This started this afternoon. Whenever I click through to a new page, or I refresh a page, I get this pop-up. I've restarted Chrome and cleared my cache and history and it still comes up. I mean, I am using an ad blocker, and have been for years with no issue. I also restarted it and checked for updates. Is this just a glitch or something? Alliance Membership is still ad free, right?
Okay So, I'm posting this post from my phone. The issue seems to be a desktop only kinda thing and is probably just a line of code that my ancient machine can't understand.
Let me guess...... the ad blocker you are running is 'Freestar VRM by Admiral'..???? I don't think it is a problem originating from the HAMB site.
No. It's Adblock Plus. Frestar VRM (Visitor Relationship Manager) is a marketing outfit geared at circumventing adblockers.
I'm seeing the same thing. Only on the HAMB. Refresh the page and it goes away. I am logged in to the HAMB
OK... talked to my ad stack people. Though I wasn't warned, this popup is legit. If you click the "continue without supporting" button, the popup should go away and you shouldn't have to deal with it again. There are reports that clicking the "continue without supporting" button doesn't work and the popup comes back. They are looking into this now.
Kind of a weird place to be... I need ad revenue to run this joint. Without it, there is no forum... But I don't really dig how this was done without warning.
Yup, that's what's happening on my pc. Go from one page to the next, it pops up every time. Not seeing it on my Android phone or iPad.
Thanks, Ryan! You're THE man!!! Yeah, mine still comes back after I click the "Continue without supporting" button --Chris
It should be gone now... But with no ad revenue you don't have a site to run your ad blocker on. It's not like I'm some huge corporation where losing revenue from a few 100,000 users isn't going to effect the bottom line in a meaningful way. I'm one guy with no employees that has been doing this for 30 years now. I'm literally one of the last mom and pops left in a dying medium. And I think I do it all the right way. I don't sell user information. I don't drop tracking cookies. I work proactively to keep my members data private. I think there is a middle ground here that the industry just hasn't settled on yet. I want to make money, but not at the expense of my user's privacy. And users should be willing to support the joint that works for them... It's an awkward situation for a guy like me. Point being - don't feel obligated to support me. The HAMB isn't about money at the end of the day. But at the same time, it would be super cool if folks didn't feel entitled to my entire home. I mean if you are logged in, we don't even serve ads on the forum.
@Ryan Thanks for the info. It still pops up for me and I haven't downloaded any adblockers unless they are built into Firefox. As long as this pop-up is legit, I can live with it. That said, if it boils down to seeing ads or no more HAMB online ... I'd definitely rather see the ads!
It's legit... you can opt in and you still won't have ads as long as you are logged in. It should be turning off shortly.
Advertising is American as Apple pie man, everybody understands that it's just business. If the car rags didn't have ads in them, they'd be about 10 pages long, up until they went out of business. I get it, and thank you for everything you do to provide this joint. I'll renew my alliance membership.
Hey @Ryan I received my 4th Alliance stamped metal dash / firewall tag in the mail a few days ago, it really made me smile, to get it in the mail. I know that they are a chore to produce, but I just wanted to say thank you for the effort it requires to keep at it for the past 30 years. I have saved them all in the original sleeve they were mailed in, and the very cool thank you card, that came with the first one back in 2019. These are very collectible in my opinion. There is NO free lunch and there is NO true free H.A.M.B. Thanks for all you do, its greatly appreciated. Thanks from Dennis.
Hello, Yesterday, I stepped away for a lunch and nap. Then when I came back much later, I hit the thread on earliest Willys race cars. Then the same pop up came on the screen. I realized I did not sign in when I opened the laptop, so I opened up another HAMB tab to sign in and the pop up sign went away. There is nothing to say about changing tabs to open up another HAMB site. It is like rebooting your laptop. I did not hit the continue as it is an advertisement. Being in the essence of computers from a long time ago, I tend to stay away from clicking on any ad or pop up on any screen. So, I have been told, doing so just adds your information to the growing list of “click-bait” traps. Now, your info is in their files. Jnaki HAMB is pretty good about signing in and then most if not all ads are hot rod related and a part of the daily scene.