Supporting the Community

[Andy R]

It's our intent to provide this service free of charge for decades to come. Just like so many other services on the internet like Google, Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo mail and thousands of newspapers, we plan to offset the costs to run this site by allowing advertisers to bring this service to you all for free. In the next few days we will turn on some ads which are powered by ad networks. These ad networks work with the advertisers so they can reach folks across many sites. It streamlines the process for the advertisers and sites like this to work together.

The buyers pay for ads based on many targeting criteria. They set these targeting criteria when they are setting up their media buy. We are not part of that process. Sometimes they target people based on what they have been recently searching for, other times they target people who have recently visited the advertisers website and sometimes they target a keyword or specific website. Although we (Redwood Owners website) don't have control over the targeting options, everyone as individuals do through the Network Advertising Initiative. This group is a proactive consortium who wants to allow users choice so policy makers don't force laws on the topic. It's great to see them come together and allow you to opt-out of certain targeting (or all). You can see the options available at this link:
http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/

Keep in mind that many of the targeting choices are attempts to personalize the ads based on what they know about you. This might actually make for a better internet experience as you might want to see ads which are relevant instead of ads which are totally irrelevant.

If you totally hate ads, you can install an ad blocker but we don't want to encourage that too much. If too many people install ad blockers thousands of sites could switch from free to paid meaning internet browsing could get really expensive!

Thanks for being part of our community and understanding that we need these ads to keep this site alive. We hope that you will agree that they are minor inconvenience in exchange for free services like this site!

Oh yeah - We show more ads to guests and less to members. So it's best to sign up and stay logged in so you see less ads.

Kind Regards,

Andy

[Ian Smith]

Is voluntary donations an option to ads? I would be prepared forward a donation yearly to get rid of the ads. That gives us better control then we own it....Ian

[atom ant]

The only way for the Ad machine to learn my preferences is to plant cookies in my computer -

[Andy R]

Originally Posted by Ian Smith

Is voluntary donations an option to ads? I would be prepared forward a donation yearly to get rid of the ads. That gives us better control then we own it....Ian

On some sites we offer the ability to turn off ads for a small annual fee. We also send out some stickers as a thank you for donating. I've also offered to the new owners group that if they choose to use this forum as their official forums, a perk to being a member would be to allow their members to turn off ads if they please.

Originally Posted by atom ant

The only way for the Ad machine to learn my preferences is to plant cookies in my computer -

Sounds like you are in control of your cookies!

Once again, for those that really hate ads, ad blockers are free and get you to the same place with just a few clicks. They do undermine the business model of so many ad supported business like Google, Facebook, Gmail and thousands (if not millions) of other sites.

This is a nice site, worthy of the Redwood RV brand. We are planning to invest more time and money into making it even nicer. The ads are simply a way to pay for this without asking users to do so. It's a known fact that asking people to pay will considerably limit the number of people who participate. We feel it's extremely important to offer this community as a free resource to folks and not ask them to pay.

[johnboytoo]

Ads STILL don't bother me

but as stated you can have 'multi-tier' membership...that's done on a lot of sites as you know...

a free membership gets ads, and maybe no pm's etc...

a semi-member that pays a bit gets pm's and storage and ads

a full member gets limited or no ads and full experience...

[Blenhardt]

I agree with Johnboytoo, the ads still don't bother me also. I know little about how forums are ran but it looks like ads are the only way for forum owners to at least break even or make a few $$$ for their work.

[superduty glampers]

Originally Posted by Blenhardt

I agree with Johnboytoo, the ads still don't bother me also. I know little about how forums are ran but it looks like ads are the only way for forum owners to at least break even or make a few $$$ for their work.

I agree no worries!

[markw]

Ads aren't normally a problem for me. Sometimes I see something worth looking at.


Mark

[atom ant]

Isn't that amazing - I'm getting ads for everything I looked up on Amazon yesterday. Such an invasion.

If only the ads knew that if I looked at it yesterday, I don't need it today.

[Andy R]

Originally Posted by atom ant

If only the ads knew that if I looked at it yesterday, I don't need it today.

One click shopping from Amazon is great!

You can opt-out of the retargeting stuff and other options here:
http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/

The above link will set your preferences not only here but with the major ad networks that run on thousands/millions of sites across the internet.

[JerryL]

If the ads help keep this the nice, smooth running place that it is, I see no problem with them. They bother me none.

[superduty glampers]

Originally Posted by atom ant

Isn't that amazing - I'm getting ads for everything I looked up on Amazon yesterday. Such an invasion.

If only the ads knew that if I looked at it yesterday, I don't need it today.

I clicked on the camping world link that JB2 put on the "sewer boom question" thread to see what he was talking about, then got a email from camping world trying to sell me a sewer hose. Thanks JB2

[Ian Smith]

How did Camping World get your email. If it came from the site I am very concerned.[QUOTE]

[Andy R]

Originally Posted by Ian Smith

How did Camping World get your email. If it came from the site I am very concerned.

It did not come from this site. We do NOT share any of your information with 3rd parties unless you opt-in and explicitly tell us it's okay. There is no way to opt-in to sharing info with 3rd parties so essentially no one is opt-in because it's not possible to opt-in.

[superduty glampers]

[QUOTE=Ian Smith;40529]How did Camping World get your email. If it came from the site I am very concerned.I have a camping world account, so I guess there system recognized my tablet on there site.

[johnboytoo]

[QUOTE=superduty glampers;40535]

Originally Posted by Ian Smith

How did Camping World get your email. If it came from the site I am very concerned.

I have a camping world account, so I guess there system recognized my tablet on there site.

Yes, once you are registered on camping world (and many other sites)
and you browse around, they KNOW you've been there and will certainly follow up, just like they did to me yesterday re the portable propane heater I looked at...

So it's camping world, nothing to do with this site...

[markw]

Originally Posted by atom ant

Isn't that amazing - I'm getting ads for everything I looked up on Amazon yesterday. Such an invasion.

If only the ads knew that if I looked at it yesterday, I don't need it today.

They know you looked at that stuff. That's why they hit you up again. You might not have bought the first time, but maybe the next.

Mark

[ksaltman]

Basically this is all true as I see it. This forum has given control of some part of the user experience here to marketers so that they can target who they want with what they want. That's how commercial sites make money and reduce the privacy of how people browse the web.

[johnboytoo]

FYI, that's no this site, that's Amazon

It is SO easy to NOT see the ads, I believe the complaints are either supporting an agenda or just not really thinking it through well enough (IMHO)

there are very few websites in all of the web that do NOT monetize their sites...

And I don't blame them one bit... it takes a lot to host/run/maintain a site....


but, just like voting for one politician or another, sometimes facts are not at the forefront

but, to each his own...

I like the traffic and the setup of this site, very similar to sites I've been on for 10 years or more..

[redwoodin with remy]

Originally Posted by superduty glampers

I clicked on the camping world link that JB2 put on the "sewer boom question" thread to see what he was talking about, then got a email from camping world trying to sell me a sewer hose. Thanks JB2

GOOGLE KNOWS ALL!!!