> 
> I was trying to link just the actual article but looks like its the whole site! If anyone does want to read its the first article when you scroll down but for those that don`t , basically Pet Media is now owned by a Swedish company that run an equine marketplace. Hasnet Sverige was looking to expand into the general pet marketplace and the original owner of Pet Media was looking to sell.


OH no. I have read the article. I am not impressed. Horse markets? And their goal is to take over all of the "pet markets"? Well the article says "be leader" in pet markets in Europe. But..ick!

I'm impressed that you found this. I am useless at searching for information.

PS You and I knew each other from a tiny little pet forum many years ago. I can't remember if I ever told you that before or not.


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

Was only talking about howdens an hour ago and got this ad when I logged on. What's the targeted ad policy on here? I've not noticed any new agreements like you get on other forums or pages with adverts.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

PawsOnMe said:


> Was only talking about howdens an hour ago and got this ad when I logged on. What's the targeted ad policy on here? I've not noticed any new agreements like you get on other forums or pages with adverts.
> View attachment 447562


You mean like the 'cookies' agreement you have to tick ? Good point, I haven't seen anything like that.
(now I'll get an ad for cookies! )


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

StormyThai said:


> Are you only experiencing this issue on this site also?


No problems on other sites and neither on here (laptop) with adverts due to ad blocker. But I get ads on my phone although thankfully now, they seem to be fairly harmless and as long as they are limited to first and last on a page I'm ok with that.
The editing problem was weird this morning on pc. No problem on this thread but a real pain on another which is unrelated to our advert problem threads.


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

SusieRainbow said:


> You mean like the 'cookies' agreement you have to tick ? Good point, I haven't seen anything like that.
> (now I'll get an ad for cookies! )


Yeah like those, I wasnt sure how to word it. They're obviously using them since I'm getting such targeted ads but I havent seen any new agreement come out where we have agreed to have the cookies and relevant ads, I'm hoping our email addresses haven't been sold on too as I've been getting spam emails for credit cards and loans in the past few days when I have never had spam emails and I'm very careful about where I use the email address I used on here. Has anyone else noticed this?


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

PawsOnMe said:


> Yeah like those, I wasnt sure how to word it. They're obviously using them since I'm getting such targeted ads but I havent seen any new agreement come out where we have agreed to have the cookies and relevant ads, I'm hoping our email addresses haven't been sold on too as I've been getting spam emails for credit cards and loans in the past few days when I have never had spam emails and I'm very careful about where I use the email address I used on here. Has anyone else noticed this?


Advert targeting spans all of your internet use (thanks to Google and the other big advert pushers mainly) thanks to the cookies most consent to when the 'accept cookies' box pops up. This is why you can search for something on a vending site such as, say, Argos or Debenhams, and then suddenly see adverts for similar items wherever you go on the internet that has adverts - they use those cookies to serve you 'relevant' adverts.


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

Jesthar said:


> Advert targeting spans all of your internet use (thanks to Google and the other big advert pushers mainly) thanks to the cookies most consent to when the 'accept cookies' box pops up. This is why you can search for something on a vending site such as, say, Argos or Debenhams, and then suddenly see adverts for similar items wherever you go on the internet that has adverts - they use those cookies to serve you 'relevant' adverts.


Ah that's good/interesting to know.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

PawsOnMe said:


> I'm very careful about where I use the email address I used on here


My email address for here, and a couple of other forums, is not my normal personal one. I have a third one that is used for banking only.


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

JoanneF said:


> My email address for here, and a couple of other forums, is not my normal personal one. I have a third one that is used for banking only.


I have a forum/fb email address and one for amazon/shops ect but I stupidly used my main one for on here when I first signed up. Hoping it's not the case of it being shared with 3rd parties and just a coincidence that I'm suddenly getting spam.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Just want to say a huge *THANK YOU* mods for taking our forum under your wing and looking after it so well for us. This place has been a godsend to me over the years with some very special members along the way.
Sad to see it so highly valued yet worth so little.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Just want to say a huge *THANK YOU* mods for taking our forum under your wing and looking after it so well for us. This place has been a godsend to me over the years with some very special members along the way.
> Sad to see it so highly valued yet worth so little.


:Shy
Ah, bless you, it's lovely to be appreciated, particularly welcome at ths time.


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## Happy Paws2 (Sep 13, 2008)




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## Happy Paws2 (Sep 13, 2008)

SusieRainbow said:


> Ah, bless you, it's lovely to be appreciated, particularly welcome at ths time.


I'd like to say THANK YOU as well.

This forum has helped me when I've needed support over the last few years, I don't know how I'd have managed without it.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

A Thank you from me too.


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

Definitely a big thank you, you're the backbone of this forum!


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## LinznMilly (Jun 24, 2011)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Just want to say a huge *THANK YOU* mods for taking our forum under your wing and looking after it so well for us. This place has been a godsend to me over the years with some very special members along the way.
> Sad to see it so highly valued yet worth so little.





Happy Paws2 said:


> I'd like to say THANK YOU as well.
> 
> This forum has helped me when I've needed support over the last few years, I don't know how I'd have managed without it.





ForestWomble said:


> A Thank you from me too.





PawsOnMe said:


> Definitely a big thank you, you're the backbone of this forum!


,Just been going through this thread, and these messages of thanks brought a smile to my face. So _thank you_ all for brightening my evening 



SusieRainbow said:


> :Shy
> Ah, bless you, it's lovely to be appreciated, particularly welcome at ths time.


Agreed. Now more than ever, knowing we're appreciated by you all means so much.


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## LinznMilly (Jun 24, 2011)

Running Firefox, with ad-blocker.org as an add-on. No ads here. Let's see if I can post this ...


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

LinznMilly said:


> Running Firefox, with ad-blocker.org as an add-on. No ads here. Let's see if I can post this ...


Same here. Been using adblock plus for 15 years.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Adverts haven't been intrusive today. Only seeing them at the start of a section, end of a thread.

Hope I haven't jinxed myself now!:Nailbiting:Nailbiting:Nailbiting


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

And they're not all bad.

This one, for instance which directs you to the government petition site:

*Petition
Ban the exploitative import of young puppies for sale in the UK.*


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## Torin. (May 18, 2014)

StormyThai said:


> Glad it's not just me having issues with ad blocker...it's obviously something to do with the ad settings because the issue wasn't there before the ads were introduced or when we had the short break from them. Are you only experiencing this issue on this site also?


I use a combination of 3 browsers (in part for work, as I'm always having to test out how things look for different people): Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

I used to do forums, including PF, on Safari. But at about the start of lockdown PF stopped working on Safari, so I switched to Chrome. With hindsight and more info, this timing seems linked to the company takeover...

Anyway, I'm now on Firefox, because I was having the same issues as you on Chrome with adblock. uBlock origin is the most user friendly adblock by the way - they're not all equal.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

I'm making a strong complaint about the adverts for aversive, cruel (and in some places illegal) training aids. Specifically, the anti-bark device and the training collar, waterproof and rechargeable - obviously a shock collar though the advertisers don't have the guts to say so.


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

@petforum Please remove adds from our private messages...why on earth you thought that wasn't intrusive is anyone's guess


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

Had this one pop up today. Now I don't care about swearing but I don't think it's appropriate for a forum.


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## Sandysmum (Sep 18, 2010)

2 days now with minimal ads, thanks petforum, hope this continues.


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

There doesn't seem to be any consistency with when I get adverts. Today I don't have any. Who knows what there'll be tomorrow


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## petforum (Oct 30, 2007)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Appreciate your response and efforts to make the Ads more user friendly. Look forward to it.
> Would be great to see pics of your beautiful whippet and here all about him/her.


This is Luna. She has more personality than I do. She is the queen of the house and she always gets what she wants one way or the other


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## petforum (Oct 30, 2007)

Summercat said:


> @petforum
> Actually, I didn't say that was who you were but that you could be and you could be anyone, frankly.
> Just curious, what prompted your interest in this site? Who are the current owners of the site (which company)?
> It is nice to hear the adverts will no longer be interrupting flows of conversation in threads.


We are a small company based in Stockholm and London with a team of c.15 people. The majority of the team members have either horses or dogs/cats (sometimes there are more dogs in the office than people). We only work with pet related sites and own, in addition to petforums, a swedish equestrian marketplace, hastnet.se, rehoming 9 our of 10 horses in the nordics and pets4homes.co.uk, that rehomes roughly 1 our of 3 puppies in the uk (in addition to cats, rabbits, etc.). The core to what we do is to try to increase the trust and safety of rehoming an animal, which is a highly complex (lots of things to think about) and emotional purchase.


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## petforum (Oct 30, 2007)

PawsOnMe said:


> Was only talking about howdens an hour ago and got this ad when I logged on. What's the targeted ad policy on here? I've not noticed any new agreements like you get on other forums or pages with adverts.
> View attachment 447562


This would be what is called retargeting which essentially means that if you go to a website, then that will be stored in your cookie, to enable that website to retarget you on other websites that you visit. We do not control which ads you see, but this will be based on your browsing history to a large extent. I hope that clarifies it!


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## petforum (Oct 30, 2007)

Burrowzig said:


> I'm making a strong complaint about the adverts for aversive, cruel (and in some places illegal) training aids. Specifically, the anti-bark device and the training collar, waterproof and rechargeable - obviously a shock collar though the advertisers don't have the guts to say so.


I would really appreciate if you can right click on the advert and press "copy link address" and then send it to me. We can then make sure to block that URL from advertising on the site. Thank you!


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

@petforum
Have you thought any more about a, reasonable, subscribers fee, do that we don't have to see the ads at all
And
Is there any chance you can sort this flipping glitch re spelling, adding/taking away a word, where the letters jump and jumble around
Iiterally started with the ads the first time, went away when you removed the ads and returned the day of the ads
I don't know if it's there for laptops or desktops, but it is for Android phones and I know I'm not the only person who
A) only uses a phone
And
B) it's affecting more than just me

Edit as, case in point, the glitch removed half of last point, when I went back to adjust spelling


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

mrs phas said:


> @petforum
> Have you thought any more about a, reasonable, subscribers fee, do that we don't have to see the ads at all
> And
> Is there any chance you can sort this flipping glitch re spelling, adding/taking away a word, where the letters jump and jumble around
> ...


Most people won't pay a fee just for an ad free experience, particular. They tend to go elsewhere, particulary if the ads are annoying, And a two tier approach to content doesn't work on a forum.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

mrs phas said:


> Have you thought any more about a, reasonable, subscribers fee


I think this is a horrible idea. Not everyone can afford to pay fees to belong to free forums. I hope this forum doesn't start charging as the only way to avoid ads.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

petforum said:


> This is Luna. She has more personality than I do. She is the queen of the house and she always gets what she wants one way or the other


Thank you.
Lovely to see her. She's adorable. Beautiful scenery as well.

Appreciate the explanations. 
Unfortunately Feathers are ruffled and hackles are up. We are naturally very protective of our territory. The change of ownership and adverts gave little consideration to members let alone the mods who tirelessly kept your forum running. 
Hopefully a bit more interaction (with mods at least) can smooth things over.
I'm willing to be patient and give it a try.


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

petforum said:


> This is Luna. She has more personality than I do. She is the queen of the house and she always gets what she wants one way or the other


She's lovely! I have a soft spot for whippets  
I agree, getting to know the core membership and participating on the forum might really help to smooth ruffled feathers.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Thank you.
> Lovely to see her. She's adorable. Beautiful scenery as well.
> 
> Appreciate the explanations.
> ...





O2.0 said:


> She's lovely! I have a soft spot for whippets
> I agree, getting to know the core membership and participating on the forum might really help to smooth ruffled feathers.


I second these two posts. (Or third ? )


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## LinznMilly (Jun 24, 2011)

Resurrecting this.

One is for doggy day care . . . In Hollywood. 

And the other is for Maltipoo puppies.


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## kimthecat (Aug 11, 2009)

there are less ads now , just ones at the top or bottom , so not as intrusive. I don't actually bother to look at them .


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

Yeah I've found them much less intrusive as they just seem to sit at either the bottom or top of the page now rather than split up the thread like they did for a while. Don't really take much notice of them TBH.


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## Jaf (Apr 17, 2014)

I get more adverts when I have the VPN on, oddly


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## Arny (Jul 29, 2017)

Anyone else getting the ad that follows you part way down the page?
Bit annoying, particularly if there are pictures toward the top of a thread.


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## LinznMilly (Jun 24, 2011)

Arny said:


> Anyone else getting the ad that follows you part way down the page?
> Bit annoying, particularly if there are pictures toward the top of a thread.


I've had this one all day;


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## HarlequinCat (Nov 29, 2012)

LinznMilly said:


> I've had this one all day;
> View attachment 456075


I've been getting this all day too


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

LinznMilly said:


> I've had this one all day;
> View attachment 456075


Same 
It's super annoying, takes up half the page


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## urbantigers (Apr 13, 2014)

It’s more than annoying, it’s almost impossible to view on a mobile device. On my phone, there’s barely enough room for my finger to scroll the page. I don’t think I’ve ever browsed on a site with more intrusive ads. I hope it’s a mistake or just a test for something otherwise that will be the end of pf for me. 

interestingly, it seems to disappear if I turn my screen portrait, although I don’t like reading it that way.


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

I wonder if it's a slot booked for an ad of that size (320x100) which is still being prepared. Maybe a Xmas ad!! Vacant advertising space, or something like that.
Agree it's annoying and I've unintentionally tapped on it a few times.


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

urbantigers said:


> It's more than annoying, it's almost impossible to view on a mobile device.


Agree. I logged off last night in frustration and about to again now because it makes it so hard to navigate the site. 
@petforum are you paying any attention to member's concerns?


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

I usually use my phone with an ad blocker but I've just logged on with the tablet - OMG that floating advert is awful, you barely have room to read and type because the bl**dy thing just keeps covering the screen!


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

I still can't use my adblocker without it effecting being able to post. 
I think the consensus is that adds are here to stay...members that leave are just collateral damage so we have to suck it up.

Although they always have been annoying I had kind of got used to ignoring them...now it's impossible to ignore them and it feels like money is more important that the community :Banghead


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

LinznMilly said:


> I've had this one all day;
> View attachment 456075


Same here


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

StormyThai said:


> Although they always have been annoying I had kind of got used to ignoring them...now it's impossible to ignore them and it feels like money is more important that the community :Banghead


And the irony is that this one that's so intrusive isn't even an add. They're not even making any money off of it, it's just a bad formatting issue. But you'd think after 24 hours @petforum would do something about it?


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

O2.0 said:


> And the irony is that this one that's so intrusive isn't even an add. They're not even making any money off of it, it's just a bad formatting issue. But you'd think after 24 hours @petforum would do something about it?


Mine has an add sometimes, usually the same one it's covering up at the top of the page.


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

I've just had a google search re the "new" banner that's appearing. It's not an Ad - per se but a format used to display ads.
I suspect that someone has been playing around with the formatting and got it messed up - aaaarrrggghhh


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

LinznMilly said:


> I've had this one all day;
> View attachment 456075


You're lucky, look at the size of mine!! This is just about my ENTIRE desktop on a 24 inch monitor


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

And the bad banner doesn't scroll with the page:


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## urbantigers (Apr 13, 2014)

This is what it looks like on my phone. Leaves less than 1" of content.


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## Arny (Jul 29, 2017)

Its gone!
They are listening after all.
Thank you


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

Arny said:


> Its gone!
> They are listening after all.
> Thank you


errrrrr.... only on this page it seems, definitely still in dog chat!


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Arny said:


> Its gone!
> They are listening after all.
> Thank you


Also gone on mine
Thank you @petforum



Sarah H said:


> errrrrr.... only on this page it seems, definitely still in dog chat!


Had to go and check Cat Chat.
Gone from there too!


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

SbanR said:


> Also gone on mine
> Thank you @petforum
> 
> Had to go and check Cat Chat.
> Gone from there too!


Hmm, the blank banner is gone, but the huge banner that the blank banner looked like a place card for is still there and still takes up half of the screen and doesn't scroll up properly.


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

SbanR said:


> Also gone on mine
> Thank you @petforum
> 
> Had to go and check Cat Chat.
> Gone from there too!


Fingers crossed they are working their way through the forum then!


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

Actually, no, the blank banner is now a huge advert. Again this is a full 24 inch desktop display:


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

MilleD said:


> You're lucky, look at the size of mine!! This is just about my ENTIRE desktop on a 24 inch monitor
> 
> View attachment 456125


That is what I saw yesterday when I peeked into the forum on a computer that doesn't use an ad blocker (I do, on my own PC)


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

MilleD said:


> Actually, no, the blank banner is now a huge advert. Again this is a full 24 inch desktop display:
> 
> View attachment 456128


I think that was the general idea - to make the ad at the top of the page much bigger only someone got their wires crossed when trying to make the change

Anyway "thank you" to @petforum for listening


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Just checking to see if I can post with my adblocker activated because the forum has become unusable for me and as staff that's not really on!!


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Yay my adblocker seems to work now...bye, bye ads


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Just trying that now
And yes, it works!
I'll leave it unblocked for now though, just to keep an eye on the suitability of the advers


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

Been seeing some weird adverts again this past few days. 








(Sorry my phone screen is so dark, blue light filter on it) 
Also had spam adverts with 'win this holiday home'.


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

PawsOnMe said:


> Been seeing some weird adverts again this past few days.
> View attachment 472857
> 
> (Sorry my phone screen is so dark, blue light filter on it)
> Also had spam adverts with 'win this holiday home'.


I saw that on my phone and wondered what it's supposed to mean. There's adverts, then there's adverts!!


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## PawsOnMe (Nov 1, 2012)

Cully said:


> I saw that on my phone and wondered what it's supposed to mean. There's adverts, then there's adverts!!


It's definitely a weird one! Not sure exactly what its meant to be advertising  A photoshoped black eye and a (I'm guessing) fake story, I've not clicked on it so who knows what site it goes to.


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

Nor me. Don't like it when they play silly games. I wonder if poor Deborah has seen it!


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

PawsOnMe said:


> Been seeing some weird adverts again this past few days.
> View attachment 472857
> 
> (Sorry my phone screen is so dark, blue light filter on it)
> Also had spam adverts with 'win this holiday home'.


how odd!!


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## Jobeth (May 23, 2010)

PawsOnMe said:


> Been seeing some weird adverts again this past few days.
> View attachment 472857
> 
> (Sorry my phone screen is so dark, blue light filter on it)
> Also had spam adverts with 'win this holiday home'.


I did a search on her and apparently it's a scam advert that is designed to avoid blocks. It's been going for a few years and she asked people to report it.


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

Excuse my ignorance but how is it supposed to avoid blocks?


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## Jobeth (May 23, 2010)

Cully said:


> Excuse my ignorance but how is it supposed to avoid blocks?


The article said that clicking on it would take you to an inappropriate site that would be blocked otherwise. I searched for Deborah Meaden black eye and found this: https://www.realitytitbit.com/bbc/dragons-den-deborah-meaden-black-eye


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## Cully (May 16, 2018)

Jobeth said:


> The article said that clicking on it would take you to an inappropriate site that would be blocked otherwise. I searched for Deborah Meaden black eye and found this: https://www.realitytitbit.com/bbc/dragons-den-deborah-meaden-black-eye


Thank you.


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