When did iMore stop being an Apple site?

[anony_mouse]

I skipped this thread as many of the posters seemed to deliberately miss the obvious point that someone has to pay for the content on this site. If you are blocking the advertisements on an ad-supported site like this one, you are taking without contributing (you might argue that moderators etc are a special case, but it's hard to believe that everyone here is a moderator).

Anyway I came back to this thread to tell you that when I use this site, I now see messages asking me to disable my ad blocker. Apparently ad-blockers make the site's owners sad (and persumably hungry). This is somewhat ironic as I don't use an ad-blocker, but seems like a useful step in making people think about what they do.

 

[Rob Phillips]

After viewing this thread for a while....I think I am going to weigh in.

I'll admit, I'm not much of an Apple fan, but to be fair, Apple doesn't have newsworthy things that happen all year. They have, 2 major keynotes, as I recall. It's hard for iMore to fill in the remaining weeks with what's left. By default, they HAVE to cover other things. We can somwhat compare them to the other MoNa sites. AC sometimes has these kind of articles, and there are way more devices being thrown about. WC can have the benefit of reporting on hardware and games. I'm sure there is still days where I'll fitting content is published.

Overall, would it be nice if all the blog talked about was Apple? Sure. Is that realistic or pragmatic? Not really.

I kind of agree with you but iMore (and before that, TiPb) existed for a very long time as an Apple-only site. Today there are still numerous other blogs and podcasts whose content is 100% Apple and they don’t seem to be having any trouble finding things to talk about. What happened with iMore is the editorial staff decided to do a few quick Pokémon Go write ups and guides when the game was first released and site traffic (read “ad revenue”) shot through the roof. Since then iMore has basically turned into a dumping ground for anything that doesn’t fit on the other sites. They also appear to not really care what the content is as long as they can make a buck off of it. Here are a few headlines from the past week or so:

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery: Beginner’s Guide
Improve your mobile browsing experience with 1Blocker X for iOS (I can’t even begin to explain the irony here)
Kryptonite bike locks are on sale, with prices starting at $19
Today only, these Black + Decker compact hand vacuums are down to just $20

Yes, there are plenty of Apple-related headlines as well but I’d say they only account for maybe half of the total. Of that half, a good percentage are how-to articles and beginner’s guides like the Harry Potter one mentioned above.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I kind of agree with you but iMore (and before that, TiPb) existed for a very long time as an Apple-only site. Today there are still numerous other blogs and podcasts whose content is 100% Apple and they don’t seem to be having any trouble finding things to talk about. What happened with iMore is the editorial staff decided to do a few quick Pokémon Go write ups and guides when the game was first released and site traffic (read “ad revenue”) shot through the roof. Since then iMore has basically turned into a dumping ground for anything that doesn’t fit on the other sites. They also appear to not really care what the content is as long as they can make a buck off of it. Here are a few headlines from the past week or so:

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery: Beginner’s Guide
Improve your mobile browsing experience with 1Blocker X for iOS (I can’t even begin to explain the irony here)
Kryptonite bike locks are on sale, with prices starting at $19
Today only, these Black + Decker compact hand vacuums are down to just $20

Yes, there are plenty of Apple-related headlines as well but I’d say they only account for maybe half of the total. Of that half, a good percentage are how-to articles and beginner’s guides like the Harry Potter one mentioned above.

I can easily agree that there are articles that shouldn't have been green lighted for publication. AC has those too. Your examples of bike locks and hand vacs are two that I agree with that should not be there.

Let's take an example from AC....Say an article for Chrome comes up. I can get that because Chrome is on every Android device, not to mention Chrome OS which AC also covers. That is an article I fully expect to see on AC. It's this kind of article that would be the equivalent on iMore that I was referring to.

 

[metllicamilitia]

I just want to pipe in about the bike lock, hand drill, etc. type posts. Those are usually Thrifter articles. I’m ok with that since Thrifter is MoNa and it’s a way for them to share Thrifter links to accrue more capital which if effective could reduce or eventually remove the ads everyone so despises.

 

[Annie_M]

I just want to pipe in about the bike lock, hand drill, etc. type posts. Those are usually Thrifter articles. I’m ok with that since Thrifter is MoNa and it’s a way for them to share Thrifter links to accrue more capital which if effective could reduce or eventually remove the ads everyone so despises.

Agree 100%

 

[Rob Phillips]

I just want to pipe in about the bike lock, hand drill, etc. type posts. Those are usually Thrifter articles. I’m ok with that since Thrifter is MoNa and it’s a way for them to share Thrifter links to accrue more capital which if effective could reduce or eventually remove the ads everyone so despises.

I can see that point of view but it’s already a Thrifter article; there doesn’t need to be an iMore article about a Thrifter article about something on sale. We’re already inundated with Thrifter ads, including the in-line ads they’ve injected into the middle of threads. I personally think it’s too much.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I can see that point of view but it’s already a Thrifter article; there doesn’t need to be an iMore article about a Thrifter article about something on sale. We’re already inundated with Thrifter ads, including the in-line ads they’ve injected into the middle of threads. I personally think it’s too much.

I believe they're innundating all the various sites such as iMore and AC with those Thrifter ads, since the majority of members don't bother reading or following Thrifter. I don't. I either have no use for the stuff Thrifter hawks or can get whatever I want at Amazon Prime.

 

[Just_Me_D]

I would prefer that they display the ads only at the blog sites and make the forums ad-free.

 

[Trees]

I'd prefer to see less non-news in the main site. Feels like a diluted experience. Some suggestions below that may help.

Just above where I am now typing this, there's a Thrifter box announcing "Today's 12 Best Tech Deals". Maybe put that banner on the main site, and people can click it if they want. Below this input box is the "You May Like" "Sponsored Links by Taboola" section, so could also put the Thrifter banner there to help consolidate ads in one place. Then add the small triangle option to "show/hide News" in the forum. Where "News" is not news, but more advertisements. Would help reduce the non-news articles for those who don't want to see them scattered about or taking up the right screen, clean up and declutter the main site, all the while while still getting the advertisement for Thrifter out there.

Appreciate that revenue is required, so don't fault the site owner for trying to generate it. Not an easy answer here perhaps.

 

[msm0511]

Appreciate that revenue is required, so don't fault the site owner for trying to generate it. Not an easy answer here perhaps.

I agree that the MoNa sites have to make money to stay afloat. However, of all the websites I visit MoNa ones are the worst. I paused blocking, reloaded, and counted all the trackers, ads, social network stuff, etc. and it showed 40 different items. That's just too much. I whitelist sites that I like that do non-obtrusive advertising. I don't mind seeing an ad here and there that doesn't take over the entire site.

 

[Golfdriver97]

To say this is a fine line to walk is almost an inadequate way of putting it....more like walking on a knife's blade. People don't want to see ads, and I get that point of view. Consumers see so many ads, I am curious if they even register anymore. I mean, how many of us can say when the last time we saw an ad that drove us to buy 'insert item x here'? I did have an ad that did do that....but it was so long ago, that I can't remember the ad or what it was for.

The other side of the knife's blade is this: a lot of forum members gave a resounding no to a subscription poll I posted on AC a while back. So this is the crux of the matter: people don't want ads, but don't want to help offset the costs to keep everything up and running. And I will admit, it's hard to go one full way or the other.

I honestly wouldn't mind kicking in a buck or two a month. For as much time as I spend on the forums, it would be well spent.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Consumers see so many ads, I am curious if they even register anymore. I mean, how many of us can say when the last time we saw an ad that drove us to buy 'insert item x here'?

I’ve been using the internet as a part of my daily life for 23 years now. I have never, ever bought an item or subscribed to any service by clicking on an ad. I say this with 100% certainty. I am immune to advertising of all forms nowadays.

 

[Just_Me_D]

I’ve been using the internet as a part of my daily life for 23 years now. I have never, ever bought an item or subscribed to any service by clicking on an ad. I say this with 100% certainty. I am immune to advertising of all forms nowadays.

Same here.

 

[anon(10092459)]

i definitely have purchased more than one item from an ad in my history of being on the internet. I don't think it's ever been an impulse purchase, but I have clicked on an ad to take me to a purchase that I've been considering for some time.

 

[robertk328]

I just want to pipe in about the bike lock, hand drill, etc. type posts. Those are usually Thrifter articles. I’m ok with that since Thrifter is MoNa and it’s a way for them to share Thrifter links to accrue more capital which if effective could reduce or eventually remove the ads everyone so despises.

Reduce or remove? Doubt it if they're bringing revenue too. Who's going to turn down $$? Would you turn down more money from your employer?

iMore is more of the "More" than the "i" anymore.

 

[pkcable]

Advertising is an interesting business. I don't think they necessarily need us to click all the time. A big part of advertising is about the visibility of your products, and a hope that when you DO buy you'll remember the ad, OR the name of the product. I went to business college in the 90ies (University of Pennsylvania) and they were just starting to teach us about a new trend in advertising for TV commercials. You see they realized that most folks were zapping through the commercials at fast forward speed on their VCRs, etc, and that they only had your eyes for about 5 seconds, IF that. So they started a trend of making sure the product name and logo featured prominently in the ad and SOMETIMES they even keep the logo on the screen the WHOLE commercial so you saw it no matter what. I think that same principle applies here, they KNOW we don't click and that we try to ignore, BUT your eye DOES see the logo.

 

[msm0511]

Advertising is an interesting business. I don't think they necessarily need us to click all the time. A big part of advertising is about the visibility of your products, and a hope that when you DO buy you'll remember the ad, OR the name of the product. I went to business college in the 90ies (University of Pennsylvania) and they were just starting to teach us about a new trend in advertising for TV commercials. You see they realized that most folks were zapping through the commercials at fast forward speed on their VCRs, etc, and that they only had your eyes for about 5 seconds, IF that. So they started a trend of making sure the product name and logo featured prominently in the ad and SOMETIMES they even keep the logo on the screen the WHOLE commercial so you saw it no matter what. I think that same principle applies here, they KNOW we don't click and that we try to ignore, BUT your eye DOES see the logo.

I find that really interesting. I never watch live tv. I DVR every show I watch, and watch after so I don't have to deal with commercials. I wonder if even though I FFWD through all the commercials, if I subliminally still get the overall gist of the commercial even though I don't actually sit through it.

 

[anon(10092459)]

Advertising is an interesting business. I don't think they necessarily need us to click all the time. A big part of advertising is about the visibility of your products, and a hope that when you DO buy you'll remember the ad, OR the name of the product. I went to business college in the 90ies (University of Pennsylvania) and they were just starting to teach us about a new trend in advertising for TV commercials. You see they realized that most folks were zapping through the commercials at fast forward speed on their VCRs, etc, and that they only had your eyes for about 5 seconds, IF that. So they started a trend of making sure the product name and logo featured prominently in the ad and SOMETIMES they even keep the logo on the screen the WHOLE commercial so you saw it no matter what. I think that same principle applies here, they KNOW we don't click and that we try to ignore, BUT your eye DOES see the logo.

I can surely see that and agree with the post. I think most advertising is really to keep the name/brand/product top of mind. So FFWing through commercials or just thumbing through a magazine is enough to catch the eye.

I mean, think about it, the back cover of any magazine is one of the more expensive spaces to place an ad. Why is that? People don't read the back cover, right? However, when tossed on a table, nightstand or in your Dr's office face down, it's what people will see/glance at the most.

 

[ItnStln]

Advertising is an interesting business. I don't think they necessarily need us to click all the time. A big part of advertising is about the visibility of your products, and a hope that when you DO buy you'll remember the ad, OR the name of the product. I went to business college in the 90ies (University of Pennsylvania) and they were just starting to teach us about a new trend in advertising for TV commercials. You see they realized that most folks were zapping through the commercials at fast forward speed on their VCRs, etc, and that they only had your eyes for about 5 seconds, IF that. So they started a trend of making sure the product name and logo featured prominently in the ad and SOMETIMES they even keep the logo on the screen the WHOLE commercial so you saw it no matter what. I think that same principle applies here, they KNOW we don't click and that we try to ignore, BUT your eye DOES see the logo.

That actually makes sense!

 

[ItnStln]

Who are some of the iMore and MoNa sponsors? I try and make purchases from companies who sponsor the sites I frequent and just realized I don't do that for iMore and MoNa.