Adblocking & SkinsFollow

There has been a lot of discussion on adblock and our rule of not allowing discussion of it.

We'll remove the rule, but I'd like to explain why the rule was put into place and the reasoning behind it.

As I'm sure most of you know the primary method of revenue generation for most websites is advertising. We very much fall into this category - while we do offer a premium service, advertising still is key to allowing this website to continue running. Without getting into specifics, we would have to cut a very large number of the staff that work here without ads.

The way the internet is right now sites that are advertising-supported are really hurting - people started adblocking so advertisers started doing more and more shady things which in turn drives even more people to use adblocking software… endless cycle. Sites that actually have very strict rules about what ads they allow end up getting stuck in the middle as more people use adblock and don't whitelist individual sites.

It's a very valid point that running adblock and noscript are important parts of protecting your MMO account, there are a lot of very shady ads out there. However, by running adblock and not at least whitelisting your favorite sites, you're really hurting them and the people who work on them.

I can only speak for us, but we have a very detailed system in place to make sure no ads which contain spyware or viruses ever get through. In the past 3 years we've had 1 slip, which lasted for under 1 hour before it was caught and corrected, and after that happened we revised our policies almost entirely.

I'd also like to address skinning, since it has been a hot topic as of late with the skin on FFXI. Skins are going to happen, and will continue to happen. This is unfortunately also directly related to programs like adblock - the more ads are blocked the worse statistics look and advertisers are not happy with them so they want bigger and flashier. With the exact same traffic and advertising placements the revenue from this year vs. 3 years ago would be much lower. We're forced to adapt to new advertising methods in order to keep the staff and grow the site.

Ultimately what I'm getting to is I'm sorry the rule was put in place, it was a mistake. If you actually like our sites (and other sites around the net you visit), please consider whitelisting them. As an alternative, many sites do have a premium service (including us) as another method of support.

-Drak

I'd also like to express my gratitude. While I agree with the above poster that this would have been better implemented first rather than later, it takes a lot out of a company to admit a mistake (even a well intended one such as trying to save their crew's jobs.) And resend a previous policy change simply due to popular demand. It goes a long way to remind us that we are still valued as your customer base and our opinions. In a world of ever growing shady tactics from companies, that means a lot.

And while I do despise the use of skin advertisements I suppose a compromise is in order on my end too. I look forward to my new smiles and avatars anyways.

Thanks. We all appreciate this.

Also, this:
The rule was added more than two months ago, and most people on the ffxi boards weren't aware of it until yesterday. I don't think major rules like this should ever be added without informing people of them. And of course if you simply asked people to whitelist the site from the start, explaining what you did here, you'd have saw a huge increase in ad revenue by the next day. Unfortunately now the damage has already been done, and you'll likely have people that would have whitelisted alla, but won't now because you tried making some ridiculous rule that would have had a very minimal effect, instead of simply asking people to whitelist the site (if i didn't have premium i'd be one of them). I'm sure you'll also lose a number of premium subscriptions because of this.

Sometimes it really is more profitable to consider your customers over your wallet.

That's all I needed to hear. Consider yourselves whitelisted.