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[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Due to all of the complaints about the ads on the BCM Forum, going forward, I will turned off all Google Ads and will continue to maintain the Forum as long as I can afford it.  Unfortunately like the previous owner, I do not sell buses on the side to help pay to support maintenance of the Forum. 

I will reevalate continued support of the Forum in January 2024.

The Management

[CrabbyMilton]

Gary, not being an IT person here but it begs the question why the ads can't be configured not to interfere with the content. We would hate to lose you just because of that.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Gary, not being an IT person here but it begs the question why the ads can't be configured not to interfere with the content. We would hate to lose you just because of that.

Some types of ads may not draw too many complaints, such as the right side ads that are non-intrusive. I hate the pop-up ads as much as anyone. But without them, the ad revenue may not bring in sufficient income to justify the cost and time of maintaining the Forum.  There is a lot of labor involved in keeping spammers out, dealing with complaints, and upgrading and fixing bugs when they occur. 

We are also making significant changes to the magazine format, which hopefully after 10 years of ownership, may make it profitable.  Time will tell, but I cannot continue to afford to drain my retirement account to run this hobby forever and I found out earlier that Donations do not work on this forum.  So if I cannot support this on my own, I will have to shut it down early next year.

[luvrbus]

Gary I would not worry about it .seems like the software doesn't like some Samsung phones, Vân has a newer Samsung and doesn't have problems he reads and post without problems my Samsung 8 does have problems it  is no problem with Sonja's I phone, Crosby was asking for donations to keep the BGM going at one time I don't know if he still is or not .I know you don't get paid for some ads but leave the ads up to help bus converters

[Krash]

I've deactivated all Google ads.  There should never have been any popups.  Google is very intrusive, once it gets it's hooks into a website it can do whatever.  The side and bottom ads were in portal blocks, those should be gone.  If anyone continues getting popups post screenshots here.  I use Firefox and don't see any ads, just empty portal blocks that contain ads. 

The ads above the forum are from BCM, they do not display correctly if Ghostery is active, but shouldn't act like popups.

The portal is damaged, I had upgraded it recently and it was working fine.  It's remotely possible the forum's been hacked, if popups continue I'll dump it and do a clean install (again).

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I've deactivated all Google ads.  There should never have been any popups.  Google is very intrusive, once it gets it's hooks into a website it can do whatever.  The side and bottom ads were in portal blocks, those should be gone.  If anyone continues getting popups post screenshots here.  I use Firefox and don't see any ads, just empty portal blocks that contain ads. 

The ads above the forum are from BCM, they do not display correctly if Ghostery is active, but shouldn't act like popups.

The portal is damaged, I had upgraded it recently and it was working fine.  It's remotely possible the forum's been hacked, if popups continue I'll dump it and do a clean install (again).

Thanks Krash for making this change so quickly.  The Forum looks much better now and we will run like this as long as I can afford to.

Gary

[Van]

Gary I would not worry about it .seems like the software doesn't like some Samsung phones, Vân has a newer Samsung and doesn't have problems he reads and post without problems my Samsung 8 does have problems it  is no problem with Sonja's I phone, Crosby was asking for donations to keep the BGM going at one time I don't know if he still is or not .I know you don't get paid for some ads but leave the ads up to help bus converters

  Cliff I get the drop down ads but never complain. I did get the pop up what evers that some here are constantly complain about till Phil &Krash tirelessly put their efforts in to resolve, and thank them all. It seems unfair to expect so much from so many for free.
Unlike years ago where there were so many knowlegeable contributors willing to go the extra mile to help other bus owners, now we have some (not all) that complain over the free stuff. Gary I totally understand the position this puts you in. I think it is unreasonable to ask for so much for so little for so long when folks are breaking their asses to please the masses. I'm all for putting the donate button back and see how that pans out by January. I'll be the first to donate again!
Wanna keep this forum alive? Put yer money where your mouth is.
You keyboard warriors can flame me all ya want, I'll take the heat!
PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!

[muldoonman]

I have never received ads on any of my devices. Have an ad blocker which I guess knocks um out.

[luvrbus]

Ian on the BNO keeps his board running without ads and not very many contributors  to a subject, severs must not cost as much in Canada as here in the USA. Gary is a close friend and he works his @$# off to keep the magazine and this board going   

[Krash]

This forum is running in the same host account as the BCM website, which is a separate Wordpress install.  While the forum does not use a lot of disk storage or bandwidth, the website does.  Hundreds of back issues, videos, bus manuals, documentation, ebooks.  It's a huge resource for the bus conversion community, and requires a substantial investment in time and money to keep it going.

I have never seen popup ads on the forum or the website, but my browser blocks most ads pretty much anywhere.  There were three Google ads displayed in right sidebar, and one at bottom of forum.  Those are not popups, they were displayed in portal blocks.  I've removed them at Gary's request.  The BCM logo and accompanying rotating ads (2) above top of forum are served from BCM website, those are BCM advertisers.  On a phone you should see one ad below the logo.  If anyone is still getting popups, a screenshot would be helpful.

[bobofthenorth]

Firefox & AdBlock+  Never see anything except the banners across the very top.  Absolutely never a pop up anywhere ever.

[Nova Eona]

I know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so fwiw the ads have never bothered me.  I have adblocker disabled for this site (as y'all should do for any free independent site you want to support), but I'm viewing via a computer 99% of the time, so maybe the phone people get all the woes.

[epretot]

  I'm all for putting the donate button back and see how that pans out by January. I'll be the first to donate again!
Wanna keep this forum alive? Put yer money where your mouth is.

A donate page or patreon link is a good idea.

You could even link it to something. For example...

$5 gives access to a product like one of the bus building books. Just a suggestion.

Either way, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is.

[Busted Knuckle]

I used to see ONE pop up ad when I first opened the site. But I close it and it goes away!
I don't remember complaining, an if I did I'm sorry.
I'm a tight wad and don't contribute much except a rash of hard times.
But YES over on BGM.com Scott does have a post at the top for donations. (don't think he gets a lot of them, but don't know fer sure)
I do know that he gets a lot of his support $ from his Utube channel and PATRON page! (I'm not a contributor on either)
I do frequent that board more than this one and couldn't tell you the last time I even thought of BNO!

Gary do what ya gotta do, you've done such a better job than Mike ever did! Although I have to give him credit for getting it all started! (or at least whoever DID IT FOR HIM!)
  BK 

[dtcerrato]

All ads are a pita but we just deal with them, kinda like a part of life. There's a lot here and worth the enjoyment we get for free. I'd hate to think this forum could dissapear. We'll ride the tide as long as it is here.