New Footer Text About Link Purchases

[bigballofyarn]

Forum URL: bigballofyarn.proboards.com


Text appeared at the bottom of my forum within the past hour.

"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community."

Why is it there? It looks spammy.  We have ad-free viewing and removed all unnecessary text. This wasn't there before.

Purchase what, and through what links?




Edit:

Even better. Now it bolded itself.

[Kami]

FWIW I checked across my forums and this appears to be a universal push; I am presuming that this refers to forum ads but:

1. if so, it should be disable-able in adfree settings
2. for forums without adfree, it needs to be reworded. this looks like the actual forum community earns a commission, when the money is going to PB/VS.

I am not super thrilled by this addition and quiet rollout, for whatever it's worth, especially in light of the most recent announcement in v6. 

[bigballofyarn]

Yes, ideally this would be removable since my forum is paying for ad-free viewing.

I agree with you that this needs to be reworded on forums without ad-free viewing.

[dustys]

How to get rid of it because people scare to click threads

[bigballofyarn]

dustys,

I cannot speak with any certainty, but I speculate that if you are not paying for ad-free viewing on your forum, you may not be able to remove that line of text. I can't even remove it right now WITH ad-free viewing.

[dustys]

Thanks did it just get bigger on your forum too

[bigballofyarn]

Yup. I updated my topic. It's hideous and bold now.

[Michael]

Hello Everyone!

The disclosure text should now be removed from your forum(s).

This change was made service-wide but has now been reverted on ProBoards forums. For anyone wondering, this was a change to the FTC disclosure links you already see in the footer of every forum (regardless of ad-free status).

We will be revisiting this in the near future and plan to update you in the Development Blog. We will ensure that any disclosures we include will be worded appropriately within the context of the ProBoards community.

Thank you!

[bigballofyarn]

Michael,

I appreciate you and I thank you. I clicked around my forum and no longer see that line of text. If/when this revisited, I do hope that the final outcome is NOT an entire line of text at the bottom of my forum. Should you desire input on more appropriate wording, please let me know.

[Kami]

Feb 27, 2023 12:20:26 GMT -8 Michael said:

Hello Everyone!

The disclosure text should now be removed from your forum(s).

This change was made service-wide but has now been reverted on ProBoards forums. For anyone wondering, this was a change to the FTC disclosure links you already see in the footer of every forum (regardless of ad-free status).

We will be revisiting this in the near future and plan to update you in the Development Blog. We will ensure that any disclosures we include will be worded appropriately within the context of the ProBoards community.

Thank you!

Thanks for the info! For whatever it's worth it's not the disclosure itself that's the issue, it's how it's being presented. Hopefully the revisit keeps in mind that PB forums, unlike some other VS platforms, are operated by hobbyists and folks who don't make a cent from their communities.

[bigballofyarn]

Kami,

The presentation is a big deal. I wouldn't mind another one to two word link next to "Report Abuse." I don't monetize at all from my forum. People who were not familiar with ProBoards used to think I made money from the ads. The "we" and "our" in the sentence a few of us saw implied to me that the forum owner would monetize from a sale. Further, I personally would not encourage anyone to click on an ad on any website. I don't want the wording to make to seem like I personally encouraged anyone to click on and purchase something.

[Michael]

Feb 27, 2023 12:29:51 GMT -8 Kami said:

Feb 27, 2023 12:20:26 GMT -8 Michael said:

Hello Everyone!

The disclosure text should now be removed from your forum(s).

This change was made service-wide but has now been reverted on ProBoards forums. For anyone wondering, this was a change to the FTC disclosure links you already see in the footer of every forum (regardless of ad-free status).

We will be revisiting this in the near future and plan to update you in the Development Blog. We will ensure that any disclosures we include will be worded appropriately within the context of the ProBoards community.

Thank you!

Thanks for the info! For whatever it's worth it's not the disclosure itself that's the issue, it's how it's being presented. Hopefully the revisit keeps in mind that PB forums, unlike some other VS platforms, are operated by hobbyists and folks who don't make a cent from their communities.

This is exactly the "context" I was referring to in my post! (I figure you know that but just so it's clear for others Kami!)

[bigballofyarn]

Michael,

I know ProBoards never has any malicious intent, and I know that the way the message came across was not what you intended. ProBoards does, however, need an extra set of eyes to let you know what other people may infer from new messages you want to display. If the message in question came from someone higher up, convey to them that the initial readings of the message were not good and that they could be easily misconstrued by people who were not familiar with the platform.

[Michael]

Feb 27, 2023 13:52:20 GMT -8 bigballofyarn said:

Michael ,

I know ProBoards never has any malicious intent, and I know that the way the message came across was not what you intended. ProBoards does, however, need an extra set of eyes to let you know what other people may infer from new messages you want to display. If the message in question came from someone higher up, convey to them that the initial readings of the message were not good and that they could be easily misconstrued by people who were not familiar with the platform.

They are aware of this thread so please feel free to share those thoughts here!

[bigballofyarn]

Michael,

Are there any other options on the table at the moment? I can ask my forum members how they feel about that statement being at the bottom of my forum. I'm almost certain that no one will like it. However, if there are other ideas that I can pose to them, I might be able to provide you with more valuable feedback.