This is a debate with two sides… So, Sam, Sarah, Lefarce, Silent Kitty, Eviltwinpixie (and more), you're all mainly upset about the placement of the add. From now on could you please post about alternative placements you think would be a good compromise? Bear in mind that unless it's as attractive as the current placement it's not an option.
I dont really know about positions. Its usually just the size, contents, or (some)animated ads that can be bothersome or mess up the page. There just doesnt seem to be other places that DD will agree on beside the ones we have now. Maybe… How about column ads? The type that goes on sides? (EDIT) Or… Like humm… LiveJournal? They have those side column ads and they also offer the users options of type of ads they want to show. I'm just tossing out ideas here.
On a diffrent note, not really important… Just why is there two WoW ads side-by-side on the front page? Doesnt really make sense to me, but I sure enjoyed being hypnotzied by it. :)
But, on/off topic a bit. It's ads. Not "adds." At least in American English. Is it different in other parts of the world? I mean maybe my, I'll just say numerous degrees (all of which are in fields of: English, and Literature (Except one in theatre and one in Geology, and two in education.) that I've never encountered an instance where "adds" was an acceptable substitute for "ads." It's buggin' the bejezus out of me. (Mainly that one dude that was all like…I have so and so degrees in marketing; but kept using "adds." ) But, I could be wrong, I don't think so…But, I could be.
The way I understand it, if you are using the short form of the word "Advertisement", then "Ads" is correct. however, If you are just explaining this "addition" to the comic page, then "Adds" may be acceptable.
Right.
It didn't occur to me that some people might be using "adds" to mean "additions" makes sense though.
But the additions that this topic is about are advertisements right?
No wiggling out of this one! Next thing you know people will start spelling ridiculous with an 'e' … and then it's game on!
You're moving WAY of topic into silliness now. But your example is incorrect. The proper term is "advertisement", originally from Middle French apparently. The much later Americanised version consistent with Mr Webster's simplification of "American" English replaces "s" with "z". "Ad" in this context is nothing more than a common colloquial shortening of the word advertisement , and in essence isn't a proper word at all in this case just a convenient rendering of a verbal shortcut in written English, like "pic". Given this rationalisation my own personal substitution with another real word "add" which has the same sound (although having a different meaning), has some justification. ;)
But if you prefer I'll stick with the full word "advertisement" from now on. lol!
Ok then some suggestions so far: (discounting Sarah's because that's not an option) [*] Column advertisements on people's comic pages. -especially if you have some limited control of the type of content they display. -(i.e. preferences for gaming, comics, dating, adult etc) [*] An advertisement tag that must be included in all pages but is up to the user where it goes… -(probably NOT a good compromise because it's too easy to subvert) [*] Anything's OK under the comic as long as it's not about dating, flashing, and stays "G" rated… [*] Something where you can control the look of it, like with the top bar at the top of the comic page. -(colours, texture, layout within the advertisement bar) [*] Put it UNDER the navigation buttons. -(could actually cause further hassle for different layouts like Subcultured's when the buttons are at the top) [*] UNDER the author comments. -(more promising) [*] Above user comments. -(again, this is promising) [*] User options via radio buttons for a compulsory tower add or compulsory long banner style -i.e. the current one. -(much more promising because it gives different users a choice and makes them feel more in control as well as allowing options for accommodating different layouts, as indeed Usedbooks says. Could be combined with Silent Kitty's idea of user customisation.)
Is that all? Those are some good suggestions. What do people think of them? Could we hear from both sides please? -those that are advocating for the retention of the new placement and those who would like to see a change.
I just wanted to say thank you to Platinum Studios for the Drunk Duck comics website. I have been doing web comics since 2000 and they gave me access to an Audience that I could not reach and I have read some Great comics that I would have never known about.
Is that all? Those are some good suggestions. What do people think of them? Could we hear from both sides please?
You missed mine :(
Physically detach it from the comic and comic actions block. Keep it in the area, but just make them not physically attached.
Also add "Drunk Duck Sponsor" instead of just "sponsor".
With those two, if it has to stay there, it wouldn't be as bad, simply because it now looks removed from the content. That's really my big beef with it. I don't LIKE the placement, but it's the fact that they're making it look like it's a part of my page that sort of irks me.
Just like the examples Nick gave, the ads in those pages, though kind of annoying in their placement, are clearly separate from the content, and that's not as bad.
As for the others, I don't think that other placements will be as advantageous to DD. Under the nav buttons won't work because if you have your nave buttons on the side of your comic, it will totally mess up your template. Under the author's comments can be subverted by not putting the comments there, or even have them on a separate page. Above user comments can be subverted just as easily.
I do very much like the choice of vertical vs horizontal banner, as you can then choose that which suits your site better.
And I do very much agree about the content of the ads. If it's all G rated and not annoying, then really it's not that bad.
Ultimately, DD put the ad there because it was the most visible and the advertisers wanted it. There really is no other place to put it, so keeping the content G and separating it from the content physically is probably the best thing to do.
In my opinion anyway :)
And only slightly off-topic:
ad 1841, shortened form of advertisement. Long resisted by those in the trade, and denounced 1918 by the president of a national advertising association as "the language of bootblacks, … beneath the dignity of men of the advertising profession."
It's a short form that has been around so long that it's been accepted into the language, and is even in the dictionary as a proper word (albeit an abbreviation).
Pic, even though it is in the dictionary, is categorized as slang. ;)
As for the others, I don't think that other placements will be as advantageous to DD. Under the nav buttons won't work because if you have your nave buttons on the side of your comic, it will totally mess up your template. Under the author's comments can be subverted by not putting the comments there, or even have them on a separate page. Above user comments can be subverted just as easily.
I don't think it would matter if you put author's comments or not – the ad would just go wherever the author's comments spot ends in the code. When you leave the author's comments blank, your picture and the date still shows; that "block" of the page can't be taken away.
Personally that's my favorite choice along with above user comments, because it's still so center-page, making it just as attractive to advertisers (whereas they might be leery of user-customized ones) and stays separate from the unity of comic and author's comments.
Some people may find that it interferes with their navigation bars, so above the user comments is just as good. I don't really see how you could "subvert" that either, it's not like the user comments being in existence or not would dictate whether or not the ad exists o.O
[*] Anything's OK under the comic as long as it's not about dating, flashing, and stays "G" rated…
Staying G-Rated is important to me, since I did mark my comic downn as all-ages.
Is that all?
I don't know how feasible my suggestion was, but a checklist of advertisers we can choose from. So, like, if I have to have an ad, I'd rather choose HBO than Eharmony, or Transformers the Movie rather than World of Warcraft. Or Careerbuilder instead of Lindsay Lohan's new movie. Or Coca Cola instead of Pepsi.
:)
I guess placement doesn't worry me so much as content.
I don't think it would matter if you put author's comments or not – the ad would just go wherever the author's comments spot ends in the code. When you leave the author's comments blank, your picture and the date still shows; that "block" of the page can't be taken away.
Personally that's my favorite choice along with above user comments, because it's still so center-page, making it just as attractive to advertisers (whereas they might be leery of user-customized ones) and stays separate from the unity of comic and author's comments.
Some people may find that it interferes with their navigation bars, so above the user comments is just as good. I don't really see how you could "subvert" that either, it's not like the user comments being in existence or not would dictate whether or not the ad exists o.O
You can subvert both by just not including the tag for them in your template. In order for the template engine to be able to put the banner in the correct area, the tag has to be in the template. Remove the tag, and you remove the possibility for the engine to insert the advertisement.
In the "Browse Comics" page, there are two adverts side by side, one is a World of Warcraft add that's a vertical side banner, and another is a World of Warcraft square placed right smack in the middle of the browsing. It looks ugly and two ads for the same thing seems a bit excessive, especially since they get placed right next to each other.
My suggestion is remove the square one entirely and let the vertical one stand on its own. Two ads right next to each other leaves a bad taste, especially when one disrupts the flow in such an ugly way.
But, if you MUST have an ad there, make it a horizontal one about halfway down the page/every couple of rows so that there isn't such a shattering of the sense of equilibrium. At least then the page won't look so ugly and disrupted. You can remove both of the previous banners I suggested in that case.
Is there any way for us to pay for the ads to go *away*? These WoW ads kill my browser–and I'm on dsl. It's really terrible. Any remote interest I had in WoW is completely gone, I just avoid the main Drunkduck page as much as I possibly can.
Ads for depression and eating disorders? We're interested why? Oh well, these idiots are paying you good money even if it isn't a very good marketing move.
I was on another site, and sadly, they had the same ads as us. Our ads ain't unique to drunk duck. We're signed up to some kind of service that outsources its advertisements.
We can expect flash ads with sound in the future, again. I can almost taste it!
This is a debate with two sides… So, Sam, Sarah, Lefarce, Silent Kitty, Eviltwinpixie (and more), you're all mainly upset about the placement of the add.
*Shuffles feet*
Except my post was about the fact that I'm… kind of not. I made the point that I'd like a solution to people's worries just for the sake of community happiness, but I wanted to put forth simply as a data point (as I believe simple points of view are important) that I didn't personally find the ad placement overly noticable.
I'm not trying to make a fuss or anything, it's not a huge deal to me, I just don't want to be misquoted and it's been kind of itching in the back of my mind for a while. ^_^
I don't know how feasible my suggestion was, but a checklist of advertisers we can choose from. So, like, if I have to have an ad, I'd rather choose HBO than Eharmony, or Transformers the Movie rather than World of Warcraft. Or Careerbuilder instead of Lindsay Lohan's new movie. Or Coca Cola instead of Pepsi.
:)
I guess placement doesn't worry me so much as content.
Yeah, that's a good idea. I like it. However, I don't see it going into place, simply because people wouldn't be getting the coverage they payed for. Say Coke and Pepsi both payed 50 bucks, if more people put the Pepsi ad on their page, then Coke is losing out, and will probably want a refund, or simply won't advertise anymore on DD.
I'd sell anything to anybody. I don't care. I just think if I'm going to have ads on my pages, I might as well deliver the most and best content that I possibly can.
Any chance of this being made to not do this? :/ I really hate to keep complaining about this, but it just really looks bad right now, and it's been doing it on every comic since yesterday, as far as I can see.
Any chance of this being made to not do this? :/ I really hate to keep complaining about this, but it just really looks bad right now, and it's been doing it on every comic since yesterday, as far as I can see.
