spam on forum
 

Over the past few days, I now have a spam thread as the first thread shown on my feed for tis and the other rennlist forums I visit. I can't delete it either. Also, it changes each day, and advertises for mortgages, etc. Anyone else getting this? As a subscriber, I shouldn't see this crap. :grr::rtfm:

agreed , not liking this much

It was brought to Robb M's attention and he said he turned it off. I only got it on iOS devices but since I rarely use on for Rennlist anymore I have not checked to see if that's the case.

Looking forward to the following:

1. "Male Enhancement" supplements.
2. Reduce your tax debt.
3. Make millions flipping houses.
4. I lost 235 lbs by taking Placebo500X!!
5. Psychics are standing by to tell if you need a new timing belt!
6. Have you or a loved one contracted Mesothelioma after inhaling pelvic mesh while using baby powder and Roundup?
7. Group Term Life Insurance
8. Recover your dash with Flex-Seal!!!
9. Reduce your credit card debt by invoking your legal "right" to be a deadbeat!!!

Still showing up here.

I thought it was a new unwanted sponsor lol.

how does one turn it off or delete it? I get it on my desk top and ipad. I rarely pull this site up on my phone, because that channel sucks (thanks IB - all your wonderful upgrades over the past couple of years actually drive this in the wrong direction)

So far so good. I use Chrome Incognito and also delete cookies and history frequently. I never access via phone.

Don't me started on what Facebook does.

Hmm; so some have the thread and others don't? Steve - this is the first unread thread at the top of the feed, just below the sticky section of the forum. You don't have a spam thread?

I see the spam thread sticky too, on Windows 7 on my big presbyopia-friendly laptop. Sigh.

It's random, because it's not supposed to be there at all. IB is working on it.

Thanks for the update HP:thumbup:

Guys, is it coming to your personal email accounts? If so recently I've been getting them too.

Yeup
Still there

Ok, viewing RL on my PC and the spam is is there. And it looks to be based on your internet history. The wife and I have been looking at houses lately. This is lame. Probably the best value of the membership fee was not having to get ad spammed.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...8ae0c256e5.jpg

I'm getting it using Chrome.

On the mobile version as well.

That's it Nate. That's the kind of thing I am seeing.

This is the strangest thing I've seen in a long time. One of the moderators reported this last week, none of us saw it. A few days later I noticed it, did a screen grab and never saw it again.

Same computer / browser.

persistent... f**kers.. as of 7:30pm Eastern today..

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...45f825c0f3.png

Couple ideas to check(not you, but others).
Third party cookies accepted enabled.
Javascript settings, some browsers have advanced settings on how they operate.
Site tracking history.

I do not and have not seen the promotional threads.

This is what I had as of 7:45 ET , just looked and is different now.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...8a68a81943.png

for what its worth... macOS high sierra 10.13.1 ..I rarely see these types of issues.

Even stranger, reports that penis enlargement advertisements only show up in the 911 forums.

That's friggin hilarious.

at least there's occasional 928 content...


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...acc8ae66d8.png
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5e3ba60037.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...167848d48f.png
I finally got one accurately targeted to this forum...

I've been seeing it for a few days. Very much like what Nate posted. It's clearly marked 'sponsored content', and the title makes it clear it nothing I want to read. Credit cards and campaign ads for the mayor of a city I don't live in (and can't vote for).

I was wondering about it, but I really don't care. I can see it for what it is and have no plans to open any of them.

I have little to no training in running a web site, javascript coding, or even advertisements.
That being said, I do not believe that IB did not know, did not catch, or did not understand why there is sponsored content junking up our threads on a paying member's screen.

I will further state that it is, in fact,(wait for it) .... intentional.
A hipster, marketing push to see how much the membership will take without complaining, or a move toward the exits.
If the IB overlords need a higher profit margin to remain solvent, then they can approach me for higher membership dues.

IB has it calculated to a very close degree. They have likely calculated how many members will leave, and how many will complain but not stop paying, and how many will ignore the promotional material, and just accept it. The only reaction to be had is to stop feeding them. It makes me want to move to a different forum(except I am not seeing the offending material).

I'm not a paid employee by IB, I have no reason to defend them one bit, but some of the sh*t I've seen them so blatantly screw up, I do not doubt for a minute this is a mistake.

I'm not impressed one iota by the people that do the coding for this site.......Yea yea I know, I'm not knowledgeable enough to do any better, true, but I'm not paid to be either.

I find their ineptitude rather humorous. Look on the bright side, at least it's not an obtrusive pop up ad like I'm getting bombarded with on other sites.

You give this company WAY too much credit. I'd be impressed if this were true.

I'm still getting the BS top line crap everytime I open all RL forums... ugh :banghead::grr: :banghead::grr: IOS Apple OS. T

I hope it's just ineptitude, I've just noticed them slowly moving the goal posts in recent years. But you are certainly right about other sites being almost un-usable from ad content. Certainly, IB is better in relative terms.
But, I also don't pay to be a member on any of those other sites.
I certainly feel that you are our advocate Hacker, and probably our shield, protecting us from God knows what other BS they have handed down that we don't even know about.

7:53pm Tucson time....

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3c96b95124.png
screensave^^^....

I work in marketing, and this not an accidental inclusion, though it may not be known by the rep that Hacker speaks with. No one is going to accidentally build ad code and click tracking into their existing forum system. A few things to note though:
- The forum platform is not unique to Rennlist or either IB. the Sponsored Content section may have been included in a code update of the forum
- The ads are targeted when possible, as they are most likely run through the Amazon's ad services. Look at the bottom of this page and you will see that IB is a participant. (Here's a fun prank...go to amazon and search for "Lederhosen". Click a few links. Look around a bit. Then come back here and enjoy some fine Bavarian Gemütlichkeit in the header ad.)

If they were smart marketers, they would be testing this to see how it impacts functionality and user experience, hence some get it and some don't. They can read the site times, clicks, ad revenue, etc. from each cohort and build a case.

However, a feedback loop would be useful for them too. I suspect you can use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom to add your thoughts on this.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...0cfb56d2f1.png
AND IT JUST DISAPPEARED!

What's happened before is an update or change for only certain forums gets spread across all of IB.

This isn't the first time random stuff was showing up & they struggled to turn it off since it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.

Or, they have also mistakenly activated ads for all when they were only supposed to be for non-paid members. I suspect that is what happened here.

But as you also suggested, our contacts may not be aware either, which doesn't say much....

I just noticed. Thought for a moment my membership expired. It would be nice if it was gone soon.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...f0ee767de9.jpg
^^screensave 10:23pm (AZ time)

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...bfa279a744.jpg
^^screensave 10:26pm (AZ time)

Kinda sorta makes you wonder what exactly they're selling? Discontent maybe? I come here to avoid that sort of thing. I mean sure, every so often some loon will go off on his favorite pet peeve, but sponsored content? I've been chastised by mods for doing stuff like this. What's going on?

I'm not seeing it - I use Adblock plus - maybe that helps.

​​​​​​It's called :"Sponsored Content" and it has some identical subject matter to some "sponsored content" at the bottom of some of the big three "News Media" sites. I gue$$ it$ part of this land$cape now. It's a business, I get it...but everyone else puts this stuff at the BOTTOM of the page.

Was thinking the same thing. Someone put this script in:


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...1f07cf27ea.jpg

I cleared out my cache (Google Chrome), and now I am not seeing the ads!

It's now gone..thanks for who ever fixed it. :thumbup: T

Hooray,no more crap. Well...

Yea, well mine is about to expire. Word to IB.

As mentioned by myself and Rodrv6, clear your cashe regularly and I bet it will disappear.

Woo hoo; mine's gone too, and I did not clear the cache.

Outstanding technical sleuthing sir! IB should be paying you to debug their site.