I’m Starting to See A Lot of Google Advertising

I don't see any ads, but wouldn't mind small ones.

Its hard for me when it comes to fees. My priority among other things is better comms and service (such as these call for support threads, modding and the new ticketing system). If I can see a plan for that or see change I'm cool with a fee rise or go fund me. The ads should be fixed anyway if they are huge and feature boobs lol.
 
I'm glad someone started this thread. There are to many changes all at once. First the threads feeding in from all those other sites (in the entertainment forum) and now ads that takeover my screen

I understand the need for more revenue, but everything feels like it was just thrown in here recently.
 
Regarding the fee increase: The more I think about it, that doesn’t really seem like a good idea.

Most forums are free. I think the fee is probably what hurt the membership of this site over the long term. There are so many places to get black haircare info now. None are as good as this community IMO, but people like low hanging fruit (free stuff). WE think it’s worth it to pay more, but if most people won’t even pay $6.50 a year, how would she hope to get new members with a higher fee?
 
Theresamonet said:
Regarding the fee increase: The more I think about it, that doesn’t really seem like a good idea.

Most forums are free. I think the fee is probably what hurt the membership of this site over the long term. There are so many places to get black haircare info now. None are as good as this community IMO, but people like low hanging fruit (free stuff). WE think it’s worth it to pay more, but if most people won’t even pay $6.50 a year, how would she hope to get new members with a higher fee?
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From what I gather, the hair forum is still accessible fee-free though. And if you want answers to questions, (i.e. get specific information), why shouldn't you pay for it? I think that the information we receive is worth the fee, and a reasonsable increase, like from $6.50 to $9.99 wouldn't break the bank.

(eta: Alot of us started out as students on a budget, and as we matured, I'm hoping that our wallets have stabilized, if not increased. I don't know what the complement of the forum is now, but alot of us have jobs/careers and should be able to budget our entertainment money. We pay for Netflix, and other treats every month, stuff that costs most more than LHCF does annually. LHCF is more than just a haircare board, which is why I'm ok with the fee because people appreciate what they pay for more than what they don't.)
 
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awhyley said:
From what I gather, the hair forum is still accessible fee-free though. And if you want answers to questions, (i.e. get specific information), why shouldn't you pay for it? I think that the information we receive is worth the fee, and a reasonsable increase, like from $6.50 to $9.99 wouldn't break the bank.

(eta: Alot of us started out as students on a budget, and as we matured, I'm hoping that our wallets have stabilized, if not increased. I don't know what the complement of the forum is now, but alot of us have jobs/careers and should be able to budget our entertainment money. We pay for Netflix, and other treats every month, stuff that costs most more than LHCF does annually. LHCF is more than just a haircare board, which is why I'm ok with the fee because people appreciate what they pay for more than what they don't.)
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You are preaching to the choir. I don’t need to be convinced that the forum is worth the $6.50—I’ve been paying it for 17 years. However, the haircare landscape has changed since we first joined this forum. There are now many more resources available. Do you know where people go to ask questions about their hair now? YouTube, Reddit, various Facebook groups, TikTok, etc. All free.99.

This isn’t really about whether those of us here can afford to pay an increase. We don’t know anything about the financials of this forum. We don’t know if the site owner is just trying to break even or turn a profit. And we don’t know how much $ it would take to do either. We don’t even know how many paying members there currently are. You’ve assumed it would only take another $3 or so per person, but what if it required another $15-20+? Would you still be willing to pay that? Some would, and others wouldn’t. So she’d lose some members while definitely deterring new ones from joining.

There is not much to attract new people. When you view this site as a Guest, you can’t post or use the search function, the site is plastered with ads, and the only forums you see are the Hair forum, Religion, and Relationships. The first posts on the Hair forum are decades-old stickies, and the “current” threads almost never change as they are mostly consolidated threads and year-long challenges. There are almost no pictures to be seen. Most of us don’t post them regularly anymore, and old pics are now gone.

I’m saying all of this not to poo on the forum—I love this place—but if there is a genuine desire to keep this forum alive and perhaps have it thrive again, I think there are many other things to address besides raising the fee and getting a bit of extra AdSense revenue. That’s a losing strategy if membership and site traffic are low. Just my 2¢.
 
How about the ads show up for those who do no pay into the forum? Not sure of user traffic for non members but the ads on a paid site is wild to me. if someone is interested enough in a hair forum, paying <10$ would be worth it to experience without the ads.

I finally found an ad blocker software that works on this site so I’m no longer seeing the ads.
 
I saw that earlier and I’m going to be blunt I use this site as a way to share wo needing to mask but to see that we have marketers and others who aren’t here for the same reasons is a bit alarming. This site has been a treasure but I see lower than norm activity and as biz stands if you don’t evolve you dissolve and sadly that’s what’s happening.
 
Theresamonet said:
Now is anyone else getting more error messages than usual? I keep getting them when I’m trying to like posts or comment. I have to try multiple times.

This is all becoming very annoying and frustrating.
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I got an error earlier when I tried to like a post. When I refreshed the page the issue was solved.
 
ScorpioLove said:
How about the ads show up for those who do no pay into the forum? Not sure of user traffic for non members but the ads on a paid site is wild to me. if someone is interested enough in a hair forum, paying <10$ would be worth it to experience without the ads.

I finally found an ad blocker software that works on this site so I’m no longer seeing the ads.
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Which one are you using? The ads are definitely going to cause me not to come here.
 
I’m noticing that, when I try to post, another screen pops up as if to display the submitted post but when I close that screen the unsubmitted post is still there. If I refresh the screen, I see that my post was submitted. But if I click on ‘Post reply’ I’ll end up resubmitting the post. There should be confirmation that the post was submitted and you shouldn’t be able to keep submitting the post if it’s already been submitted.
 
Black Ambrosia said:
There are a lot of business owners and tech savvy women here. I understand the reluctance to discuss forum finances but I think with our support this forum can be viable for Bev and affordable for us while keeping the user experience enjoyable.
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There must be some women on this forum who know about having ads that appear on the page but be less intrusive. I’m on all kinds of boards where ads are there, but easy to ignore. Can someone who knows tech post a cry for help in the Off Topic forum?
 
The ads, the pop ups, the errors, the MTO posts...it's all too much.

Regarding membership going down, I know for me, I made a thread a few years back, and it wasn't even a "Random Thoughts" thread, but I think it was something like, "How are you feeling?" during the time of the pandemic, and it was removed because it was deemed a random thoughts kind of thread. I know for me, I was like, "Bet." I stopped posting. And there were a lot of other little rules that made the board not engaging or fun.

I stick around because I've been around for so long and there really is still a lot to get from the boards and you ladies. But the site is now feeling way too spammy. I used to check this board a few minutes every day. Now I might go weeks before thinking about checking. And I really do hate that.
 
Did we also realize that alot of the old threads that link to other threads no longer work? Like I clicked on one of the threads about relaxed hair and it was a compiled list of other threads. Some about air drying, some for women who have it all figured out, etc. Well, when I click those links, it says something like "file not found". I'm not even really able to go back and get information that I used years ago to grow my hair out. :cry3:
 
MamaBear2012 said:
Did we also realize that alot of the old threads that link to other threads no longer work? Like I clicked on one of the threads about relaxed hair and it was a compiled list of other threads. Some about air drying, some for women who have it all figured out, etc. Well, when I click those links, it says something like "file not found". I'm not even really able to go back and get information that I used years ago to grow my hair out. :cry3:
Click to expand...

Yes, that’s been the case for a long time. However, if it also lists the title of the thread, you can search for that. I’ve had some success that way.

For instance, the link in this image doesn’t work, but if you type “Relaxed Ladies Who Have It All Figured Out” into the search, the thread pops up. So, those older compiled list threads can still serve as a good guide.

IMG_5004.jpeg
 
I’m using a new browser, and no longer have the ads! Thank God. I noticed a twitter linked post of the childen in Africa playing Trump doesn’t load for me on this browser. Not ideal, but I don’t mind it, if it means avoiding ads.
 
Theresamonet said:
Yes, that’s been the case for a long time. However, if it also lists the title of the thread, you can search for that. I’ve had some success that way.

For instance, the link in this image doesn’t work, but if you type “Relaxed Ladies Who Have It All Figured Out” into the search, the thread pops up. So, those older compiled list threads can still serve as a good guide.

View attachment 497544
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Thanks! I tried that with a different topic a few months back and the threads weren't showing up when I searched them.

I'm trying to go back and make notes in case LHCF goes away.
 
yaya24 said:
Wow the ads on this site have officially taken over today ... on my phone and laptop when I'm on the forum :(
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The forum glitches on me and now the ads are making it difficult to navigate. This site feels like it has been taken over by bots and our opinions as long-time paid users are not being taken into consideration. I feel like I am losing my E-Family of sisters.
 
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