[lmhaffner]

I know you probably don't have much control over your ad stream, but the ads with sound are going to literally drive me away. They are not only annoying, but are extremely bad form at work, playing over my music, and disturbing others around me when not using headphones. Make a stink about them, drop this ad streamer, or something. If I have to zap my embeds every time I visit, I'm just not going to be willing to visit as often. Sorry...

mh

[Exizl del Fuego]

I came over to the forums specifically to complain about this issue. I just visited the site and was greeted by a fly-swapping game ad in which the fly buzzed. Totally lame and unnecessary. This is actually the first time I've experienced this 'phenomena" on MacNN, and I am not impressed. So I thought I'd throw all my clout (which is nothing, since I stopped actively browsing the forum side of MacNN a couple of years ago) behind the parent poster.

[The Oracle]

We live in the 21st century. Technology exists to filter this kind of stuff without filtering other items or ads (if that's what you want). Firefox with adblock or any number of other extensions.

[mishakim]

Originally posted by The Oracle:
We live in the 21st century. Technology exists to filter this kind of stuff without filtering other items or ads (if that's what you want). Firefox with adblock or any number of other extensions.

But it doesn't exist for free in Safari, and users shouldn't have to install such to be free from noisy ads, which are far worse than moving ones, which are bad enough. If the site doesn't have control over its ad stream, then it had better get some, because ads that drive away customers don't serve anyone.

[Mediaman_12]

Originally posted by The Oracle:
We live in the 21st century. Technology exists to filter this kind of stuff without filtering other items or ads (if that's what you want). Firefox with adblock or any number of other extensions.

This would mean blocking all of Macnn's ad's. The more people who block ads the less banner ads are worth and MacNN would get less and less support cash. Not good.

But yes the new banners with sound are indeed a shitty evolution, and need to be put a stop to.

[Eug Wanker]

That buzzing bee is Teh Suck.

[The Oracle]

Originally posted by Mediaman_12:
This would mean blocking all of Macnn's ad's.

Not quite. I block third-party ad sites like tribalfusion, but do not tamper with the banner ads served by a macnn server. 99% of my forum page views display ads. I only go so far as to kill the truly invasive ones.

[cambolo]

Originally posted by The Oracle:
Not quite. I block third-party ad sites like tribalfusion, but do not tamper with the banner ads served by a macnn server. 99% of my forum page views display ads. I only go so far as to kill the truly invasive ones.

Please, pray tell, inform us how to block the buzzing bee sound that accompanies the banner on MacNN. If this can't be dealt with simply (I'm not going to have to resort to switching browsers), they are going to lose me and others.

[Albert Pujols]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
That buzzing bee is Teh Suck.

I agree, PLEASE get rid of that ad with the buzzing bee. It is extremly annoying.

[Scoo]

Here's the letter I wrote to MacNN:

=========================

The audio on the "Swat the fly, get a free iPod" ad currently running on your site makes it impossible to concentrate on reading your site. I have visited MacNN several times a day for years, but until this ad goes away, I'll be staying away. I don't need the inconvenience of muting my machine just to surf the web. Frankly, I'm pretty dissapointed in MacNN for even considering an ad that is so obviously annoying. Besides, ads of this sort are misleading anyway, there is no free iPod for merely swatting the fly, just a chance to participate in some B.S. survey which will doubtless add still more spam to my inbox. Please contact me after the ad is removed, I wont be visiting to find out if it is gone. Please send Ramjet, Lowermybills.com and your other sponsors my regrets.

Sincerely,

Scott Melchionda
Loyal Mac NN reader and forum contributor

=========================

I mean it too. I'll catch you all if they write back to tell me the ad has been removed.

Ciao

[The Oracle]

Originally posted by cambolo:
Please, pray tell, inform us how to block the buzzing bee sound that accompanies the banner on MacNN. If this can't be dealt with simply (I'm not going to have to resort to switching browsers), they are going to lose me and others.

firefox with adblock. Then once the ad loads, click adblock on the bottom right of your browser window to list all blockable elements. Choose the third-party sites and use the wildcard (*), e.g., */realmedia/*; *.tribalfusion.*; etc.

[The Oracle]

This is what a fraction of my ad filters look like:

*.adbureau.*
*.doubleclick.*
*/RealMedia/ads/*
http://*.112.2o7.net/*
http://*.adjuggler.com/*
http://*.adtech.de/*
http://*.falkag.net/*
http://*.linksynergy.com/*
http://*.vibrantmedia.com/*
http://*backbeatmedia.com/*
http://2.marketbanker.com/mb/text_group.php*
http://3ps.go.com/DynamicJSAd*
http://a.as-eu.falkag.net/*
http://a.as-us.falkag.net/*
http://a.tribalfusion.com/*
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/836/1132/102403/delivery-va.247realmedia.com/scripts/forbes_if.js
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/836/1132/102403/foxnews.insightfirst.com/scripts/foxnews_if.js
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/836/1132/102403/lycos.247realmedia.com/scripts/lycos_if.js
http://abcnews.go.com/js/hbx.js
http://action.ientry.net/*
http://acvsrv.mediaonenetwork.net/client/acv211.js
http://acvsrv.mediaonenetwork.net/client/pixel.gif
http://ad-server-d6.foxnews.com/RealMedia/*
http://ad.doubleclick.net/*
http://ad.trafficmp.com/*
http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/*
http://adimages.go.com/*
http://adimg.com.com/*
http://adlog.com.com/*
http://admedia.*
http://ads.adsonar.com/*
http://ads.com.com/*
http://ads.forbes.com/RealMedia/ads/*
http://ads.macupdate.com/phpadsnew/adview.php*
http://ads.mediaturf.net/*
http://ads.osdn.com/*
http://ads.pointroll.com/*
http://ads.thestar.com/*
http://ads1.revenue.net/*
http://adsatt.abcnews.starwave.com/ad/*
http://adserver.adtech.de/*
http://adserver.news.com.au/*
http://adserver.nydailynews.com/RealMedia/ads/*
http://adserver.trb.com/*
http://adsfac.net/*
http://adsrv.news.com.au/*
http://advt.webindia123.com/*
http://adzones.***************/displayads.asp*
http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/*

[brapper]

to bzzzing

[Frequent Reader]

I just registered an account so I could post this.

I hit your site at least 10 times a day. I have you in my "mac info" tabs folder both at work and at home. I "load all tabs" often throughout the day. As of now, I am removing your site from that folder. Ads are fine, they help pay the bills. You are allowed to have the most obnoxious ads in the world. And I, on the other hand, am allowed to choose which sites I go to. Since I refuse to deal with "noisy" ads, I will no longer be visiting the site.

I will stop in every week or so to see if anything has changed. Thanks.

[cambolo]

Oracle-

Thanks for the information. I thought about trying what you suggested; then, I decided that MacNN can easily solve this. Until they do, I'm out of here.