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Can we have gaming ads on this website

7 replies [Last post]
Wed, 03/06/2024 - 10:35
larienna
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The ads on the right of this web site either try to sell me credit cards, or convince me to perform other fishy financial activities.

We are a game design site, can be get more targeted ads like gaming ads? There is a lot of video games ads, I think there will be enough out there to fill up the demand.

Normally ads services has a series of categories you can select from. Google ad sense try to use the page content to determine the subject for the ads. The word games appear every where, it should be detected as the main subject.

Thank you

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Wed, 03/06/2024 - 15:07
#1
questccg
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I don't control the ads on the RHS...

But Google was running an experiment for 1-Week and had Ads on the "Bottom" of the "screen". I hate this. I disabled that sh!t because I hate how you have to hide the ads at the BOTTOM.

The ads on the RHS are manually configured by myself. However I CANNOT control the selection of the ads. This is controlled by Google and I find it varies extremely on your "surfing" patterns.

Like I bought something from TEMU and for 1-Week I was getting all kinds of TEMU ads on the RHS. So no I CANNOT control the ads on the RHS.

The Banners up-top I can control. However we haven't been getting much business for those banners. If you notice there have not been much NEW ones and it's because the amount of topics and newcomers has been low.

Sure I approve like two (2) to three (3) new accounts a WEEK. But in most cases I never see these ppl all they do is ASK for access and then disappear! Go figure??? Most oftenly these ppl explain WHY(?) they want an account since I do not approve accounts that do NOT explain... So they say: "I'm working on a game and want some feedback." or "I'm having difficulties with one of my designs and need some input.", etc.

All these ppl seem to be related to Board Gaming ... But yet after I confirm the account... Most of the time, I (we) never hear from them again.

So yeah Ad Sense controls the ads on the RHS and I control the ads UP-TOP. I really got tired of the "experiment", I HATE ads. But for the sake of LEARNING and earning a couple dollars a month ... It doesn't do much except maybe show you content that is GEARED for YOU!

It's what YOU have been Googling or Searching for. I've got some beauty products ATM... Don't know why(?) but they're there. In any event, they are relatively NOT "annoying" they're embedded into the page and you don't need to really pay much attention to them as they are NOT a the BOTTOM and requiring you to click "Hide" every time you refresh the page (Hate those kinds of ads)!

Sorry that's the best I can do. The ads on the RHS earn me about $25 USD a year. And that pays for 1-Month of the fees for HOSTING this website. Yeah it's not super pricey ... But it's about $500 per year (with the Domain, Host, and Back-ups) that's the price to maintain this website.

It does include the "Quest" Website too. But I'm working on getting a BETTER website to market the games and "K2 Games" a bit more since the "Quest" Website is a bit stale with no more FLASH content (plug-in was removed from support by Google too...) so I have no need for that website any longer.

We'll see when the time comes, what I will do. The break down in fees kind of looks like this:

  • $40 USD for Domain and Privacy to ensure no phone numbers and contact info.

  • $95 USD for Back-ups with extra space to ensure that the is something to rely upon in the event that we have some kind of troubles.

  • $300 USD for Hosting a Year which is $25/mth. But I have the "Quest" website and will have the "K2 Games" website too in the near future.

Somehow I need to recoup these expenses. Which I don't normally ... Other than the KS Banners and Lifetime Banners (which I got probably about $1000 USD worthwhile of those banners) so that's paid for the last couple years. But the tank is running on almost empty again.

I wonder why nobody is posting on BGDF.com especially since we are a NON-TOXIC crowd. BGG design forums are full of ppl who jerk you around, tell you that your ideas are "wrong" and generally make ppl feel like designing with such ppl as being "unhealthy" and TOXIC.

Anyhow... I'm not the first person to say this... I've got a few ppl who would back me up generally speaking (at least 2 ...)! And neither of them are newbies or ppl without Worldly Experience.

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Wed, 03/06/2024 - 16:01
#2
larienna
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It's the ad to the right the

It's the ad to the right the problem. Right now it reads:

"Three banks in Montreal giving away 5000$ in credit ..."

So, yes, it geolocate me, but since I do not use a google account to surf, it might give me generic ads.

Maybe you need to disable using people's cookies or account to target ads. There should be a way to either use page content as source, or setup a series of categories with Google Ad Sense since I did it for my website many years ago.

I have not logged in there for years, but I don't think there is a fortune waiting for me. Last time I checked, I was making like 4$ per year.

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Wed, 03/06/2024 - 16:52
#3
questccg
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I've gotten that ad too...

Actually while I WRITE this response to YOU, I TOO am seeing the SAME Ad. But it doesn't bother me... I cannot click on the ads either... So even if I see something which is INTERESTING, I cannot click. I did that like 1-Year ago and my account was banned from making money for 1-Month.

So I let the ads be.

I get Alibaba, TEMU, Fido, and a bunch of ads related to my person... I'm sorry if they bother you so much... But like I said, I did it to go through the process and see if Drupal could be configured to display ADS. Remember this was yet ANOTHER "First"! Not only did I code the Ad Program, I also added Ads to help pay for the running of BGDF.com.

I don't ask people (members) to pay me... Unless they want to Advertise a Product, Service or Kickstarter. And that would be the Ads at the TOP!

If you use Firefox, you can disable the Ad I believe and it won't bother you any longer. As far as Ad Sense is concerned, you cannot feed it keywords and you cannot tell what ads it will show. They show you what is in your BROWSER history and ads that have spent monies to be shown.

The "3 Banks in Montreal giving away $5000 ..." is important because it's SPONSORED by WeAnswerThis ... Which is a NEW Search Engine. So they are advertising that engine a lot... And is probably getting hits all over the place ATM.

Can't do anything about this... And I doubt you have the need for a Lifetime Banner ... So this pays me $50 USD annually... And also help to pay for the running of the website. Every little bit counts.

Cheers!

Note #1: I can REVIEW each AD and block it IF I want to... But I won't do that... Because it's catering to the users who visit the website. Like TEMU has 151 Impressions. If I was to BLOCK that AD, it would mean a bunch of impressions which would be lost.

I know sometimes the ADS don't "Help"... But understand I do it to help out the website financially to PAY ITS BILLS.

And there are 18 pages worthwhile of ADS that I could REVIEW. I looked at the Gaming and Hobbies category... Meh. I was not impressed with the ads that I saw... Not looking great TBH.

Right now I'm seeing a 1979 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Booster Box going for sale for $250,000 from way back when. Imagine that. Or a 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky Rookie Card being sold for $16,999! Hahaha. So the ads are not so bad...

Use Google more often and search more online and you'll get more variety in terms of the ads! Haha. Visit TEMU or Alibaba and search for wooden components... You could get a DEAL on TEMU. Not Alibaba ... You need to buy in the 1000s to order from there...

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Wed, 03/06/2024 - 17:41
#4
questccg
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My advice to you...

Go to Google and do a bunch of searches for websites YOU LIKE and then VISIT each one of them... Using Chrome... And you'll see the ads you will be getting will be targeting not only your LOCATION but the things that YOU LIKE!

Hehehe...

Help Google, Help YOU! Haha.

Yeah I get a TON of relevant ads... The problem is that I CANNOT as the HOST of the website CLICK on my own ADS. Why? Because this is like feeding the Impressions ... Each time a member clicks on an AD that generates me a bit of revenue. Impressions are just SEEING the ads. I get very little per impression. But it someone CLICKS on the ADS ... Well then I make like $1 or something close to that.

So I'm not telling anyone to CLICK on the ADS. Only if what they are showing you is of interest to you...

Google LEGOS. You'll see a bunch of neat LEGO products for Men and Women. Some of the sh!t is crazy BIG and complicated. Some like the Flower Series is great for women who like Flowers and so forth... Have gotten a bunch of various lego series and puzzles. I believe one was even Minecraft! I think so... I can't remember exactly.

And I googled for LEGOS because my Cousin has two (2) BOYS aged 7 and 5 ... And so I was Googling for LEGO sets that could be relatively inexpensive and cool for the kids. I found the RACING CAR series and bought the Ferrari and Lamborghini...

It may be a bit advanced ... But assembling with Mom or Dad is always FUN TOO! Hehehe.

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Thu, 03/07/2024 - 10:02
#5
larienna
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Now it's showing me swimming

Now it's showing me swimming pool ads, that is refreshing!

I did a dozen of searches about legos for fun, and refreshed a couple of time only to get bank ads.

I think it does not read my history, and it does not use the website content's either.

I have nothing against ads, when they are in subject. On board game geek, they did a good job getting to get targeted ads. I event discovered board games this way. Still, they might have more partnership allowing them to do so.

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Thu, 03/07/2024 - 18:33
#6
questccg
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Try something a bit less "obvious"...

Like "WALMART LEGO" and "browse" the products on the Walmart website... I didn't do much MORE TBH and I regularly get new LEGO products for all ages. I often also get VRBO "Vacation Homes" (WHY?) I have no clue... I haven't had a VACATION in over 15 years TBH. Maybe some days off here-and-there. But a VACATION like renting a house or going to some Sunny Beach... Been years.

I honestly don't like to TRAVEL much. Which makes me the ANTI-Boyfriend because most women all they think about is VACATIONING to the South, to Europe, etc. I honestly can't afford that style of living since I started designing Board Game "Full-Time"...

Swimming Pools??? Maybe VRBO???

It does use your SEARCH HISTORY for sure... I went on TEMU and then I started to get TEMU ads on BGDF.com. Now it's showing me Alibaba and velvet pouches of any color (I already checked them out...) and yeah they even have YELLOW which I was telling JT over "The Game Crafter" you can SOURCE ANY COLOR Velvet Bags from China. I was complaining because "TGC" doesn't have YELLOW Bags but have YELLOW components (Dice, tokens, Pawns, etc.)

I don't know if it's DIRECT... Or it's more subtle in terms of what you are trending on and looking for. Like LEGO at Walmart... Maybe that might work... No guarantees ... But I did NOT visit the LEGO website ... Only Walmart ... And now I get LEGO ads...

Then again... Maybe nowadays it tracks SPENDING as opposed to browsing. But I get VRBO and I don't Vacation... So go figure. Yes I have bought from Alibaba and TEMU and Walmart (LEGOs) ... So maybe there is also a link to SPENDING habits. But I buy on Amazon ... And I don't get Amazon ads or even similar products... So I honestly don't know! :-/

Note #1: And I'm positive it tracks GOOGLING. Why? Because I had an OLD "Fossil" watch that I gave away and I wanted to know it's value. So I GOOGLED "Fossil H-Grant Smartwatch" or something similar... Now I get every now and then "Fossil" watch or watches... I didn't buy anything.

So yeah it does track where you go. And the ads do react accordingly.

But my ads are probably different than yours. And BTW a LOT of "Alibaba"... which is like the Wholesale of Amazon but in China.

I'm 99.99% sure it tracks searches and googling. Are you using CHROME? And do you have a GMAIL account?! Maybe you need to login to a Google Account to get the full benefit of "targeted ads"... IDK... Just another idea.

Note #2: With regards to the LEGOs... Go to Walmart and ADD a few LEGOs to your cart... Browse your cart ... And then LEAVE the site... This MIGHT trigger Google into thinking that you WANT to buy some LEGOs or that you MAY have forgotten about those products or you simply changed your mind.

It's a machine you know... It's trying to analyze your spending habits and what might attract your attention when it comes to spending and buying online.

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Fri, 03/08/2024 - 18:08
#7
questccg
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I'm now 100% sure...

I just saw an ad for BOOX (shop.boox.com) about their paper tablet and then I visited that website to look at their products and the next thing I get when I visit the BGDF.com is... Well an AD for BOOX! So it obviously has to do with my surfing habits and where I go online and then the ads in BGDF.com appear to be similar due to the machine analyzing my web browsing.

I of course CANNOT click on my ads... Because I would get banned for 1-Month...

So I don't ... But I do notice that the ads are frequently similar to where I've been googling and surfing... And I'm 100% sure about that.

I cannot explain why it is not the same for you...?!

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