The elephant-sized ad in the room
By Ryan Block 
posted Nov 20th 2007 5:41PM
posted Nov 20th 2007 5:41PM
We hear that the experimental ad might be causing some issues, though, specifically audio problems, browser crashes, or might be especially taxing on some people's computers. We've been informed that the appropriate ad people have been dispatched and are trying to fix the issue for everyone. But we know that doesn't help you in the here and now, so if you're having problems with the ads you might try turning off Flash. (For your convenience we've posted a few ways to do that after the break.) In the mean time feel free to vent in comments -- we're totally here for you.
Switching off Flash in your browser
IE is kind of complicated. Everyone says use IE7Pro, so that probably is the tool you want to use. (We've also seen a couple of solutions, but nothing else turn-key.)
For Firefox we suggest Flashblock. You can also use AdBlock, but if you do that all the other ads on Engadget won't load, and if enough people turn off all the ads then Engadget ceases to exist. So, you know, do what you think is right.
If you're using Safari try out SafariPlus.
And our personal fave, Opera, makes things pretty simple. You can add an enable / disable plugins check box to your toolbar, or you can go to preferences -> advanced -> content -> (uncheck) enable plugins.
Oh, and there's also a CSS hack or two to do this as well. Let us know if we forgot anything in comments!
Haha, I actually didnt notice it... Adblock, thank you very much.
What are these Ads you speak of? My engadge page looks like this:
http://www.eternal-champions.com/images/engadget_adfree.jpg
And I can "control and customize" it on a per site basis using ANY (thats right ANY) browser! So ask me what I am using and where it can be had ;^)...
Hint here:
http://www.eternal-champions.com/images/AzPro.jpg
You know I don't mind seeing adverts on pages, I know that the big E makes its money from said ads. I do however draw the line at having to listen to, manually close, stop or pause, move or close from OVER TOP my text or otherwise have ads interrupt my reading of said articles, so I finally went and got adblock for my FF.
Ads like these are what made me block ALL ads on Engadget.
I like supporting you guys, but I am not going to have my computer invaded by process hogging flash adverts. Period.
Man I ve been using Macs for years and Ads like this make me sick.
I do applaud you for informing people how to take it off though.
Apple should be grateful to you guys for allowing them to advertise not the other way around.
After all this is Engadget.com not Apple.com
Also It's to bad Apple turned so Corporate. I remember when they used to be the "Peoples" comapany based out of California.
They're still in California but now they're more LA than SF.
"Haha, I actually didnt notice it... Adblock, thank you very much."
I came here to say exactly this. so... "exactly this".
As much as i love the idea of ad-free websites etc, i appreciate that the guys have to create a revenue stream somehow - and i much prefer this to paying a subscription fee.
It's not like we're talking ads that float around over the text, and we're not talking about popups.It's an ad in the corner without sound. If you're not interested, then just leave it.
It really isn't that much of an issue.
Nathan, we hear you and feel exactly the same way. We've been working a lot behind the scenes to make things better lately, but everyone's input will only the case. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I agree with Nathan on this one. This huge ad is f***ing up my browser screen in a big way, the flash ramps up my cpu and turns my laptop fan on high, and slows down the browsing of the site. I'll be using adblock now, sorry guys but this crosses the line.
Well put, Nathan. I have Adblock (with updater) installed and am pretty much never bothered by ads. While IE and Safari might have some ability to block ads built into them to more or less of an extent, the beauty and simplicity of always going to a site without ads cannot be understated. Thank you FF and Adblock.
As far as the particular offending content, I'm starting to think that Engadget is actually a front for Apple computers, as 1 out of 10 stories is about a Mac product, Steve Jobs, a clone of a Mac product, etc. If there is one thing to hate about Apple (that is, beyond the smugly moronic Apple Geniuses or their grotesquely overpriced hardware), it's their advertising machine.
Yeah, I don't do the whole "flash" thing, I like to keep things simple.
Some days I just open a shell and run Links to browse the web in a command line.
Same here, Adblock saves the day again!
P.S. That ad is ridiculously obnoxiously annoying, and snarky. Let's set some higher standards than the usual Mac OS pissing matches I have to endure while I find the skip button on my Tivo remote.
> Randavance @ Nov 20th 2007 11:40PM
>
> Some days I just open a shell and run Links to browse the web in a command line.
That is hands down the stupidest comment I've read on here in a long time. I had to read it again in *Lynx* just to make sure it was as stupid as I thought it was.
The advert is fairly rubbish. Its got a very condescending message, so basically if you're on XP you'll find it immensely annoying, and if you're on Vista you'll laugh because its so inaccurate, and if you're on OSX already you'll think its hilarious.
Also, negative advertising is the lowest common denominator, it suggests to me that Apple are getting rather desparate for new customers (in the computing field)
Portable Firefox without the stupid FLASH plugin that always hose my lowly K7 CPU...
What about if you're using safari for pc? Reply plwase.
What about safari on PC. I'm using ie7 but I wanna just know if there is anything for safari PC
Install privoxy.
Make it so it doesn't play automatically in tabbed browser windows. I was in another window in Firefox and an Apple ad came on from this window, very weird.
Yeah, kinda noticed how that was taking up half my screen, begone!
Ha ha, I love adblock so much.
Yeah, I love adBlocker a lot too. It's pretty handy.
I have IE7 Pro, and it comes with adBlocker included. It works very well.
IE7 Pro also does inline spell check, extra scripts, Tab History, and many other must-need features.
EVERY IE7 user needs this. It's free and it hasn't effected my computer badly at all.
http://ie7pro.com/
In Opera you dont have to disable plugins or anything, just right click on an empty part of the page and click on 'Block Content' you can then block out specific ads/bits of the site.
@michael: Adblock and AdBlocker are not the same thing. Adblock is for Firefox (Which is vatly superior) and AdBlocker is for IE (Haha... Lame.)
@Pi.phage:
"Adblock is for Firefox (Which is vatly superior) and AdBlocker is for IE (Haha... Lame.)"
Anything to prove that statement?
adBlocker works for me. I don't even notice an ad. So exactly how is AdBlock 'superior'? Can you give me any proof of this?
Use IE 7 Pro for disabling FLASH. Period. http://www.ie7pro.com/
BTW. it is FREE!
if Engadget doesn't know this......these dudes are a JOKE.
We're a joke because, as editors of an ad-supported site, we don't block the ads of other sites? Right. Sorry, we'll try to be more hypocritical next time.
Go Ryan!!!
The best way to support these ad blocking programs is to put annoying, huge, and noisy ads on the top of your page. Engadget, you asked for it.
FYI, I used to click on several of the banner ads to support you guys, most notoriously the AX ads.
@ Mr. Block
IE7 Pro add more features to IE 7 than just Flash blocking.
Anyway. Later and happy thanksgiving.
@ Nathan:
And you pretend to be an authority on technology, yet you still use IE? Ryan's got you here...
If you don't agree with what he says, start your own tech blog. Maybe you won't ignore a large portion of the tech world then.
@Tom:
Now I don't want to be an obnoxious fanboy-sounding person, but when you said:
"yet you still use IE"
That's kind of like an insult you know. People have their preferences.
I don't want Firefox - it's a slow-down for me, and I'm not pleased that Google code is embedded in my browser. Not happy at all. That's just me.
IE7 works for me and many people. IE7 is NOT the same as the past browsers. OK? Get that straight. IE7 happens to be very secure (said by many news sources, and I never had anything bad come through), has just as many free add-ons, and it does what I need it to do.
In fact, IE7 does the best RSS feeds, and does more with tabs than the current Firefox. Just had to add that too.
So the point is, is that people have preferences.
Stop referring IE7 as the insecure IE6 with a new name. It's not the same.
Brilliant! That works great! No more smarmy, ignorant Apple ad! Thank God!
Now, if I could just get this for my TV...
Did not even notice it to be honest..
my frustration......
aaaaarrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
vented out
ok ....i feeel much better
hope I don't see the add again
Anybody got a screenshot of what this looks like? I'm not seeing it and I'm curious.
If anyone needed a reason to install ad blocking software or use a browser that includes one (Opera is my preference), this might be a good one.
I shouldn't have to turn off flash either, but for my "convenience," instead of putting up methods of disabling flash, how about you remove the flash ads completely?
...and yes, the huge ad does imply that you are on Steve Jobs & Apple's payroll.
Did the "We know what some of you are thinking, and we want to remind everyone that the Engadget editorial team does not sell ads nor have any influence on ad deals. In the biz we call it the separation of church and state (advertising and editorial), and it's essential in maintaining editorial integrity." escape your notice?
No it didn't, it seems more like they are trying to deny their guilt, even if their actions show otherwise.
deny their guilt? I know this is crazy, but maybe its because they're not guilty? An astounding concept, I know. Denying guilt does not equal guilty. They clearly said they don't choose the ads that run. Thats how many editorial sites are run, they help insure no conflict of interest situations arise. But live on in paranoia buddy. I'm sure the world is brighter with the light reflecting off your tin hat...
Based on the previous coverage and comments by those visiting Engadget, there may be a very different consensus, buddy.
"...and yes, the huge ad does imply that you are on Steve Jobs & Apple's payroll"
Well, unfortunately we weren't talking about previous coverage or comments, we're talking about the stupid, uninformed thing you said during this coverage, in these comments. Oh, but I'm sure it was a single slip-up in your otherwise pristine track-record of informative, well-reasoned and accurate comments.
Fortunately, I was, it's unfortunate if you weren't. ...and thank you for reading through all my comments.
i turned off adblock just to see what this was all about.
pretty neat ad...but now i've turned adblock back on.
Oh yeah .....keep it off for a bit ......and see how the Apple ad takes control of your browser .......Haaaaaaaaaa
I turned off adblock as well to see what the commotion was about. I found it funny, just like all the rest of the Apple ads. Though I don't think they are very effective as I am, and probably always will be a Windows user (well that is until I play around with Ubuntu some more).
Scooter, the clients of engadget aren't the readers, they're the ad guys who pay them for placing their adverts on a high-traffic website. Secondly, their PR department said it's a test, they might actually be telling the truth (yes the chances are pretty low, but whatever...). Furthermore, I'm not quite sure that Ryan and the rest are the guys who take direct care of the layout, especially not on a day-to-day basis...
feel free to vet in comments
I take it I wasn't the only one who compained about this! It had been annoying me all day, but this article came up about 30 mins after I sent you guys a message lol
But yeah, I only have issued when I open an article in a new tab. The ad starts looping and echoing.
Same exact thing happened to me. Ad started looping and doing wierd things. I finally just turned off my speakers. It only happened once and I'm not sure exactly why. I first saw it this morning but totally missed the banner at the top which was part of the ad. That was pretty funny once I noticed it...
yeah, the looping thing is weird - I fail to see the point of an ad if it doesn't work properly. Way to go, Apple.
Engadget ownership (AOL) seems to have neutered the editorial team: in any decent newsroom (e.g. newspapers) editors call the shots and can remove ads if needed.
Ryan, this is no good: if your customers come first you would remove the ad till it was fixed. Rule #1, don't try to get the customer to change its behaviour.
As it stands, you have plainly told us that apple comes first and we should work around it. I hear you.
There are ads on Engadget?!
Yes , you 80286
why would you call me a really old Intel processor?
cause you're sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow?
hahaha you guys never cease to amaze me :D
I lol'd HARD.
Not just a big ad.
But it played with sound - despite not pressing the play with sound and pressing either the pause or sound button didn't stop it.
I also that it was etiquette to put a Close button on big ads
only if they cover something
Its been running since morning ,please ...atleast put in a different ad
I think it's a cool ad. Big, yes, but the concept is cool--unless you like Microsoft, in which case it's probably really annoying.
the ad itself is not a problem... but what it does to your browser. try to open a couple articles from engadget on multiple taps and then tell me how great the ad is!
this is not a mac vs win deal. it is about annoying ads. this one just happens to be from apple.
Great ad. I enjoyed it.
Me too! I thought it was an entertaining, funny ad. I didn't get it at first, because the top part was out of the frame for me, but then I suddenly noticed the blinking lights. Inventive and cool in my opinion.
Ditto for me. First time I saw it I had already scrolled down slightly and didn't see the banner. I still thought it was kind of cute and funny but was left thinking "what the heck was he trying to trigger?"
@ Magnulus
Yeah, I didn't notice at first either...
...but it's not like it's going to make me switch from Vista.
I think its one of the best ads Apple has done in this 'series' of Mac vs PC. It hasn't slowed my browser or gotten in the way of reading anything. Apple was smart to put an ad on this site - Im sure they pay someone to roam the net and look for blogs where lots of Microsoft fans hang out and place an ad there. Give them credit for creating an innovative ad! Its obviously getting a huge reaction and I'm sure thats what Team Cupertino is looking for.
More like what Team Chiat/Day had in mind.
Ryan, this is not a problem for me since I had to start blocking ads a few weeks ago. With up to 18 ads on your page at a given time, the site was taking forever to load, and then would scroll slowly. I found I just couldn't visit the site anymore. Now I can happily read your content again. While I know that you make your money through the advertisement, this might be a case where greed is not good. Maybe scale back your ads a bit and keep your site usable for all of your readers, rather than force some of us to block the ads altogether.
Mmm... privoxy ... tastes good.
wow, you guys didn't know about ie7pro.com ?
Well for anyone who can't see the ad, it's an Apple Vs PC one with the two blokes.
Did anyone else not even notice they were looking at the sign which is another advert along the top aswell? lol.
First time i saw it i just thought wat the hell are they looking at lol. Still pretty funny tho "dont GIVE UP ON VISTA" very subtle joke by the Apple team... NOT!
Yeah but where is the Apple commercial where they tell you that they want $150 from you everytime their OS goes up .1 in a Version number. It can get costly considering it's every 6 months and stuff that should work on older versions of OSX like Safari don't. Yet I don't see that commercial.
Wow, a "not joke"
@DonatoM3 6 Months? I believe it was 2.5 years since the last update. Just because Windows uses only name designations and not version numbers in their marketing doesn't necessarily make it a bigger upgrade. Apple uses names as well (Tiger, Leopard), so if that helps you, feel free to ignore the numbers, and find something else apple-related to bash and get your jollys.
@DonatoM3
do you even know what you are talking about?
@Donato
So...do you not buy OS upgrades from Microsoft? Or is the $300 price tag ok because it took 5 years for them to release?
m'kay, I was gonna leave DonatoM3 alone, but brendan was unnecessarily downvoted, so i figured i'd chime in. here goes:
brendan was absolutely correct when he said that the .1 version number increase is essentially a non-issue. Why? Because, dear children, if we take a look at Windows 2000, we notice that it is Microsoft Windows (NT) Version 5.0. Additionally, Windows XP is NT 5.1, and the 64-bit version is NT 5.2. Coincidentally, Windows Vista is labeled as NT 6.0, but the newly-released Windows Home Server, which is *very* Vista-esque, is recorded to be built on NT 5.2, despite its lack of 64-bit processing.
Furthermore, DonatoM3 mentioned the $150 price tag of new Apple operating systems (which is actually $129, btw). Please explain to me how this is worse than the $199 price tag on the lowliest of Vista options, Home Basic. During the course of your explanation, please keep in mind that Apple's upgrade requires lower specs, and it does not cripple the most sought-after features of the new OS. I'm really ticked off @ Microsoft right now. They place these insane requirements on the best new features, and hike the price up on versions -- *update* (usually cheaper) versions -- that do include what people want. Needless to say, I'm still running XP on all my machines, but that's beside the point. Of course, this is nothing new for Microsoft. They routinely try to force the consumers into footing their R&D bills, despite the multiple billions they already own. But I digress...
All that to say basically this: Don't compare Apple's OS versioning scheme to Microsoft's. They're two separate companies with two very different agendas (and technological bases, OS X being UNIX-based and all), and as such, should not have their softwares' version numbers compared. I mean, would you try to compare WMP11 and iTunes 7 based on the current build/version number(s)?
m'kay, I was gonna leave DonatoM3 alone, but brendan was unnecessarily downvoted, so i figured i'd chime in. here goes:
brendan was absolutely correct when he said that the .1 version number increase is essentially a non-issue. Why? Because, dear children, if we take a look at Windows 2000, we notice that it is Microsoft Windows (NT) Version 5.0. Additionally, Windows XP is NT 5.1, and the 64-bit version is NT 5.2. Coincidentally, Windows Vista is labeled as NT 6.0, but the newly-released Windows Home Server, which is *very* Vista-esque, is recorded to be built on NT 5.2, despite its lack of 64-bit processing.
Furthermore, DonatoM3 mentioned the $150 price tag of new Apple operating systems (which is actually $129, btw). Please explain to me how this is worse than the $199 price tag on the lowliest of Vista options, Home Basic. During the course of your explanation, please keep in mind that Apple's upgrade requires lower specs, and it does not cripple the most sought-after features of the new OS. I'm really ticked off @ Microsoft right now. They place these insane requirements on the best new features, and hike the price up on versions -- *update* (usually cheaper) versions -- that do include what people want. Needless to say, I'm still running XP on all my machines, but that's beside the point. Of course, this is nothing new for Microsoft. They routinely try to force the consumers into footing their R&D bills, despite the multiple billions they already own. But I digress...
All that to say basically this: Don't compare Apple's OS versioning scheme to Microsoft's. They're two separate companies with two very different agendas (and technological bases, OS X being UNIX-based and all), and as such, should not have their softwares' version numbers compared. I mean, would you try to compare WMP11 and iTunes 7 based on the current build/version number(s)?
sorry for the double post, website was being glitchy.
also, i see that brendan's comment is no longer "Lowest Ranked"
In Safari, go to preferences -> security -> uncheck "Enable plug-ins".
That'll do the trick.
love apple and all of the get a mac ads but i think this one is the worst....
don't mind the big ads at the top at all...
JUST 55 DAYS 18 HOURS 1 MIN 2 SECONDS TILL MACWORLD 2008!!
> ...or might be especially taxing on some people's computers...
Yeah, like bringing my 3.4GHz P4 to its knees totally until I clicked the little "pause" control on the bottom right of the ad. Sheesh.
Using Firefox, no other windows open.
Then again, Engadget is THE hardest-hitting site I visit - flash EVERYWHERE on its pages.
It was CRASHING my Ubuntu box (600MHz PIII) until I figured out that Ubuntu was automagically trying to readjust CPU speed (on a machine that the CPU speed was not auto-adjustable).
Double sheesh.
If you use Firefox to view Engadget, edit your userContent.css file (might have to create it in the Data\profile\chrome folder and add:
/* Begin My-Engadget */
#container #wrapper { padding-right: 8px !important; }
#container #wrapper #wrapper2 #subcontent, body div.topleader, #bp3, #grid { display:none !important; }
/* End My-Engadget */
I can't read Engadget any other way.
It fucks up when the banner isn't the correct one.
I run firefox and adblock so I don't even know what you're talking about! lol
Turn off flash!?
Turn off FLASH!!!!?
Yeah, like I don't want to watch YouTube anymore.
Uh huh.
I'd be willing to bet a lot of your users are going to download Adblock programs for the first time and continue to use them from now on as a result of this ridiculous advertisement. I just did.
Please forward all of these comments to your advertising department for future reference.
I just downloaded IE7Pro.
Consider my life changed.
I am being serious too.
I just downloaded IE7Pro.
Consider my life changed.
I am being serious too.
I like the ad, it's clever
people with problems should give up their shit boxes for something that can at least render a website with a simple flash video in it.
a mac maybe?
that ad kills my mac. Flash support is pretty sucky on OS X, and the only reason you don't notice it on Mactels, is that the CPU's are fast. G4's aren't as powerful and that thing kills it.
most the people complaining say it kills safari or firefox on their mac. the ad is ugly and annoying, but ie7 on vista seems to handle it fine
after tabbing 6 articles on engadget, it killed safari and firefox on my macbook core2duo 2.0Ghz with 2GB of ram.
Love the ads. Very creative and interesting and beats the hell out of other ads that regularly appear on the site. http://mashable.com/2007/06/15/lifelock-founder-resigns/
Well, I think you know what the fans think!
The guy in the store said I wouldn't see those ads any more if I bought a mac, but I think he was lying...
Funny thing, the other site that crashes my mac is Apple's support page...
HAHAHA WOW JUST RELOADED THE PAGE AND JUST REALIZED THE VISTA SIGN AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE....WOW I GUESS IT HADN'T LOADED OR I MAY HAVE BEEN JUST A BIT TOO FAR DOWN ON THE PAGE TO REALIZE... ANYWAY THE AD NOW MAKES MORE SENSE TO ME AND IT'S NOT AS BAD AS I THOUGHT IT WAS...INFACT I ACTUALLY LIKE IT!
Ow, my virtual ears...
You see, this is why campaigns such as "Ban the CapsLock key" exist!
Ban the ignorant CapsLock user, i say!
Wow, I guess smug really is spelt 'APPLE' these days!
Seriously, those adverts are bloody annoying.