Support NeoGAF

[Pantaghana]

There's always the F2P middle ground where some features (no ads) require micropayments.

5$ to unlock the rainbow theme
10$ and wait between searches is reduced to 10s
15$ can embed and see embedded videos
20$ and you can change your tag to a slightly different shade of grey
25$ for an animated avatar
50$ animated anime avatar
100$ animated MLP avatar

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Under preferences on the front page, you can choose not to embed videos. This has worked for me.

Thanks. Was looking for a way to do this in Safari but that's even better.

 

[entremet]

There's been some really troubling ads lately especially on mobile, shit that opens the App Store when it loads, etc

Are you using content blockers on iOS?

I use Purify and never had issues.

 

[RoadHazard]

Huh. GAF is one of the sites I whitelist for AdBlock, and all I get are simple banner ads.

That's all I visibly get too, but there clearly are some heavy scripts running in the background making my Chrome shit itself.

 

[mr_nexus]

Firefox is unusable for me only when I'm on Neogaf, and I'm even on a brand new desktop.

 

[ElFly]

The thing about that model is that paying for a sub (its not monthly on SA - its just a one time fee which you only have to pay again if you get banned) requires a lot more than just "we charge money now." You have to implement a bunch of value-driven stuff like accountability to people who are no longer just users but instead are customers, e.g. tons of full-time moderation, full disclosure of why bans happen, etc.

It's not something that most sites couldn't feasibly do.

Well evilore can always do something awful lite and just charge for avatars or titles,and make bans and registration independent of it.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I can tell you that there are some pages on GAF that have a lot of posts with Youtube vid links that basically kill my iPhone 6's browser. Is there some way around this? I'd like to be able to view the page but not autoload all those embedded YT players.

This can be disabled in the mobile preferences.

Are you sure it's the ads? I noticed recently some huge slowdowns when browsing threads that have multiple GIF images, and I assumed it was caused by a dumb update of Firefox.

I've done some performance profiling with Firefox which seems to suggest that ads a a pretty big factor in how much CPU usage this site does, but it's not necessarily the full story.

Though, that said, there's a decent chance the other stuff I'm seeing is an indirect result of having tons of NeoGAF tabs open at once, each with their own ads.

 

[blackflag]

Are you using content blockers on iOS?

I use Purify and never had issues.

No, I haven't used anything. I'll check it out but I don't want to entirely block ads, I just want the malicious intrusive ones stopped.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

That's all I visibly get too, but there clearly are some heavy scripts running in the background making my Chrome shit itself.

EDIT

Well, this page is hitting 13 (!) different URLs when you pull it up:

neogaf.com
adtechus.com
lijit.com
scorecardresearch.com
cursecdn.com
viglink.com
crwdcntrl.net
criteo.com
bluekai.com
bkrtx.com
google-analytics.com
googletagservices.com
adnxs.com

Maybe you could try blocking one of these at a time, and see which one in particular is causing your issue? Might not be the ads themselves.

 

[RoadHazard]

EDIT

Well, this page is hitting 13 (!) different URLs when you pull it up:

neogaf.com
adtechus.com
lijit.com
scorecardresearch.com
cursecdn.com
viglink.com
crwdcntrl.net
criteo.com
bluekai.com
bkrtx.com
google-analytics.com
googletagservices.com
adnxs.com

Maybe you could try blocking one of these at a time, and see which one in particular is causing your issue? Might not be the ads themselves.

Sigh, that's a lot of work though. Not really how I want to spend my evening!

 

[entremet]

No, I haven't used anything. I'll check it out but I don't want to entirely block ads, I just want the malicious intrusive ones stopped.

Purify allows you to whitelist sites as well.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Sigh, that's a lot of work though. Not really how I want to spend my evening!

Heck, I just made an adjustment and it's even more than that. Over 30 URLs that get called out to with this reply page open. Seems like a lot for couple ad-banners and stat-trackers. No wonder it's slow on older PCs.

 

[Mr. RHC]

You need to disable scripts in your browser, websites run all sorts of nasty things in it when enabled.

 

[Nostremitus]

Heck, I just made an adjustment and it's even more than that. Over 30 URLs that get called out to with this reply page open. Seems like a lot for couple ad-banners and stat-trackers. No wonder it's slow on older PCs.

This should be in a PSA... Damn...

 

[Übermatik]

I disable adblock for NeoGAF and cover up the ads on screen with post-it-notes.

 

[RedSwirl]

EDIT

Well, this page is hitting 13 (!) different URLs when you pull it up:

neogaf.com
adtechus.com
lijit.com
scorecardresearch.com
cursecdn.com
viglink.com
crwdcntrl.net
criteo.com
bluekai.com
bkrtx.com
google-analytics.com
googletagservices.com
adnxs.com

Maybe you could try blocking one of these at a time, and see which one in particular is causing your issue? Might not be the ads themselves.

Maybe that's the difference with me. I use a script blocker and pretty much leave all those sites blocked.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Never an issue for me.

Lenovo T430s using Chrome.

 

[gwarm01]

Never had an issue using Chrome on mobile. Is this an iPhone thing?

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

This should be in a PSA... Damn...

To be clear, NeoGAF itself only calls out to 5 URLs, not counting neogaf.com which is a given. However, some of those URLs call out to more URLs, which in turn link to more URLs so the end result is quite a lot. However, the site admins can only control whether they link to the original 5.

 

[v1lla21]

Yeah, the ads have been getting a little out of hand. The adobe ones are the most annoying as any time I start typing, they take over and everything I was typing in the message box gets typed into the ad.

Yeah I've been getting these as well. I also hate the audio adds that won't shut the fuck up.

 

[sammyCYBORG]

I've had some weird porno-ish adverts pop up on mobile automatically lately without me clicking anything.

I don't care about naked people but it does make me question the security of it a bit.

 

[Aureon]

You can always whitelist GAF, but still ban specific ads i think?

 

[Krappadizzle]

The only ads that I've seen that bug me were the front full page T-Mobile adds. Other than that, they've been pretty mild for me.

 

[Bedlam]

Yep, with my Motorola cellphone and Chrome, basically every second click on some page on Neogaf redirects me to some shady ad website. It's terrible to use.

 

[EBreda]

It would be awesome if you could pay for a version of NeoGAF that comes without ads. Let's call it NeoGAF Gold.

Pay? You're doing it wrong, bro.

 

[Mr. RHC]

It's like some ad servers are powered through the resources of your PC only, judging by OP's accounts. lol Better upgrade or kiss your PC goodbye, hahaha

 

[hydragonwarrior]

Are you using Chrome? Chrome eats up memory like no tomorrow. You could use IE to view GAF and it might be friendlier for your PC.

 

[Hollycat]

It sucks. Neogaf is one of the sites I want to definitely be able to leave it off on, and it is right now, but every now and then I'll get pop ups or it'll bring up porn Then I have to turn it back on for a while until the ads change.

 

[Armoured Priest]

I've been getting quite a few audio ads lately. It's been pretty annoying.

This ^ so much!

I don't mind the ads, but I really hate the audio ones.

 

[Resilient]

It's like some ad servers are powered through the resources of your PC only, judging by OP's accounts. lol Better upgrade or kiss your PC goodbye, hahaha

yeah the user should upgrade their computer if they want to open a website! good solution bro!

 

[RoadHazard]

You need to disable scripts in your browser, websites run all sorts of nasty things in it when enabled.

Except half the Internet (probably more) doesn't really work without JavaScript these days.

Maybe that's the difference with me. I use a script blocker and pretty much leave all those sites blocked.

So you're adblocking, then. Adblocking is, to a large degree, script blocking. That's how they're served.

You can always whitelist GAF, but still ban specific ads i think?

Yeah, but it's some background script doing this. Which? Don't know, and I don't really feel like spending my night trying to figure that out.

Are you using Chrome? Chrome eats up memory like no tomorrow. You could use IE to view GAF and it might be friendlier for your PC.

Again, with uBlock enabled everything is smooth and great. Even with my measly 4GB of RAM.

 

[Apt101]

My Acer c720 struggles a bit with gif-laden threads, but the ads never seem to give me much of an issue. I'm going to be replacing this Chromebook with a Windows laptop soon though so no big deal.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I don't want to block ads on GAF, I really don't, since I know they are what keeps the forums going. But lately the site has been entirely unusable for me without doing so on my 2011 laptop with 4GB RAM. Pages become unresponsive about every other load or so, and I have to force quit the process and reload it (which may or may not result in the same thing happening again). This happens even if the page I'm loading isn't image-heavy or anything. My work MBP with 16GB RAM and more CPU grunt can handle it, but the one at home simply can't deal. It's just freeze after freeze. Turn on AdBlock (or rather uBlock, but whatever), and it's smooth sailing again. Everything loads quickly, no freezing or anything. There seem to be some VERY heavy ad/tracking scripts running here, and it's forcing me to be a freeloader. Other sites I frequent don't do this to my browser (which is Chrome in W10, FWIW). My laptop, outdated as it is, handles most stuff very well to this day. But not this site.

Anyone else noticed this, or is it some weird thing that is only happening to me? A while ago it was fine without blocking anything. Hopefully this can be investigated.

a 2011 with 4GB of ram eh? I have a 2011 (early 2011) and I upgraded from 4GB --> 8GB --> 16GB where I am now. I have I believe 201 tabs open across 7 windows and 5 desktop spaces with NO performance issues.

My recommendation to you: Upgrade to 8GB. Switch to chrome and install The Great Suspender.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspender/klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg?hl=en

It's basically a miracle Chrome add-on that puts unused tabs "to sleep", reallocating the clock and memory those tabs would be using to the free pool. Clicking on a sleeping tab refreshes the tab. It's the reason I can have 200 tabs open and be at 29% memory usage and 14% cpu.

Yes, the 8GB memory upgrade (or 16GB) will make it feel like a new computer. Throw in an SSD and you'll be good for another couple of years at least, tbqh. But ad blocking isn't the real issue anymore; it's the 4GB of ram in 2016. Trust me, upgrade as soon as you can afford the $40-$50 for an 8GB memory stick.

 

[hobblygobbly]

Has GAF ever considered Patreon for those that want to help out directly as well? Don't need any benefits for being a aptron, just put up a Patreon link on the top of the forum with the other links.

 

[Liquidsnake]

I've noticed it does that weird thing where an Adobe ad will pop up (I think it's only Adobe?) and immediately the entire page will go down to the bottom. It's especially inconvenient when I'm searching for a specific post.

Not a deal breaker for me, but it would be cool if it didn't do that.

This This This!!!!!!!

 

[DapperSloth]

I just installed uBlock Origin for Firefox, cleared cache with CCleaner, but now it won't load any page except NeGAF lol. Not even /Film or www.familjeliv.se is working. What is going on haha? I don't have any other addon installed except webm.

 

[RoadHazard]

a 2011 with 4GB of ram eh? I have a 2011 (early 2011) and I upgraded from 4GB --> 8GB --> 16GB where I am now. I have I believe 201 tabs open across 7 windows and 5 desktop spaces with NO performance issues.

My recommendation to you: Upgrade to 8GB. Switch to chrome and install The Great Suspender.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspender/klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg?hl=en

It's basically a miracle Chrome add-on that puts unused tabs "to sleep", reallocating the clock and memory those tabs would be using to the free pool. Clicking on a sleeping tab refreshes the tab. It's the reason I can have 200 tabs open and be at 29% memory usage and 14% cpu.

Yes, the 8GB memory upgrade (or 16GB) will make it feel like a new computer. Throw in an SSD and you'll be good for another couple of years at least, tbqh. But ad blocking isn't the real issue anymore; it's the 4GB of ram in 2016. Trust me, upgrade as soon as you can afford the $40-$50 for an 8GB memory stick.

Sure. EXCEPT, as I've said several times, with uBlock enabled my 4GB do just fine. Of course, the difference between that and my work laptop with 16GB is pretty dramatic in how much stuff I can have going on at the same time, but still. 4GB should be enough for some web browsing. And it is. Right now, with around five tabs loaded (two of them being GAF), I'm just using 2.5GB.

That extension does seem pretty nifty though. I sometimes manually kill off a few tab processes that are using up a lot of memory, and then refresh them when I want them again. Couldn't hurt to have something do that for me automatically.

 

[Jigolo]

Evilore do $20 a year for GAF gun metal gray with no ads as the only feature and I'd pay for it

 

[Ikuu]

You should have to upgrade to 8GB to be able to browse a site as basic as GAF...

 

[sechsterangriff]

Mobile ads on GAF are specially bad. They basically kick you out of the site to some full-screen view and are borderline phishing scams.

 

[iamaustrian]

a 2011 with 4GB of ram eh? I have a 2011 (early 2011) and I upgraded from 4GB --> 8GB --> 16GB where I am now. I have I believe 201 tabs open across 7 windows and 5 desktop spaces with NO performance issues.

My recommendation to you: Upgrade to 8GB. Switch to chrome and install The Great Suspender.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspender/klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg?hl=en

It's basically a miracle Chrome add-on that puts unused tabs "to sleep", reallocating the clock and memory those tabs would be using to the free pool. Clicking on a sleeping tab refreshes the tab. It's the reason I can have 200 tabs open and be at 29% memory usage and 14% cpu.

Yes, the 8GB memory upgrade (or 16GB) will make it feel like a new computer. Throw in an SSD and you'll be good for another couple of years at least, tbqh. But ad blocking isn't the real issue anymore; it's the 4GB of ram in 2016. Trust me, upgrade as soon as you can afford the $40-$50 for an 8GB memory stick.

ehhh...I don't know about that.
my home PC has 750MB of RAM and it ran Gaf perfectly fine until ads started to act wierd a couple of months(i think) ago.
also why should he upgrade his computer when the hardware is not even the problem?

 

[jax]

Uninstall Flash.

Exactly this.

Also I would pay monthly for a no-ads GAF


Also 4GB in 2016? Come on man my phone has more RAM than that. You can get 8GB laptop ram for like $30.

 

[paragonpro]

Its a vicious cycle unfortunatley, ad block begets more ads, more ads begets a more intensive page and slow performance. The only viable solution would have been if we didnt use ad block in the first place, tis a vicious cycle unfortunatley.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

My brother was reporting 20% CPU usages on GAF today due to ads too.

edit: ridiculous, just measured that initial pageload was like 1500% times slower with ads than with a (crappy) adblocker just now. Nissan commercial

 

[RoadHazard]

Uninstall Flash.

Exactly this.

Also I would pay monthly for a no-ads GAF


Also 4GB in 2016? Come on man my phone has more RAM than that. You can get 8GB laptop ram for like $30.

Does GAF actually have Flash ads though? If not, what you're suggesting is irrelevant.

And your phone has more than 4GB of RAM? Really? What phone is that? I though that was the maximum in the latest flagships, such as the SGS7.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Uninstall Flash.

Just setting it to click to play is usually sufficient. Some people do still have reasons they need to keep it around (for me, that's mostly Homestuck), so it's much more convenient to just only allow Flash to load when you need it.

 

[Pestilence11]

Never had an issue using Chrome on mobile. Is this an iPhone thing?

I've been redirected quite a few times on Chrome mobile. Sometimes requires 3 attempts to actually stay on neogaf.com.

 

[Esque7]

Mobile ads on GAF are specially bad. They basically kick you out of the site to some full-screen view and are borderline phishing scams.

I've had this a few times as well, any way to stop them?

 

[Pokemaniac]

I've had this a few times as well, any way to stop them?

Mobile Firefox, at least on Android, supports all the normal ad blockers. Not sure about other browsers.

 

[Simply Sarah]

Its a vicious cycle unfortunatley, ad block begets more ads, more ads begets a more intensive page and slow performance. The only viable solution would have been if we didnt use ad block in the first place, tis a vicious cycle unfortunatley.

Adblocking only started as web ads became more and more intrusive. You have to remember that none of this existed, then pop-up ads became a thing. Then they became a nightmare. Then pop-up blocking was introduced. Then ads kept getting worse and ad blockers came into play.