Hey guys, just a quick update for this thread: I turned off in-content (mid-article) ads for logged in users (ie. they'll only show up for non-logged in users). I think there might still be one that shows up from a third party partner we're working with but I don't think theirs shows up all the time. I know a lot of you are very understanding (I really appreciate it) though I still want to try my best to balance your experience with the site's need to keep running hence I'm going to try to figure out another way. I'm going to test a few other placements and see how that goes. If the tradeoff is still bad let me know! If you're interested in updates to this and other features, you can also follow my feed and/or blogs. Have a good week!

After all of these information about ads and why do we see an increased number of ads, I want to say that I understand and I'll try to be more understanding and consider the option of the gold membership if I can't enjoy the site with the ads.

@fiftymiles Thank you for this information. I did not know about theese stats and the whole ad situation for aff, that is the reason why I started this discussion.

@fiftymiles It's not like that at all. I donated to ao3 few times already because I like to help the site I'm using, to stay afloat. And as much as long I have an account here on aff I was not familiar with the gold membership option, and that is why I asked about a simmilar option like the donation one on ao3, so don't conclude without knowing. And me asking about the increasing number of ads and expresing me not liking that, I think I have the right to say this and ask. And it definitely does not mean that I want other people to donate, so I don't have to.

@Nichiren I have an idea, don't know if it's possible though but I think it's worth the try even when it's kind of annoying. In the advertised story you can put a redirect kind of ad when we press the story link. I mean, people have far more entry when we see a story advertisement than when we see the full body text in a story; at least from my perspective. I say this because it's mostly description and foreword what determinates if we'd like to read the entire fic or not. Also because I have seen advertised content that doesn't belong from AFF - redirects to other pages - and I think it's only fair you do that.

@Nichiren Ah okay I'll get that then! I'd still like to donate as well because I like this site and want to help lol

@Setty94 @Nichiren Yeah, smth like what ao3 does ? They always collect the planned amount, and I'd rather donate like that then to have the site increase the amount of ads to keep afloat ?

@Setty94 Hi! Thanks for the offer though you're honestly better off just getting a Gold membership since you get a ton of other benefits + no ads. We used to have a donation option when AFF first started years ago but I figured you should get something out of it so I made the Gold membership program: https://www.asianfanfics.com/shopping/get_gold. I'm trying to figure out other ways to not be so dependent on ads but there's always going to be a disparity between people willing to pay for anything vs free. Regardless, I appreciate the offer anyway!

@Nichiren Do you do a donation drive? I'd gladly donate to help keep the site afloat!

@Emilieee This was a thing that started to annoy me, because I noticed the sudden increase and showing up in the middle of the text. It annoyed me. Ads are annoying. I was curious is it just for money increase or smth else. I did not know that this guy runs the page by himself. I got my questions answered.

@jasmina2411 I just two or three extra ads on the page wasn't bad enough to warrant leaving a site you've been on for seven years.

@Emilieee Not really turning this to anything but expressing my oppinion, and it's the way it is. I can say what bothers me and I just wanted to know what seemed to be the deal with the increasing number of ads and @Nichiren answered. That's it.

@jasmina2411 It's a small sacrifice for using this site. Honestly, scrolling past one or two ads isn't at all that bad and I honestly think you're turning a small issue into something a little bit too big. The site is run by one person and he's already done a lot to accommodate for the users. If you still hate ads that much, buy gold.

Owner here. And yeah I get it. Everyone hates ads. I hate ads - seeing them and having to deal with them at all. I'd rather just keep making new features and not spend so much time on this. Unfortunately, ads are still what keeps this place running since Gold memberships and karma purchases are still just a drop in the bucket in comparison. The old placements were all fine and well before until Google made a change recently that takes viewability into account so you basically have to really "see" the ad before it gets counted. All the other ad providers decided to follow suit (because Google) so that obviously puts me in a tough spot. I can't just put them at the very bottom anymore where no one sees them (pretty much what we had before) or else they don't get counted but that doesn't leave me with a lot of options. Either I stuff them all at the top before the story text which is ugly, place them after the story text where almost no one sees them (especially on mobile since chapters can be long), or I spread them out in the content itself which is what Google recommends. But yeah I understand. We don't have investors and the ones who want to be insist on even more intrusive ways to earn revenue, so for now, we're on our own and have to keep the servers running somehow. I'll figure something out and reduce the in-content ads to one or none and see how that works out revenue-wise. I'll see if I can make a change today or tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.

Like I said, I understand the reason why websites use ads, but why do you have to put them in the story text itself. And everyday is more, from one ad to more and more. Arond the text, the "close ad" ones, and I'm sure the redirect ones prety soon, or like every paragraph will have an ad. Like, use ads but don't make the site frustrating. In my oppinion ofc.

as pointed out by others, the ads are there so that AFF can remain free. maintaining this site must cost a fortune, thus, the need for ads. so yeah, it's a toss between getting a gold membership or tolerating the ads.

I have AdBlock on my computer, but I turn it off for AFF. Why? Because this site is free due to the ads being shown. I think that's pretty great. It's not pop-up ads that you can't exit out of, so it doesn't interfere with what you're doing. Using this site is a privilege, not a right.

@jasmina2411 i wouldnt be surprised if suddenly aff becomes a business platform

@occult Yeah, it seems like so..and everyday is more and more ads on aff..

Everytime I use it, the stories are full of ads. Like I said, like 3 ads in the middle of the story. It's so f****** annoying! I mostly read on my phone or ipad, and it's always the same. First it was one and now 3 ads

I thought that i'm the only one having this problems...

is it on mobile or when you're on desktop?
i haven't had any issues except for on the mobile just once but that's at the bottom of my screen though.

the owner of aff maybe needs money so bad