Non-Intrusive Ads… for a Short While

[JVick]

The non intrusive implementation in question :

Our poor phone-using friends can't even see their feed anymore.

 

[solstice258]

So I tried clicking on the ad out of curiosity and... nothing happened? It opened a tab and it immediately closed itself
Very sus but thankfully nothing auto-downloaded or anything

Edit: Just realized this might be because of uBlock lol

 

[Nerozzity]

This shit would have been better received if you didn't delete 90% of your library. I understand, but yea.

 

[wakanana]

I don't really mind but won't this be a liability? Like a weakness to attack the site, "profiteering" and stuff?

 

[Bartolumiu]

@Bartolumiu

I agree with some others (and it has been a thought in my head for some time) that there is no financial transparency on costs vs income for mangadex, and how excess is used (when it's the case)
being a supporter does not add transparency to this, even though I'd be happy to understand if, for example, me donating more could make a change (without data it's difficult to know)

I can think of several (simultaneous) ways:

• issuing a regular informal update (meaning giving an idea of how things stand without mentioning any sensitive data) so anybody can have an idea of how things are (and understand a bit in advance when ads might come in)
• allowing supporters a bit more details on costs and incomes (maybe some hard numbers) (again no need for sensitive data, as long as the info comes from a defined role/person from staff, I see no reason for distrust) so I can have an idea how much my donation weighs in the overall picture
• maybe thinking of having a punctual internal audit (by an independent supporter for example) that could give a little insight on mangadex decisional structure and protocol (regarding) finances and allowing a second opinion on the informal reports coming from mangadex without, again, disclosing any unnecessary sensitive data

i'm very appreciative of mangadex efforts until now, and i feel things are generally going well; but i feel for some things there is still too much opacity (for me it would be finances and ad choice criteria at the moment), and i'm happy to support improving that if i can

i'm not sure where/if there is a better space for this topic (there's no supporter channel on discord (and i prefer the forum))

i have experience with audits in the non-profit sector, in case it can be useful
just email me (my account's email) and i'm happy to brainstorm together

cheers on trying to always find a good compromise (which is an never ending task imo)

I forwarded this to the team for discussion. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[HaikenEdge]

There's no such thing as a "non-intrusive ad".

 

[theroachoftime]

For those who have uBlock and don't want to deal with ads, add the below to your uBlock filter:

||mangadex.org/promo/*$image

⬆️In case people scrolled past and didn't see this very helpful comment.⬆️

Am I being a dick for potentially denying a website I use for free ad revenue? Yeah, probably. It doesn't matter. This site is on its way out and it's not because of the money. Scanlation is a legal gray area. There's a life cycle to these things. No scanlation site can live forever. Ad revenue can keep it shambling on as a zombie for a few more years. Maybe even many more years (as we have seen happen with the hated, ad-filled aggregators.)
But I don't particularly feel like looking at an ad.
And I don't know what the arrangement with Opera may be, but my impression with banner ads is that you don't get a huge payout just for hosting the ad. A cursory internet search tells me compensation is usually per click, per thousand views, or per action. If it's by the click or by the action, and you don't plan on installing Opera (don't install Opera) then there is no point in not blocking the ad. If it's by the view then there is. Which is it? I don't know. If it turns out that it's by the view I'll reconsider my position.
But looking at Opera's affiliate program page makes me doubt I'll have to do that. Opera's affiliate program page says:

Every time someone clicks on your affiliate link and downloads the Opera browser, you earn a commission. The rate depends on the traffic your links bring.

We measure the quality of the traffic by how engaged people are with the product. Later on, the affiliate programs evaluate the data and pay out commissions.

To be fair, I do not know if mangadex signed up for the affiliate program (which would be pretty funny considering the line about "carefully chosen partners") or if they made their own deal with them. Until informed otherwise I'm assuming that my eyes on those ads aren't doing anything.

 

[Tscheddov]

I Just noticed they changed the wording for the hentai content category from "pornographic" to "mature".

I am worried.

 

[MacGregor]

Well, good thing API still exists. Because MD turns into bigger mess each day. You can't fool a history. Hopefully money will taste good while it lasts.

 

[mdxwpf]

What does this mean by supporters won't see it, I've got the namicomi subscription but I've never had a supporter badge. I dont know if I dont have then connected properly or something.

Same.

Btw: I just noticed that back in August '24 that subscription was still called "MangaDex" but had been renamed by Sept '24 to "Dex-chan's Art Corner". What's up with that?

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Frankly, the dev team seems to do their best to ruin the trust they have with the community.
Like, I'm not sure how else to read this.
Communication is really hit-and-miss, and it kinda feels like they are deliberately choosing the most antagonizing ways of getting financial support, that they then are also opaque about, as others have named above.

My trust towards the dev team is currently, that they are just going about this a really stupid way and aren't intentionally screwing things up for malicious reasons towards the userbase, (Even though them going back on their word that ads are and also choosing a rather dubious first ad giver is leaning towards the sus part), but I can't help but feel lied to.

"but we're just opposed to both advertisements and also to making money off of content that isn't ours in the first place"

I Just noticed they changed the wording for the hentai content category from "pornographic" to "mature".

I am worried.

Oh, that one seemed to be just to put it in line with what official publishers use. I wouldn't call that sus

 

[BestBoy]

Has the doomposting started yet?

 

[Manko-sensei]

Has the doomposting started yet?

It started with the DMCA announcement, this is simply the bad sequel.

 

[Fuzaki]

That'd be a win-win situation tbf... Users don't see actual ads (they'd see cute ducks) and MD survives for another day

Wait, can we actually do that?

 

[Angry_Panda]

Has the doomposting started yet?

It started with the DMCA announcement, this is simply the bad sequel.

Yeah, we've been in doompost mode for about four and a half months now. Funny how a bunch of those folks are somehow still here.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Yeah, we've been in doompost mode for about four and a half months now. Funny how a bunch of those folks are somehow still here.

My guess is anti-fan behaviour. They interact with it in order to hate it and maybe some circlejerking addiction

 

[BestBoy]

It started with the DMCA announcement, this is simply the bad sequel.

Well, not every sequel can be an Aliens or a Terminator 2.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Well, not every sequel can be an Aliens or a Terminator 2.

Not every sequel has to be an alien 3 tho

 

[EOTFOFYL]

I can accept ads
They just have to be funny
Instead of horny.​

 

[Bartolumiu]

Wait, can we actually do that?

Management said we can!