Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Google launches ad-free net experiment
BBC ^ | 11/21/2014 | BBC

Posted on 11/22/2014 5:40:20 AM PST by Dallas59

Google has unveiled a project that offers web users the option to pay to visit sites rather than see adverts.

Dubbed Contributor, users can pay a monthly fee of between $1 to $3 for ad-free sites.

When those who have paid their subscriptions visit a participating site they will see pixelated patterns replacing the adverts.

It has so far signed up a handful of websites, including ScienceDaily and Urban Dictionary, to test the system.

Others in the current trial include WikiHow, Mashable and Imgur.

Access to the service is currently by invitation only and interested websites can sign up to be on the waiting list.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: google; subscription
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 11/22/2014 5:40:21 AM PST by Dallas59
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; JosephW; Only1choice____Freedom; amigatec; Still Thinking; ...

2 posted on 11/22/2014 5:42:21 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

Doesn’t look like too many partners at this point.

https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/

Great idea, but I would want the major sites I go to blocked and none are listed.


3 posted on 11/22/2014 5:44:08 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (Compared to obama, Jimmy Carter looks like Winston Churchill.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

Interesting. $3.00 and no more adds.


4 posted on 11/22/2014 5:45:08 AM PST by Lurkina.n.Learnin (It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

I don’t mind the kinds of ads they have on the actual search engine page, i.e. plain text ads. But the pop-up / floating ads on sites like Breitbart.com have gotten so obnoxious that it really makes it hard to read the web site content - particularly on a lower power platform like an iPad. I use AdBlock on my PCs, but that’s not an option for the iPad.


5 posted on 11/22/2014 5:49:48 AM PST by Scutter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

What google needs to do is ...

STOP REQUIRING a SSL connection just to use their google maps site.

Try it and see if you can get to http://maps.google.com without it migrating to HTTPS ??

I don’t want a browsing experience with SSL. Maps are public information and have no reason to be behind an SSL wall. I have my SSL turned off since I still use XP and FR is fine as well as hundreds of other sites.

Thank you google for trying to CONTROL me.


6 posted on 11/22/2014 5:50:46 AM PST by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

Useful only if the amount of data transferred is reduced. My main beef isn’t the ads themselves, it’s the amount of bandwidth they take up, which slows down the loading of the page overall.

The absolute WORST are the pages that have 5 or 10 animated ads, one of which also auto-plays its audio track. Those sometimes scare the bejeebers outta me when I’m having an insomniac episode.


7 posted on 11/22/2014 6:00:50 AM PST by Don W (To laugh, perhaps to dream...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Scutter

Oh yeah, I forgot about those. I concur, those floaters are another major pain especially if you open them in a small window, because the “X” is obscured. When you expand the window, the page remains scrolled to where you can’t get to the “X” on the pop-up/floater. I end up closing the page and either resize the opening window for just one article, or quit, to find the info elsewhere.


8 posted on 11/22/2014 6:05:47 AM PST by Don W (To laugh, perhaps to dream...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: George from New England

Use another map source besides google if you don’t like their use requirements.


9 posted on 11/22/2014 6:11:14 AM PST by Rebelbase
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

Sites with too many ads aren’t worth paying to view.

It is filler for lack of content and too much overhead.

And the sites with tons of ads are always poorly coded (lots of unnecessary Flash and Javascript), sucks up TONS of memory, crash browsers, and sometimes whole computers. Not to mention that the ads are for things that only trailer trash (or your average LIV) would ever look at and think it looks relevant to their lives.

Sadly many conservative news sites *Blaze* are like this. FR is the only one that doesn’t bombard us with that crap.


10 posted on 11/22/2014 6:15:46 AM PST by VanDeKoik
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

ad blocker is free....

google is sticking ads everywhere these days.


11 posted on 11/22/2014 6:22:49 AM PST by cableguymn (We need a redneck in the white house....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

I never notice the ads anyway; I’m sure the vast majority of people ignore them and would never dream of buying from them.


12 posted on 11/22/2014 6:26:55 AM PST by ottbmare (the OTTB mare, now a proud Marine Mom)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

Wish there was something like this for my landline phone.

Oh, wait... there is, the DNC list. (side note: is the creation of that a subliminal ad for the ‘Rat party?)


13 posted on 11/22/2014 6:33:44 AM PST by C210N (When people fear government there is tyranny; when government fears people there is liberty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: George from New England

Thank you google for trying to track me without compensation. :-(


14 posted on 11/22/2014 6:43:36 AM PST by cgbg (HLM--"Democracy is the theory that people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

The ads are still there but pixilated. They’re still slowing your computer down and freezing it. I’d pay to have no ads whatsoever. I can’t stand them popping up in the middle of what I’m trying to read or freezing and sending my screen to desktop.


15 posted on 11/22/2014 7:17:18 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "we still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Don W

I don’t want the ads pixilated. I want them gone with all the screen areas they consume restored to the originally requested page and all the bandwidth they waste recovered.


16 posted on 11/22/2014 7:51:30 AM PST by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

Install an ad blocker ... Speeds up web browsing and ditches the ads


17 posted on 11/22/2014 7:54:26 AM PST by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

yeah....that was supposed to be what Sirius and XM Radio was, in addition to DirectV, Dish Network and all the rest. It’s bullsh!t.. One way or another, they are going to waste your time in trying to get more money from you and still tell you it’s premium no-hassles while they’re pi$$ing down your leg and telling you “that’s the rain.”


18 posted on 11/22/2014 8:17:45 AM PST by Gaffer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Don W

Yes, they are a real PITA. On the tablet, half the time when I go to click the “X”, I miss and it opens a full page ad.

I find it hard to avoid the site (Breitbart). Even thought Breitbart isn’t a breaking news site, they often have stuff well before it shows up on FR.


19 posted on 11/22/2014 8:54:15 AM PST by Scutter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

why would I see pixelated patterns?


20 posted on 11/22/2014 10:01:36 AM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson