Rev3 Advertising Gone Wild

[stragee]

I've been watching Diggnation from the time of it's inception and love the Rev3 stuff. But never until now have I seen so many d*mn ads! Let's see...

1. A GoDaddy commercial played at the beginning of the show

2. A banner displayed during the show

3. Michelob sponsored the show so of course they had to talk about that

4. Kevin & Alex did the normal ads they read off before the last story

5. Let's not forget the ad played at the end of the show

The actual content of the show is barely 20 minutes, is it really necessary to throw in that much garbage to make ends meet? I know companies can only stay alive if they make money, but this is almost as bad as prime time television. Personally I'd like to recommend that you guys tone it down a bit, or find an alternative way of advertising. I'd rather sign up for a newsletter with advertising in it and maybe 1 ad at the beginning of the show, then to have 4-5 ads throughout the show.

Anyways, just thought I'd voice my opinion. Keep up the good work.

[maxxx]

Nope doesn't bother me, as I am watching diggnation for free.

[djoutlaws]

Yup, the Rev isn't a charity you know they're a BUSINESS! :rolleyes:

[masterq]

Nope doesn't bother me, as I am watching diggnation for free.

I rather pay a monthly fee like I used to. We didn't get the shows ad-free, we got diggnation earlier. I know they didn't like that system because diggnation was being torrented early anyway.

I think they should make a premium subscription to get all the shows or some of the shows ad free. I'd pay for that.

[cryptic]

I rather pay a monthly fee like I used to. We didn't get the shows ad-free, we got diggnation earlier. I know they didn't like that system because diggnation was being torrented early anyway.

I think they should make a premium subscription to get all the shows or some of the shows ad free. I'd pay for that.

The ads have to be included within the programs to ensure people watch. If you have a ad-free version, they would have to either stop placing the ads within the show or hack them out afterward. Either way, sounds like a losing proposition to accomodate only a handful of subscribers.

Apparently, advertisers are switching from mainstream media to podcasts for more effective marketing. Rev3 and other networks should take the money while they can. An extra ad won't kill anyone.

[masterq]

An extra ad won't kill anyone.

Don't let them fool you. My friend died from a single extra ad.

[Infinity_Man]

Is this really a thread?
I mean come on. Is it such a big deal that they mention sponsors? I don't have any problem at all with it, and to be honest, I would rather have a few sponsor breaks during a show than to have to pay for the show.
Also, you have a slider on the content. Fast forward through the ads if it is such an ordeal for you.

I just really can't believe this is an issue for anyone.

[roadrunner9368]

I don't really mind the ads, rev3 has to make money somehow. But the shows are getting shorter and that makes it seem as though there are more ads, or maybe the ad spots are getting longer too. More ads + less content = blah

[stragee]

Is this really a thread?
I mean come on. Is it such a big deal that they mention sponsors? I don't have any problem at all with it, and to be honest, I would rather have a few sponsor breaks during a show than to have to pay for the show.
Also, you have a slider on the content. Fast forward through the ads if it is such an ordeal for you.

I just really can't believe this is an issue for anyone.

It's not a big deal that they have ads. What is a big deal is when over 15% of the content is made up of it. There's a reason programs like adblock plus for Firefox is one of the most downloaded add-ons for Firefox...because people hate Advertising!

Frankly I'm pretty disappointed... because when Diggnation first started they didn't hardly do any advertising. Now they that have quite a few viewers, Rev3 is milking it for everything it's worth. I say stop trying to be like Hulu, and break the mold. Try some alternative unique ways of advertising that don't involve putting in bumper ads or displaying banners right in the show.

There's nothing wrong with making a buck or two from your content, just don't make your viewers suffer.

[tyler-kessler]

Umm we are in a recession buddy, just be happy Revision3 is a PPV site.

[artofwar420]

I rather pay a monthly fee like I used to. We didn't get the shows ad-free, we got diggnation earlier. I know they didn't like that system because diggnation was being torrented early anyway.

I think they should make a premium subscription to get all the shows or some of the shows ad free. I'd pay for that.

People would torrent those, so that's not gonna work. I don't mind the ads.

[m3thod]

They have to make their money somehow . . . but maybe if they didn't do their ads live, all the fumbling and the mess ups ten to extend their advertisement segments a little longer then they should.

Perhaps they should just shoot the ads separately, more clean and professional and cut them in during editing. Might shave a few seconds here and there. I mean they hardly change week by week.

[joeyrock]

Nope doesn't bother me, as I am watching diggnation for free.
Well no you aren't getting it for free, that's the point. You are paying via your eye balls looking at advertising and the use of your time. Your viewer-ship/time has a monetary value. How do you think Rev3 are able to sell it to the advertisers if it's of no value?

There is definitely too much advertising. If people stop watching because there isn't any space left for content... what then!? The value of that advertising space takes a nose dive and Rev3 loses money. Then the show gets canned. Blinding thinking that you must support the show regardless of what they do is actually detrimental to the show.

[darknessgp]

I've been watching Diggnation from the time of it's inception and love the Rev3 stuff. But never until now have I seen so many d*mn ads! Let's see...

1. A GoDaddy commercial played at the beginning of the show

2. A banner displayed during the show

3. Michelob sponsored the show so of course they had to talk about that

4. Kevin & Alex did the normal ads they read off before the last story

5. Let's not forget the ad played at the end of the show

The actual content of the show is barely 20 minutes, is it really necessary to throw in that much garbage to make ends meet? I know companies can only stay alive if they make money, but this is almost as bad as prime time television. Personally I'd like to recommend that you guys tone it down a bit, or find an alternative way of advertising. I'd rather sign up for a newsletter with advertising in it and maybe 1 ad at the beginning of the show, then to have 4-5 ads throughout the show.

Anyways, just thought I'd voice my opinion. Keep up the good work.

IMO, I can understand 3, they are providing the beers (though I could care less about the stupid talk things after the show)

The others are a bit much. I really wish they would stop with the live ads before the last story, they always mess up and seem to drag it on forever. Plus, why do we get the ad before the intro and then again with kevin/alex talking about it during the show? Is one not enough? Can you guys just read a short copy and be done with it?

Now, for anyone that says "I get the show free, I don't care." or "Revision3 needs to make money" I don't disagree with you. However, as said before technically you are not paying MONEY for the show, but you are paying with your time to watch the ads. Which the companies being advertised believe will make you want to go to them for whatever they are selling... aka they eventually want you to spend money. Now a terrible example, if someone literally gave you a piece of shit sitting on top of a funny comic, would you have no problem with it? Would you seriously just go, "I'm fine taking the shit, cause the comic is awesome and was free"?

and yes, Rev3 needs to make money. But there is a difference between making content with a few ads and making ads with some content. IMO, it seems like they are whoring out for money. I don't think the show needs to have that many ads to cover production cost and some profit. Seems more like they are going for production cost and lots of profit.

[cryptic]

The problem isn't the 30 second ads. The problem is sponsors like Michelob where the ad is done by Kevin and Alex. These mentions should be much shorter and to the point. Unless Michelob is somehow reeling in 3000+ diggs, the guys need to stop droning on about it.

Although Rev3 shouldn't turn away ad money, they certainly should produce a longer show to justify the ad time included.

[speed]

My issues aren't really with the ads and such in of themselves. I mean, I'm ok with sponsors, mentioning Michelob is ok, and even the ads at the beginning and end aren't horrible in concept.

The problems stem from: having a pop-up banner in the video is annoying as all hell, often ends up over top of content such as links and closing it pauses the damn video! And the ads at the beginning only bother me because they are incredibly stupid. Every time I see that Adidas ad, I want to buy a pair of Nikes and every time I see one of those GoDaddy ads, I think of transferring my site to Dreamhost.

Ads aren't necessarily horrible and some, like the Netflix movie of the week are ok and Brian's Domainsmack is hilarious, but the ones that get supplied are so annoying, and I can't stand pop-ups. They're a relic from the 90s, leave them there.

Edit: Also, give us back our second email, and make the content a little bit longer. Diggnation is a cheap show to make, Kevin has stated before that he gets no money from Rev3 for doing Diggnation, so that just leaves Hippy and Alex for appearance fees, since I imagine people like Prager are salary. It seems like they are always rushing to make it as short as possible and keep sneaking more and more ads into it.

[leftkidney]

so I have noticed there is a 15 sec add before the video plays from the site using the embeded player

this is a problem for me because I download shows directly by going to the page and right clicking onto them

when I go to the page the video starts playing and I cant stop it from playing so the download goes half as fast because it is downloading it 2 times - I cant press stop I have to wait 15 seconds before I can download the episode

stop this please

[dj-silent]

Yeah it's bullshit Louderbach himself said that certain companies count like 1 second of play for a full play so I think that's what they are doing, it is amazingly annoying and it does it on EVERY video that I have downloaded.

[leftkidney]

yea this crap has to stop

figure out another way to do this please

it really pisses me off

[dirtyhat]

so I have noticed there is a 15 sec add before the video plays from the site using the embeded player

this is a problem for me because I download shows directly by going to the page and right clicking onto them

when I go to the page the video starts playing and I cant stop it from playing so the download goes half as fast because it is downloading it 2 times - I cant press stop I have to wait 15 seconds before I can download the episode

stop this please

After you right click and 'save as' why don't you just browse away from the flash page... the download will continue...

[leftkidney]

yea that works sometimes - but sometimes it will cause the download to be truncated and I dont get all of it - and that takes some fast mouse moving to do that

I have to redownload it again but I dont know until I watch it and it randomly stops and I realize that it isnt complete

I have to right click onto it and save it but I have to wait for about well 15 seconds or more before I can navigate away from that page or I have a 50/50 chance that the download will get truncated and that sucks


isnt there a way to NOT have the video start playing until I press the play button on the page - this would solve the problem

or better yet a download page that is like text only or something like that that has every episode ever and a check box that you can check off to filter file types and shows

how about a direct download page that is nothing but text and download links

[jdstorer2]

Adblock Plus is your friend. If they won't let us support the show by viewing unobtrusive ads, then turn Adblock back on. I have had it turned off for Rev3 and after that 15 sec video thing started I turned it back on. I will not tolerate ads that get in the way of viewing - I will just stop watching.

[punch]

that would be nice - but for some reason I am loged in as punch now not leftkidney - I have 2 accounts and only need 1, but randomly I am using one or the other depending on which computer I am using at the time

this causes problems for meas you can see it looks like i am talking to my self or answering my own questions - if anyone knows about this - I like to be honest so here it is

[speed]

It's not even the ads presence that bothers me so much (I wish it wouldn't start until I told the video to start, but that's a different argument for a different topic), it's the ads themselves. I know I've said it a few times, but PLEASE get rid of the Adidas ads. They kill babies.

[stragee]

I can't stand pop-ups. They're a relic from the 90s, leave them there.


I couldn't agree more with this statement.

[leftkidney]

yea while killing babies is bad and all there are to many people on this planet to begin with and we are starving the planet to death, so a little mass killings every couple of decades is a good idea - think about how many people there would be if we never fought WW2, 500,000 americans would have potentially created over 1 million babies and they would create at least 1 million more if not 2 million, thats only 2 generations worth, if they stayed alive and created more it would be crazy - hell there were estimated 56 million killed total in WW2 so think about the workd with an 200 million people on it or more, not good we already have trouble finding jobs for the people we have now


but I have been thinking about this (not killing babies! but the adds) and I guess if this brings in a lot of money for rev3 so they can keep bringing the great shows they do then I can deal with it, I know how to stop it now (blocking scripts works, or flash block) so its not a problem for me anymore - I just dont like change so whatever the money has to come from somewhere other than VC's so they can make a profit

[kzap]

Is there a reason you don't download the WMV, MOV oe Xvid version they don't have the add at the begining?
As for me as much as I hate the advert, Rev3 need all the money they can get (there's a bit of a Credit Crunch (not a breakfast cereal) at the moment) so I can put up with it.
One thing I don't like is that sometimes the video starts playing BEFORE the add has finished, usually I only miss the sponsors at the begining but still I'm assuming this can be fixed.

[xfuuey]

Well... nice to see a 50th thread about this same topic

[masherscf]

I think that you're time is not so valuable that you can't sit through a harmless 15-second pre-roll ad.

[md2389]

so I have noticed there is a 15 sec add before the video plays from the site using the embeded player

this is a problem for me because I download shows directly by going to the page and right clicking onto them

when I go to the page the video starts playing and I cant stop it from playing so the download goes half as fast because it is downloading it 2 times - I cant press stop I have to wait 15 seconds before I can download the episode

stop this please

I just use AdBlock Plus to block the flash player entirely. Saves me from having my bandwith go to utter shit when I start downloading the file, and the assinine loading time caused by the flash player.

[masterq]

I wouldn't mind the ads if they weren't embedded into the show as well as seperate. I think they should do what hulu does and just have ad breaks once in a while. These can even be put into the downloaded videos. The reason I don't like the ads in the shows themselves is because they seem to want to use the ads as content. In reality, people hate ads. When you use the ads as content in the show, people hate the content because it's an ad.

[speed]

I think that you're time is not so valuable that you can't sit through a harmless 15-second pre-roll ad.

As I said before, it's not the existence of ads for me so much as the ad itself and the obnoxious autoplay. I sometimes like to queue up three tabs in a row so that I know which to watch (downloading an episode I'm only going to watch once is pointless for me. I want to watch the shows now, not in 10-20 minutes when they download), and it's a pain in the ass to have to go to each tab and pause the video (especially when there are 4 not-quite-in-sync Adidas ads playing with that annoying bloody song). I know it artificially inflates your viewer count, but it's annoying as hell.

[derfbwh]

I agree with the opinion that Revision3 isn't a charity, it's a business. Also, I watch the HD version, so I don't even see any ads but the ads that are already in the episode. This doesn't bother me at all.

[leftkidney]

Is there a reason you don't download the WMV, MOV oe Xvid version they don't have the add at the begining?
As for me as much as I hate the advert, Rev3 need all the money they can get (there's a bit of a Credit Crunch (not a breakfast cereal) at the moment) so I can put up with it.
One thing I don't like is that sometimes the video starts playing BEFORE the add has finished, usually I only miss the sponsors at the begining but still I'm assuming this can be fixed.

I have a Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD and really it is the "best" display you can get now - with crt levels of black and a gray scale that is so flat it is only surpassed by some $30,000+ studio monitors - Robert Heron recommended this to me when I talked to him at CES 2009 and he was right - it is the "best" out there now

so I have problems watching anything other than HD things if I can help it

[kzap]

I rather pay a monthly fee like I used to. We didn't get the shows ad-free, we got diggnation earlier. I know they didn't like that system because diggnation was being torrented early anyway.

I think they should make a premium subscription to get all the shows or some of the shows ad free. I'd pay for that.
If it wasn't too much I would probably pay for that too, the problem would be people torrenting the add-free shows and that the downloaded version only have the sponsors in anyway, but for a small fee they could make an add-free streaming player for those who don't want to download the show, I for one am downloading the shows now (because less adds, no buffering and higher quality)

[masterq]

If it wasn't too much I would probably pay for that too, the problem would be people torrenting the add-free shows and that the downloaded version only have the sponsors in anyway, but for a small fee they could make an add-free streaming player for those who don't want to download the show, I for one am downloading the shows now (because less adds, no buffering and higher quality)

They could still put the ads in the video itself, just don't make it part of the show like it is now. Think of the way normal TV and hulu does it.

[klitzy]

They could still put the ads in the video itself, just don't make it part of the show like it is now. Think of the way normal TV and hulu does it.

Uh oh. And go back to traditional advertisements rather than sponsors? Yuck! The thing that made diggnation and hell, even revision3 so much more interesting is that they have never really implemented advertisements. They have sponsors and not just sponsors in the sense that they play a 15 clip and be done, they talk about them. And it doesn't really matter if they like them or not, Alex and Kevin are able to say "Hey, this is why we are here and able to do this. They like us and support us." They then go and talk a little about the product and if you look at someone like squarespace...who probably makes $10 for every $1 it spends on advertisement...it's hard to fight with revision3 advertising methods. I know for me personally, I have a netflix account, godaddy domains, tons of adagio tea, and soon to have a squarespace account all because of diggnation. That's successful marketing.

The thing is...people are too smart now and revision3 has adapted to this. No longer will someone think that they need a vacuum, watch a 15 second ad of a vacuum on revision3 and say "okay, I'll go get that one." They will do research, read reviews, etc. But....if one of their favorite shows has it as a sponsor, there is a new factor. That customer wants to support the show and the fact that the hosts are talking about it makes them that much more likely to do it. And that is totally disregarding the fact that the show may give it good reviews when talking about it.

Revision3's sponsorship scheme is genius and frankly, I believe we will see more and more turn in this direction.

[speed]

Klitzy, the problem is they go that too. The popup banners on the videos and the pre-roll are exactly that. It gets annoying as hell since the banner covers up content and the pre-rolls are stupid as hell.

[leftkidney]

They could still put the ads in the video itself, just don't make it part of the show like it is now. Think of the way normal TV and hulu does it.

NO! bad idea - the whole reason I use bittorrent and not hulu is because of the ads and it is in HD when I download it

the pay for early content was a bad idea IMO - the main problem is that the main audience for this probably grew up listening to Kevin on TSS when he was the dark tipper - or from The Broken with dan and they hacked things and did some not quite legal things

so most of us are used to getting things for free that everyone else has to pay for so yea while people like this also will pay for content that they like - many others wont so it becomes a problem

currently I have no way to pay for things online - I have no bank account no CC's no paypail - nothing but cash - so paying for something online isnt an option for me right now and thus I have to get it by other means - dont get me wrong, if I could put cash into my computer like a vending machine I would probably pay for a lot on things - but this isnt possible to do

[dirtyhat]

if I could put cash into my computer like a vending machine I would probably pay for a lot on things - but this isnt possible to do

Patent Pending ;)

[cryptic]

I wouldn't mind a Hulu-like ad inclusion system, especially if it keeps the ad time concise. I really don't need the hosts to endorse a product nor do the ads have to be related to show content. I either have a use for it or I don't. I have a Netflix account already, I don't drink tea, and I only need so many domain names. So with no pressing need for services, the faster the ads are done the better. And the hosts pitching product is taking too damn much time.

[sandlapper]

I rather pay a monthly fee like I used to. We didn't get the shows ad-free, we got diggnation earlier. I know they didn't like that system because diggnation was being torrented early anyway.

I think they should make a premium subscription to get all the shows or some of the shows ad free. I'd pay for that.

Granted, while you might do that, 98% of people wouldn't. They can't rely on subscriptions to make ends meet.

[Shadow125]

Unfortunately hate for ads doesn't make them go away. The ads are the show's sponsors so they have to show them. I'm pretty used to skipping in in video ads by now, and for the popup banners just dl the episode.

[masherscf]

Granted, while you might do that, 98% of people wouldn't. They can't rely on subscriptions to make ends meet.

Not only that, a fraction of non-subscribers actually sabotaged the subscription based business by offering illegals downloaded of the early and exclusive content. Imagine that, a bunch of Revision3 "fans" actively working to sabotage the company out of a misplaced sense of entitlement.

[darknessgp]

Not only that, a fraction of non-subscribers actually sabotaged the subscription based business by offering illegals downloaded of the early and exclusive content. Imagine that, a bunch of Revision3 "fans" actively working to sabotage the company out of a misplaced sense of entitlement.

technically it wasn't illegal. It's covered under the CC license. It was sabotage though.

As for dealing with the ads. I'd much rather have a hulu/cranky geeks style (even if it was part of the video) where it actually breaks away from the show. I'm not liking the host read the ads and make comments. Oddly enough, it sounds too scripted and planned and I'd much rather have a well produced commercial than Alex and Kevin stumbling through the copy.

[tokenuser]

technically it wasn't illegal. It's covered under the CC license. It was sabotage though.Opening a can of worms ...
but its a misconception that CC overrides an IP holders rights. Revision3 maintained its right to release a 'pre-release' version to subscribers, as is their rights under coyright law. CC covered the public release, ie once the 'pre-release for subscribers' period had expired the CC kicked in ... with the proviso that download numbers could be tracked.

The people grabbig the pre-release, and posting their own torrents for others to download effectively destroyed the ability to accurately track the downloads.

Thanks to a small group of individuals with entitlement issues, the perk of being a subscriber was effectively nullified.

[speed]

Unfortunately hate for ads doesn't make them go away. The ads are the show's sponsors so they have to show them. I'm pretty used to skipping in in video ads by now, and for the popup banners just dl the episode.

Why? I just want to watch the episode. I don't need an HD video for Diggnation, and I have no desire to wait 20 minutes for it to download first. When I decide I want to watch Diggnation, I just click play. It's the same thing with Netflix type services. Ok, it's much cheaper than Blockbuster or Rogers, but if I drive there and rent it, I can watch that movie the same day. It's not like it takes more bandwidth for them to stream the show to me than for my to dl the HD stream. Actually, it takes less, so why should I face more advertising?

And I know hate for ads doesn't make them go away, and I'm ok with ads themselves, but the current Adidas and Godaddy ads are so mind-numbingly stupid that there's no way I'll support their product. Every time I hear that song on the Adidas ad, I want to punch something. And Candice Michelle isn't that hot, she's actually kind of ugly and her voice is annoying as fuck, so quit trying to use sex to sell DOMAIN NAMES unless you can get someone sexy to do it.

I realize the last paragraph is essentially meaningless since I'm complaining to the wrong people, but I just had to get it out of my system and I don't feel like finding an email for their marketing departments.

[summx]

i think i'm done with diggnation. I watched about 10 minutes of the newest ep on 4/22 and the whole thing is a giant commercial. First for Kevin's friends tea shop, then Alex's iphone app + the regular sponsors.

im guessing someone's gonna come back with, "Your loss" or something.

[xfuuey]

i think i'm done with diggnation. I watched about 10 minutes of the newest ep on 4/22 and the whole thing is a giant commercial. First for Kevin's friends tea shop, then Alex's iphone app + the regular sponsors.

im guessing someone's gonna come back with, "Your loss" or something.

I agree with you man, but you know you'll probably still continue to watch :rolleyes:.
At least you didn't get on here & completely bash the show like some do when saying "i may be done watching". You gave a simple reason etc. So, IMO, you don't deserve the "your loss" comment

[jsc315]

The ads have never bothered me at all on any show. I just tune out and do something else when i hear them. I understand th reason and why they need em. as long as its no tmore then 3 ads per hour then i am fine with that.

[skoles]

The ads for the full length shows haven't bothered me. Like others have said, the show is free right now. Plus the hosts sometimes make them entertaining when done off the cuff.

The problem I have voiced is with the TZ Daily podcasts and ads. It's a 1m 30s podcast that has 1/3 of that taken up by GoDaddy plugs. A 3-5 second ad is sufficient for those.