Ad link for some key words?

[Nightwalker83]

what's even more funny is that my original post isn't adword linked, but RB's quote of my post is...

-tg

Yes, it is! It just doesn't show up all the time.

Edit:

Sometimes it appears normal then you refresh the page and one link has adwords then you refresh the page again and two appear, etc.

[dee-u]

What is it trying to do now? I'm on Opera.

EDIT:
And where did the double line go?

[anhn]

Now I don't see them at home on IE and FF, but see them at work on IE.

[Spoo]

Can I ask what evil maniacal means is used to link adwords with their ads.... I mean... what does "database" have to do with preparing for windows 7?

-tg

TG

I think they are randomly selected. If you happen to

- mouseover "database"
- click the "x"
- repeat 10 times (as I'm ashamed to admit that I did)

you'll notice that a different link is generated each time.

Spoo

[RhinoBull]

what's even more funny is that my original post isn't adword linked, but RB's quote of my post is...

-tg

More strange stuff: posts ##157/158

- in post 157 mouse over "database" and you will get "IT" tooltip
- in either post mouse over "windows" and you will get "Developer" tooltip

Note that both "keywords" are not even underligned nor highlighted. Go figure...


edit:
- as of 8:38 both keywords were underligned...
- after editing this post they are no longer underligned...

What is going on here?


...

[techgnome]

Check the marketing firm... see if their address is somewhere in the Twilight Zone... I bet their CEO is Rod Serling.

-tg

[brad jones]

There are limits and a bit of randomization to what is highlighted. That is why it is not always the say. Very similar to how refreshing a page can change the ads displayed at the top.

As to the links leaving when you edit, that makes sense. The linking is done with some scripting. After the thread is displayed, that script completes its task. Editing a post uses the forum software's routines. The forum software doesn't know anything about the links, so the are in essense "not there" to the forum. When you save the edited file, the AJAX simply puts the post back. Since it didn't know about the highlighted words, and since the script for highlighting words is no longer running, the underlines go away for that post. Clear as mud? . Makes sense to me.

Brad!

[MartinLiss]

What about the Tooltips?

[RhinoBull]

Clear as mud but it does make sense except for the tooltips.

[JPnyc]

if you use quick edit, the post is edited and displayed via Ajax. The script which links keywords runs on load. Quick edit does not involve or trigger any on load event, so the keyword linking script would not fire, not until page refresh.

Where the other adverts are concerned, I added an Ajax script to refresh them at quick reply and quick edit. Otherwise they would not change either. They are also scripted to run on load

[Nightwalker83]

There are limits and a bit of randomization

I'm glad I'm not the only person aware of that! I mentioned it in post #161.

[dee-u]

if you use quick edit, the post is edited and displayed via Ajax. The script which links keywords runs on load. Quick edit does not involve or trigger any on load event, so the keyword linking script would not fire, not until page refresh.

Where the other adverts are concerned, I added an Ajax script to refresh them at quick reply and quick edit. Otherwise they would not change either. They are also scripted to run on load

Can you shed light on my question on post #162? Is it because I am using Opera? Thanks!

[JPnyc]

Sure. The double underline was removed in favor of single.

[Spoo]

Sure. The double underline was removed in favor of single.

JP

I'm now inclined to agree with the point TG made in post #151
.. use of single underline is for ad words is confusing.

Compared to the earlier "delay" problem, this is a minor detail. Nonetheless,
I've recently found myself wondering, when encountering a poster-added
link (which also appears as a single underline), whether it is a link or an
ad word.

I'd vote for ad words being shown with a double underline.

Spoo

[brad jones]

I'd vote for ad words being shown with a double underline.

This is something I raised internally when it was decided to change it to a single underline from a double underline. I took a very strong stance on this, but I still lost the battle as it was a decision the president of the company pushed. Regardless of what other sites do (and thus what is commonly done), this is what was decided for our program.

The easy way to know the difference between a standard hyperlink and one of these ads is to hover over it. Obviously a standard link isn't going to pop up a box.

Brad!

[RhinoBull]

I can see both sides arguments (dbl vs single line) and their pros and cons however I personally find single lines much less irritating.
So, I personally thank your president for that.

[Spoo]

Brad

Thanks for the background scuttlebut.
I can certainly live with the final decision.

Spoo

[RhinoBull]

For some resaon I'm experiencing slight delays again: page load is kind of sluggish - it lloks like it's trying to refresh itself more than once.
I first noticed that last night so it's not exactly isolated case. I'm running IE8/Win7/fast cable broadband if that makes any difference.
Just to be fare and clear - performance is still alot better then it was originally.

[dee-u]

Sure. The double underline was removed in favor of single.

Why does hovering the ad link gives me the blank link, whatever that is called? Is it an Opera problem?

[JPnyc]

Yeah, it might be. I just tried in opera and got 2 blanks. I'll report that.

[nbrege]

Yeah, it might be. I just tried in opera and got 2 blanks. I'll report that.

It's not just Opera ... they come up blank in IE & FF too. In fact, they are blank 90% of the time (if not more) for me. I'm sure the advertisers (who are paying top dollar no doubt) would be thrilled to know that...

[JPnyc]

I think that is most likely limited to your case. I've only seen them blank and Opera so far. At least consistently.

Anyone experiencing an issue with chrome?

[Pradeep1210]

Why is the inside of the advertisement box taking so much time to load? Also CPU usage jumps to more than 15% during this time.

I'm using:
IE6.0 SP3
Windows XP Professional SP3
3.40GHz Dual Core CPU
4GB RAM (3.6GB effectively)

[nbrege]

For some resaon I'm experiencing slight delays again: page load is kind of sluggish - it lloks like it's trying to refresh itself more than once.
I first noticed that last night so it's not exactly isolated case. I'm running IE8/Win7/fast cable broadband if that makes any difference.
Just to be fare and clear - performance is still alot better then it was originally.

I can confirm this. A slight delay seems to have crept back in using IE. Not as bad it was originally, but it's definitely there & still somewhat annoying...

[baja_yu]

Sorry for being lazy and not reading the entire thread to see if someone mentioned this before, but is it possible to put just a tiny time delay on the keyword ads, so they don't pop up if I just move the mouse over it by chance? Some threads have a lot of them and it's beginning to be a pain. Something like 1/3 of a second would probably do just fine.

[MartinLiss]

Sorry for being lazy and not reading the entire thread to see if someone mentioned this before, but is it possible to put just a tiny time delay on the keyword ads, so they don't pop up if I just move the mouse over it by chance? Some threads have a lot of them and it's beginning to be a pain. Something like 1/3 of a second would probably do just fine.

That would be nice.

[RhinoBull]

That would be nice.

That would be really nice! 1 second would be excellent.

[emartinho]

Hi Admins,

There seems to be a new "feature" on VBForums. When certain "keywords" appear in posts (like application, program, etc..) and you happen to pass your mouse over them, a popup from Internet.com appears with a "relevant" link I interpret this as "This company paid Internet.com to show you their link when this keyword is used".

Is this happening only to me? Is there any way to get rid of this? PLEASE?!

Thanks.
-EM

[MartinLiss]

Hi Admins,

There seems to be a new "feature" on VBForums. When certain "keywords" appear in posts (like application, program, etc..) and you happen to pass your mouse over them, a popup from Internet.com appears with a "relevant" link I interpret this as "This company paid Internet.com to show you their link when this keyword is used".

Is this happening only to me? Is there any way to get rid of this? PLEASE?!

Thanks.
-EM

I'm sorry but are you referring to something different than what we have been talking about here for the last 180+ posts?

[nbrege]

Sorry for being lazy and not reading the entire thread to see if someone mentioned this before, but is it possible to put just a tiny time delay on the keyword ads, so they don't pop up if I just move the mouse over it by chance? Some threads have a lot of them and it's beginning to be a pain. Something like 1/3 of a second would probably do just fine.

See post #126 & 127...

[emartinho]

I'm sorry but are you referring to something different than what we have been talking about here for the last 180+ posts?

WOOOPS! Sorry. Shoulda known somebody would have complained already.
I've been away from VBF for a while and lately have only stuck around the VB6 and Office Development forums, so I didn't see this Forum Feedback thread.

Thanks for the boot... mmm, I mean, nudge in the right direction.
-EM

[brad jones]

Why is the inside of the advertisement box taking so much time to load? Also CPU usage jumps to more than 15% during this time.

THe load time of the insides is something being addressed. I agree it is way too slow and should be near instant. I've been told it is being addressed.

As to 15% CPU usage... I see more of a bump in my CPU usage when I sneeze Seriously, I'm not sure I see that small bump as an issue as that is way less than what some flash running on a page would do. If people disagree with me... well, if they do, I'm sure I'll get the PMs or the responses in this thread

Brad!

[Pradeep1210]

Yes. I know it seems sarcastic to raise an issue of CPU usage in such situations, when there are web elements (like flash etc.) that eat a much greater amount of CPU. But shouldn't we keep this in mind that we are here loading just a 10KB image file which is no comparison those heavy elements we are comparing it to?

[brad jones]

Actually, there is a lot more going on than just loading a 10k image. There is logic being executed to look at the current page and determine what words to underline. The page is then being adjusted to do that underlining and to associate the appropriate ads. After all that, the image you indicated is loaded. Overall, there is some real calculation and processing happening.

If we monopolized the CPU doing this, then I agree that we'd need to further tweak the code to lighten in up. If we are taking only 15% of the CPU,then I (personally) think it makes more sense to be focusing on speeding up the code rather than lightening its CPU load.

Regardless, we are letting the tech team know all the issues that are being raised here. We are taking each one seriously.

Brad!

[Pradeep1210]

Thanks