Non-Intrusive Ads… for a Short While

[bigboichin]

Why am I not surprised it’s opera gx

 

[finalm]

Except MangaDex does not collect donations, because they're are not a non-profit. You are buying a service and getting specific benefits listed on https://mangadex.org/support-us. You won't be liable for what the website operators do with the money just like you are not liable for what YouTube does with its revenue.

And where exactly does it say that you're buying a service? This is the classic kickstarter model of donations, which were already established in court (multiple times) that you're not buying anything there. That's why it's so effortless for those kinds of campaigns to just take the money and run.

By "hot trail" I meant that it would probably be linked to organized crime. If that were the case then the authorities wouldn't care if you're a customer or a co-conspirator, there's no amount of deniability that would keep you from being thoroughly investigated. Even if they didn't charge you in regard to MD's activities, who knows what said investigation would uncover, eh? That's ignoring the likely temporary incarceration. Fun times all around, you see.

 

[JVick]

And where exactly does it say that you're buying a service? This is the classic kickstarter model of donations, which were already established in court (multiple times) that you're not buying anything there. That's why it's so effortless for those kinds of campaigns to just take the money and run.

By "hot trail" I meant that it would probably be linked to organized crime. If that were the case then the authorities wouldn't care if you're a customer or a co-conspirator, there's no amount of deniability that would keep you from being thoroughly investigated. Even if they didn't charge you in regard to MD's activities, who knows what said investigation would uncover, eh? That's ignoring the likely temporary incarceration. Fun times all around, you see.

The mangadex team after getting the 0,000001€ per impression deal with FragPunk™

 

[zloa2y04w]

And where exactly does it say that you're buying a service? This is the classic kickstarter model of donations, which were already established in court (multiple times) that you're not buying anything there. That's why it's so effortless for those kinds of campaigns to just take the money and run.

By "hot trail" I meant that it would probably be linked to organized crime. If that were the case then the authorities wouldn't care if you're a customer or a co-conspirator, there's no amount of deniability that would keep you from being thoroughly investigated. Even if they didn't charge you in regard to MD's activities, who knows what said investigation would uncover, eh? That's ignoring the likely temporary incarceration. Fun times all around, you see.

I don't aggree, that MangaDex is similar to Kickstarter. If anything it seems more similar to Patreon, where (part of) the money spent is basically a tip for services already rendered. Regardless, none of these provide customers with any right to know or control how revenue gets spent. If you want MangaDex to use something like the Open Collective you could make a suggestion in the appropriate forum, but that is not how they have ever operated.

The "organized crime" part gave me a good chuckle. That is literally not how that works. Customers are not liable for any random crime a business commits.

I think there are many people in this thread who are upset with MangaDex moving in a direction that they feel is a betrayal of prior promises. This is morally somewhat true, because "no ads" used to be a specific promise made and it is up to each individual if they accept the explanation given. But legally MangaDex is privately owned and the owner can do whatever they want. The community does not own any part of MangaDex.

The sort of protest in this thread is quite amusing, because many of the posters complaining are non-paying visitors who block the ads i.e. worthless to MangaDex as a business. If MangaDex is desperate for funding they are not gonna reverse course because of your complaints and if they really are greedy for that Opera GX money they are gonna ignore you even harder.

 

[Mangamoz]

Oh mobile finally got ads added huh.

"Break the rules, play for free"

Got it, I'll pirate more manga as you want me to sassy looking cyberpunk lady/guy?

 

[RonBWL]

For me, I'm interested in knowing why the enshittification of MD is happening. Maybe the big DMCA makes them go to a lawfirm and needs to pay a lot. Maybe MD is in the red each year and potentially closed down in the near future. We don't know and maybe seeing their financial may light the reason why.

I have a sneaking suspicion that MD is feeling the wall closing in. Somewhere along this thread it's apparent that the NC subscription is encountering problems, which tells me payment processors are going after NC. Up until this point, MD staff have been trying to finance the website using a legitimate front, so it's understandable that when it get hit, they're going to have to find an alternate way to receive support until they can resolve the issue on the NC side.

 

[finalm]

I don't aggree, that MangaDex is similar to Kickstarter. If anything it seems more similar to Patreon, where (part of) the money spent is basically a tip for services already rendered. Regardless, none of these provide customers with any right to know or control how revenue gets spent. If you want MangaDex to use something like the Open Collective you could make a suggestion in the appropriate forum, but that is not how they have ever operated.

Patreon clearly says in it's terms that there's no such relationship between you and it. It assumes no responsibility for anything, least of all any obligations, financial or otherwise when it comes to providing you anything. Just like Kickstarter... and MD ironically. Of course, as I've already stated, whether this holds up in court is another matter. As far as they are convinced, you're not buying a service from them, you're being a sugar daddy and supporting someone without any expectations and that is what law enforcement will view it as.

How they operated in the past is irrelevant now - back then they didn't ask their users for money, so it was none of anyone's business how they financed the operation. This is precisely my gripe: there should be no need for "suggestions", they know what should have been done. They're a company, ffs.

The "organized crime" part gave me a good chuckle. That is literally not how that works. Customers are not liable for any random crime a business commits.

No, but they may be found liable for aiding and abetting any number of criminal activities said business does with their support. Admittedly, it's not an easy thing to do, since intent needs to be proven. However, as I've already said - federal law enforcement can make life very difficult for you just by having the mandate to investigate this and you're giving it to them by getting involved. Oh, and before anyone quotes this, let me remind you that this is a hypothetical discussion in regard to the "hot trail" train of though - I'm not currently alleging MD is in cahoots with the mob, or something.

I think there are many people in this thread who are upset with MangaDex moving in a direction that they feel is a betrayal of prior promises. This is morally somewhat true, because "no ads" used to be a specific promise made and it is up to each individual if they accept the explanation given. But legally MangaDex is privately owned and the owner can do whatever they want. The community does not own any part of MangaDex.

I never claimed differently. In fact, the ads while certainly another departure from the principles that built this user base in the first place, are a lot less shady than the donations/subscriptions/whatever-you-call-them. At least assuming they're legit, not a vehicle for malware and/or scams.

The sort of protest in this thread is quite amusing, because many of the posters complaining are non-paying visitors who block the ads i.e. worthless to MangaDex as a business. If MangaDex is desperate for funding they are not gonna reverse course because of your complaints and if they really are greedy for that Opera GX money they are gonna ignore you even harder.

No one's protesting, dude. It would make about as much sense as drafting a petition and we all know those serve as TP for the executives. They are the ones reaching out with BS messages like "non-intrusive ads", so people respond accordingly. It's not like any kind of activism is needed here, the site is rapidly dying already, this will only accelerate it. I'm just being the "told ya" guy and reminding people that as predicted, the "new management" gives no fucks about this and intends to keep milking chumps until the lights go off.

 

[Chuggoth]

people are worried MD staff spent all their money on hookers and went deep into red

admin has to prostitute their website by mutilating reader and catalogue layouts/making certain parts of the site "sponsor friendly"

"it's totally unintrusive, only takes up half of your screen"

"it's not spyware, we're very picky about funding in our totally not dire financial situation"

reasonable inquiry to see what their financial situation is

radio silence and pushback from sunk cost moneybags with the "if I don't look at it maybe it will go away" mentality

So who's getting jailed for money laundering and tax evasion this time?

 

[Freestyle]

"Our goals are:

1. Keeping a great reading experience ad-free"

I suppose that's going real well and true to policy.

since you are so rich, why dont you donate to them to cover the costs or is being a leech that much fun?

It is funny how many people expect a site that gives them free content then throws a fit because the site actually tries to cover its expenses without charging them.

It is not like the mangasex people are getting paid for what has to a lot of time and effort to do.

Most of these people I imagine are young jobless adults who just spend their time whining in various forums all day about how unfair life is to them and how they deserve everything in this world for free.

 

[Bartolumiu]

How much does it even cost to run an ad on this site? Can't be that much, can it?

I'll just link this devpost from 2021 and disappear again (we've scaled up the network considerably in the last couple of years): https://mangadex.dev/mangadex-v5-infrastructure-overview/#some-limits

 

[JVick]

I'll just link this devpost from 2021 and disappear again (we've scaled up the network considerably in the last couple of years): https://mangadex.dev/mangadex-v5-infrastructure-overview/#some-limits

Yeah but what about the "hot trail" from financing organized crime ?

 

[vidopnir]

I'll just link this devpost from 2021 and disappear again (we've scaled up the network considerably in the last couple of years): https://mangadex.dev/mangadex-v5-infrastructure-overview/#some-limits

Typing in the same info gives me $144,042.31 as EC2 is now much cheaper apparently AND that is assuming you even need comparable amounts of storage, balancing, etc with that whole "removal of lots of content after the DMCA" thing a few months ago, if you possibly happen to remember that.
------------
FragPunk is now the new ad on desktop. The ad size is still massive. Congratulations on a new ad partner. Now about that Google ad network implementation mining and selling my information...
Still no ad partners on mobile so there is still a Dex-chan ad frame, bad loading times persist.

 

[Richman]

It's a tradition at this point to not do that.
And also cut part of his tail off.

banned

 

[BakedBanana]

banned

Finally, now I can pass the torch to the next person. @athayanezant, you're up.

Mikogami Karen no Kakushigoto chapter 2.2

 

[athayanezant]

Finally, now I can pass the torch to the next person. @athayanezant, you're up.

Mikogami Karen no Kakushigoto chapter 2.2

bro I just woke up!!! Don't make me using my language to you, Banana!!
What's going on? What did you do to Mr. Richman's tail you fool??!!

Hold on....Where is this? Omg.... Why'd you have to dragged me to this room?!!!

 

[Angry_Panda]

AYU IS DEAD

LONG LIVE AYU

 

[athayanezant]

AYU IS DEAD

LONG LIVE AYU

NYOOOOO!!!!! Who's gonna play fight with me after this?!!

Summoning purple loli for a reason @DavidianMillerian wake up!!! There's a tragedy in this room!!!

 

[DavidianMillerian]

Finally, now I can pass the torch to the next person. @athayanezant, you're up.

Mikogami Karen no Kakushigoto chapter 2.2

AYU IS DEAD

LONG LIVE AYU

welp, 'twas bound to happen someday

rip in peace, banban, hope you live on as a ghost like me

(This burial was NOT conducted by Ban and Pan Funeral Services.)

 

[athayanezant]

Finally, now I can pass the torch to the next person. @athayanezant, you're up.

Mikogami Karen no Kakushigoto chapter 2.2

welp, 'twas bound to happen someday

rip in peace, banban, hope you live on as a ghost like me

(This burial was NOT conducted by Ban and Pan Funeral Services.)

@Angry_Panda PapaPanda I'm very sorry but I have to do this to these two boys:

@BakedBanana @DavidianMillerian
Drop the act, now get up from that hole and gtfo of this room!!

[Note: please just ignore the background character, he was actually someone around here so we still need him to complete...this action.]

 

[Angry_Panda]

welp, 'twas bound to happen someday

rip in peace, banban, hope you live on as a ghost like me

(This burial was NOT conducted by Ban and Pan Funeral Services.)

The union is NOT going to like this at all.