The Lemon Fool

Anyone reporting issues with the TLF site? I keep on getting short 'funnies' with my Opera browser. The main page refreshes with occasionally the top blue section stretching momentarily to half the screen before contracting back to normal. I am also sometimes briefly getting a dark mode version of the site, which is unresponsive.

No probs. FF, iOS.

From viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28760&p=401900#p401399

XFool wrote:... presumably it is something in the settings for my Opera browser (Version:58.0.3135.127) ...

Are you still running that ancient (Jan 2019) version of Opera? The current version is 75.0.3969.149.

mc2fool wrote:From viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28760&p=401900#p401399

XFool wrote:... presumably it is something in the settings for my Opera browser (Version:58.0.3135.127) ...

Are you still running that ancient (Jan 2019) version of Opera? The current version is 75.0.3969.149.

...Yeah! I was one of those who baled out after some designer types "refreshed" the UI in line with whatever was deemed fashionable that season, month, week, whatever...

XFool wrote:Anyone reporting issues with the TLF site? I keep on getting short 'funnies' with my Opera browser. The main page refreshes with occasionally the top blue section stretching momentarily to half the screen before contracting back to normal. I am also sometimes briefly getting a dark mode version of the site, which is unresponsive.

'Funnies' of that type are generally due to the browser doing its best with a partially-loaded page, or finding itself having to tidy up its usage of working memory partway through displaying a page. They generally fix themselves when the page load or the tidy-up completes. So the problem can be at the website (e.g. because it's being temporarily overloaded with requests it needs to service), or on the internet connection (e.g. due to the data packets running into a 'traffic jam' somewhere between the website and your device), or in your browser. They can also happen because of other things happening on your device - for instance, when I see noticeably larger-than-normal numbers of such 'funnies' happening on my desktop and investigate, I not infrequently find that my anti-virus software is doing a scan at the time.

As long as they remain just occasional momentary glitches, I generally just treat them as minor irritations that are more trouble than they're worth to try to fix. If they become more major (either by being long-lasting or very frequent) to the point of being seriously annoying, I'll generally try to save and shut down what I'm working on, start up a special anti-virus scan on the device (just in case...) and take a break - the point being that there's probably some sort of congestion happening somewhere in the system and so it's better to reduce the number of things it's being asked to do rather than increase them (though the anti-virus scan is a deliberate exception to that). Usually, whatever the problem was has sorted itself out when I get back.

Gengulphus

...Thanks Gengulphus. I have reduced the number of tabs I have open in Opera and also carried out a virus scan, with nothing unpleasant found. I will see how it goes.

...Getting worse if anything. Now includes occasional entire blank grey page. Not really noticed anything on other sites.

Hang on. I've just noticed The Lemon Fool website address is shown in my Browser address bar as: https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/#google_vignette

Is this anything to do with it? https://josephmuciraexclusives.com/what-are-vignette-ads/

What are Vignette Ads?
According to Google, an ad unit is one or more Google Ads displayed as a result of one piece of the AdSense ad code. While keeping in mind, you can create, customize, and manage ad units on the Ads page in your AdSense account. In other words, an ad unit gives you control over where ads appear. Learn more about What is an ad unit?

With this in mind, Vignette Ads are full-screen ads that appear between page loads and can be skipped by users at any time. Vignettes are displayed when the user leaves a page, rather than when they arrive on one. So, the user doesn’t have to wait for them to load.

Not having any issues here. That vignette thing sounds highly undesirable. I'd concentrate on ridding myself of it. C.

csearle wrote:Not having any issues here. That vignette thing sounds highly undesirable. I'd concentrate on ridding myself of it. C.

I accept the need for adverts to finance this and other websites. But these vignettes go a step too far, requiring an action to dismiss them to get to the requested page, as they do.

If ever something was going to persuade me to use an ad blocker, these vignettes are it.

Watis.

Watis wrote:

csearle wrote:Not having any issues here. That vignette thing sounds highly undesirable. I'd concentrate on ridding myself of it. C.

I accept the need for adverts to finance this and other websites. But these vignettes go a step too far, requiring an action to dismiss them to get to the requested page, as they do.

If ever something was going to persuade me to use an ad blocker, these vignettes are it.

Yes, I don't suppose Google consulted stooz and/or Clariman before introducing these. Maybe a miniscule donation to the site might rid one of all this inconvenience? (Thanks Google, cheque is in the post.) C.

Watis wrote:

csearle wrote:Not having any issues here. That vignette thing sounds highly undesirable. I'd concentrate on ridding myself of it. C.

I accept the need for adverts to finance this and other websites. But these vignettes go a step too far, requiring an action to dismiss them to get to the requested page, as they do.

If ever something was going to persuade me to use an ad blocker, these vignettes are it.

Watis.

Ah, is that what they're called?! Yes, I get these on TLF if I turn off my ad blocker (well, restrictive HOSTS file). Yes, they are highly obnoxious.


https://support.google.com/adsense/thread/60603085?hl=en

FAO stooz:

stooz wrote:

"It is possible not to show vignette ads to desktop users if you think it won’t fit your audience or might cause issues with user experience. To do this, go to:

AdSense dashboard > Auto ads settings > turn off “Wide Screen”.

This will stop vignette ads from appearing on screens wider than 1000 pixels."

https://www.monetizemore.com/blog/vignette-ads-show-desktop

I know nothing about the Vignette ads. I've asked Stooz if he knows anything about them.

Clariman wrote:I know nothing about the Vignette ads. I've asked Stooz if he knows anything about them.

I've just checked that the sites I use AdSense on don't have this obnoxious behaviour, and it looks like Vignette Ads come by default if you turn on "Auto Ads". (It's turned off on my sites.)

"What Types of Ads Does Auto Ads Offer?

There are quite a few; there are In-page ads, Matched Content ads, Anchor Text ads, and Vignette ads.

They have a lot of different ads that you can use in Auto ads, but it’s really a matter of preference. There are certain ones that I like and certain ones that I don’t like.

Generally speaking, I stay away from vignette ads. Those are the ones where after somebody clicks, it’ll show them an ad that totally intrudes on their experience. Personally, I don’t like that."

https://www.onehourprofessor.com/google-adsense-auto-ads-vs-manual-ads-which-is-better/

Thanks for the heads up. I will take a look.
The general aim of Google's algorithms is to make sure you spot the ads for the best chance of revenue.
I have just left it on auto.

But I will look to turn it off as I agree myself these pop up ones are often irrelevant anyway.

stooz wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I will take a look.
The general aim of Google's algorithms is to make sure you spot the ads for the best chance of revenue.
I have just left it on auto.

But I will look to turn it off as I agree myself these pop up ones are often irrelevant anyway.

There's also what's probably a bug in the board code. Normally when you click on a topic with unread posts it takes you to the first unread one.

However if a pop-up ad intervenes, all the unread posts get marked as read (icon not red coloured any more) and the entry point is the top of the page.

You then have to scroll down and find unread posts by their post times (or memory).

Edit: Android phone, chrome browser.

Scott.

mc2fool wrote:I've just checked that the sites I use AdSense on don't have this obnoxious behaviour, and it looks like Vignette Ads come by default if you turn on "Auto Ads". (It's turned off on my sites.)

https://www.onehourprofessor.com/google-adsense-auto-ads-vs-manual-ads-which-is-better/

Very interesting read, if somewhat repetitive and verbose. (Well, he is an American!)

Big Bad Google...

Whatever happened to: "Do no evil"?

Personally I don't find the ads too intrusive when I am browsing the site on my laptop (Windows 10, Google Chrome) but when I am doing so on my Android smartphone all the constant pop-ups and ads appearing all over the place just as I am about to hit a link make the site almost unusable.

Gostevie

Gostevie wrote:Personally I don't find the ads too intrusive when I am browsing the site on my laptop (Windows 10, Google Chrome) but when I am doing so on my Android smartphone all the constant pop-ups and ads appearing all over the place just as I am about to hit a link make the site almost unusable.

Pop-up ads on smartphones are more annoying in any event. I never access TLF on a phone having tried once and became frustrated with a variety of things. Same applies for most websites in fact.

I agree with you that on a laptop these types of ads, which I have also noticed for the last few weeks, are easily dismissed. I accept them as the reasonable cost of free access.

OK, the vignettes are turned off, interestingly I like them on mobile, but there is no option to pick and choose, So off they are.
I have noted that goolge have decided to place more ads around the topics than before, whereas I had chosen the locations - it has decided it knows better on what gets the big bucks.
I am happy to balance it, but don't forget, without these - the site won't remain. The revenue is very low and is no way an income stream for any of us. So they are a very necessary evil.
Donating of course removes them.

I am looking to replace where possible google with targeted ads, eg from known suppliers like AJ Bell. as that is more relevant.
This is all tied to us upgrading to lemonfool 2.0 once we sort out the upgrade process.

...Thanks stooz.