Page Will Not Be Displayed

I know I'm going to sound a little mean on here by telling you that I use Norton Internet Security to block your pop-ups and ads, but I have a problem Jeff.

About once or twice a day when I open my IE up and surf to this site I get here just fine. Then I click the Forums button at the top of the Coasterbuzz Homepage, and a page loads up saying something weird like Page Cannot be Displayed or something, or it might be something else, when it happens I'll type it in here.

Anyway, is this one of those ads/popups that instead of blocking it, it would usually have the site URL at the top?

Anyway, So I have to hit the back button then hit the forums button again, it's more annoying then problematic but if there is anyway I can fix it, that would be swell.

Thanks,

Fobe

Its almost definitely an interstitial ad that you're blocking.

$20.00 will solve your problem.

You've got a really funny way of asking for help...

http://media.fastclick.net/w/get.media?sid=8492&m=5&url=http%3A//coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx

This is the URL for the weird page....sorry if I sounded negative or anything. I didn't mean too, I just didn't know how to approach you for help.

Works for me! I have a popup blocker (in the Google toolbar) and the link works fine...don't know what it is for you...some popups you'll just have to live with sometimes!

The price went up. For $22, I will help you.

Jim:

He's not just blocking pop-ups, he's blocking ad servers entirely so their ads do not show up on the pages. This page happens to be hosted on an ad server so it comes up dead for him.

And if that's the case, there's no way in hell I'm going to make it my problem. Freeloader.

The problem is I don't know what the case is, and further more I'm not a freeloader I just justified spending 100 dollars to block popups/ads from every site on the internet and to get virus/spyware removal, opposed to paying 20 dollars to block ads/popups from this 1 site on the internet, amoung other features you get with the membership.

Sorry for asking a simple question, in what I thought was a nice respectable tone. *** Edited 12/12/2004 9:20:19 PM UTC by Kyle Fobe***

Some people just don't understand that the internet isn't free. The higher the bandwidth usage, the higher the cost.

He's not just "stopping Jeff from making any money" he's preventing him from getting proper compensation to cover the cost that he's using by accessing the site.

IMO, using a popup blocker is like using a descrambler to steal cable. You either pay the price for the premium channels to get them legally, or you get the "regular" channels with commercials. Yeah, you can get up and leave the room or change channels when commercials come on, but they're still there. Likewise, you can close a popup window when it spawns, but they are still served, and the webmaster gets compensated for his work.

I can even understand using a popup blocker to prevent those sites that abuse them, but if you frequent a legitimate site (like CoasterBuzz) then you should configure the safety tools to allow it.

Tim *** Edited 12/12/2004 11:18:31 PM UTC by dannerman***

It's all a matter of priorities. I pay nearly $100 (USD) a year for a subscription to http://southcarolina.scout.com/index.html which is basically a fan site for the University of South Carolina and the gist of it is I pay nearly 100 bucks to find out what 18-22 year old kids MAY or MAY NOT want to come play collegiate football at my favorite school. And the past couple of years, we've sucked. So I payed 100 bucks for nothing? Stupid to some, but hey, I'm not too worried about what anyone thinks. I love my Gamecocks.

This site, however is different entirely. I needed a coaster club membership to go to CoasterMania this year... and in short order. Because Jeff was able to ramrod me a membership card got him 20 dollars. He wins, I win.

I would better cash money that if you asked your parents for a membership to Coasterbuzz for Christmas, they would oblige. That would save you 12 months of heckling you may not may not deserve. :)

Well I did ask, and they thought a membership to this site was pointless, because I can already chat for free on it with people. No offense, That's just how my parents feel.

This isn't like stealing at all, I'm not taking something from Jeff with out his permission, he in fact, is offering the free membership to his site.

I'm sorry I was just trying to solve a problem with this thread, not trying to make one.

I am thankful to Jeff for keeping this site free to people, but if there is such an issue with it, why keep it free?

Oh, and I don't steal my cable, my parents spend 100's of dollars a month for a lot of channels of overpriced cable.

Why don't you offer different types of memberships, like a $10 membership for people who only want to chat on the boards, and do the Coasterbuzz Games?

Oh, and if I deserve 12 months of heckling, so does about 1000 other people that frequent this website, that may or may not feel the same way I do about the subject.

Again, I am sorry for causing problems, I just wanted a question to be answered. :) *** Edited 12/12/2004 11:42:36 PM UTC by Kyle Fobe***

Kyle, rentzy put it well - Jeff provides the site in one of 2 formats: Paid with no ads, or free with ads.

You are blocking the ads (in a sense, free with no ads), therefore you are NOT accessing the site with his permission. So it is not a stretch to consider it stealing content.

As for trying to fix the problem? We're telling you - the problem is CAUSED by your popup blocking software. If you allowed CoasterBuzz.com to the friendly sites / allowed list, your problems will go away.

You don't have to completely uninstall your popup blocker - just make sure you allow coasterbuzz ads.

Tim *** Edited 12/13/2004 12:04:12 AM UTC by dannerman***

Actuall rentzy17, YOU are wrong. Jeff doesn't have to spend all this money on the website if he doesn't want to, he could always shut it down.

Saying "blocking popups is stealing, pay $20" is sorta like going to a store and the salesperson forcing you to buy something. If the store loses money for whatever reason, or doesn't make ends meet at the end of the month, is that the shopper's fault? No.

Jeff owns the site, it's his responsibility to control the finances, which has partially been funded by club members, which is great, but you shouldn't feel like you HAVE to join the club, it's your choice.

If you guys really find that free memberships aren't doing any good, get rid of them. I couldn't care less, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to buy a membership. And if I can get a pop up blocker that blocks ads on all sites for free rather than one site for $20, which am I going to choose?

---

dannerman said:

You don't have to completely uninstall your popup blocker - just make sure you allow coasterbuzz ads.

Tim *** Edited 12/13/2004 12:04:12 AM UTC by dannerman***

---

That makes NO sense what so ever.

You act like Coasterbuzz is the ONLY site on the net that has to pay bills...if you think it's wrong to block ads on cbuzz, wouldn't it be the same with other sites as well?

Ride of Steel,
First, I wasn't referencing revenue from the ads - I was referencing how to fix his problem.

Second, The free memberships work BECAUSE of advertising. The ads are part of the "free" membership. In a sense, it's not free at all - it's paid for by the advertisers instead of the users. He's not saying you HAVE to buy the paid membership - he's saying IF you want the popups to go away, you should buy a membership. To use your analogy, if you go into a store, and say to the cashier "I really want this item", the cashier is going to ask for money. They don't care who pays for it, but somebody has to, or else it is, indeed, stealing. Continuing the analogy, paying for the site is like paying for the item, allowing popups is like having your mom buy it for your birthday. Blocking the popups? That's like saying "I don't have the money, my parents won't buy it for me, I still want it and it should be free.", then grabbing the item and running out of the store.

The analogies are cute and all, but the truth is that there is no viable comparison to any other media or situation that clears this one up. (although dannerman is as close as I've seen)

It's as simple as this.

Hosting a website costs money and takes time. The more popular, the more money and time that are needed to keep things moving.

In this case the webmaster (Jeff) offers a site that is very popular in its niche. He can either do nothing and let the site become more of a burden than it's worth and let it die or try to make something back for his time and effort along with covering the bills for the site.

In an effort to keep the site accessable and useable by all, he decided to sign up with an ad service allowing them to show ad space they sell on his site. The user is free to browse in return for a few ads taking up screenspace. As an alternative, he also offered the option of letting users pay a yearly nominal fee to cover their useage of the site.

With that explained:

I don't understand the use of any ad blocker. What's the point really? I've been online for almost 8 years - never used one. In time your mind simply begins to automatically skip over any banner (or box) ad. They're everywhere and they do no harm. Blocking an ad doesn't put something else in the screenspace normally occupied by the ad. Now instead of a silly graphic that you are allowed to totally ignore in that spot that helps a webmaster keep his or her site alive, you have empty space that makes it harder for that webmaster to keep things going. The difference to you - really nothing at all expect mabye the time to load the small ad graphic (1 or 2 seconds at most).

Pop-ups? Those can feel annoying at times, but again, what is the benefit to the end user of blocking those? A mouse click to close the window? Those pop-ups might meant the difference between a site you enjoy being online or not. I don't mind one mouse click. I'd rather have that resource available to me that worry about the mouse click I have to make that helps it remain available.

InVue ads (the ones that come across the screen on top of content from left to center screen) - same as pop-ups. It takes an extra second to wait for it to stop center screen then you close it. No harm done and the site I enjoy visiting lives another day.

Interstitial ads? Those are the kind that are in question in this thread. You click a link and it redirects to an ad page. Just click 'skip' and the page you were after loads right up. Again, the cost as an end user is just one addition mouse click and a second or two of your time.

The funniest part is that these companies that make and sell ad blocking software have convinced you that these ads are a severe inconcience and sold you on buying their product (and gladly taking your money) to solve a problem that really doesn't exist.

Other companies (ISP, browser makers, etc) add this features in the same way convincing you it solves some sort of problem and it turn getting you as a user or customer.

You can either pay these companies and use these products to view the webpages you like or you can do nothing at all and pay the people making these webpages. Seems like a nobrainer to me, I don't mind a few extra mouse clicks over the course of my internet surfing to help keep those sites up and running or reward the webmaster for making something I use and enjoy.

That's where I stand on the whole ad issue.

*** Edited 12/13/2004 12:36:59 AM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

IE's pop-up blocker is to appease the people who insist on using them in an effort to maintain marketshare.

It's a fad thing because of all the incorrigibles out there who have abused popups (in my mind, abuse = more than 1 per real-content page). My guess is that in the span of 5-10 years when legitimate sites (like msn, aol, etc.) start noticing huge drops in revenue because popup blockers with default-on settings are becomming mainstream, they will complain and lobby to the companies that provide those tools to phase it out, or provide it default-off - a user has to manually turn it on.

Wrong. Like it's been said before, you are blocking the pop-ups. Therefore, you ARE blocking potential profits without permission. That's why it's considered stealing.

So if I go into Wal-Mart using a coupon provided by the company that's stealing there profits? But it's not my fault, it's the company's for offering the coupon.

I didn't buy my Norton for Ad-Blocking/Pop-up Blocking I bought it for Ad-Ware/Spyware and Virus Protection, but if Ad-Blocking/Pop-Up blocking makes my internet surfing experience more enjoyable then yes I'm gonna keep it on.

So you support Pop-ups that come up to enlarge your penis, and other sexually suggestive ones that show up on sites that kids could accidently (or purposely) surf to everyday? I know that this doesn't happen on Jeff's site, but it does happen on others.

Just my opinion.