# @CR Team: Why adding ads to an ad free account?



## Maximilian (Jul 19, 2022)

Hi @CR Team!

I know you want and need to earn money.
That's why I paid for an ad free forum and a "Pro" account, so you got my money.

So why that ad at that absolutely stupid and annoying position?

Please stop that or return my money. Thank you.

By the way: I also see an ad when I log in and change to forums. Annoying, too.

Yours,
Maximilian


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## snapshot (Jul 19, 2022)

maybe a bug? i dont mind the article/add for the deal on Rotolights at Adorama. but this ribbon add is not so great... I guess it is better than the never ending popup for being the 1 hyper zillion google custormer...


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## Sporgon (Jul 19, 2022)

Just seen I have this ‘ribbon ad’ too. 

I’ve been a member of CR since 2012, so ten years now, but I have to say it’s struggling to hold my attention nowadays.


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 19, 2022)

To add insult to injury, I'd like to message CRguy about it, or maybe read my new message. But I can't, because the ribbon ad blocks my messages button.


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## ReflexVE (Jul 19, 2022)

Honestly the CR Pro bonus is questionable at best. So far as I am aware none of us got our second year gift for a lifetime sub, and we are now near the third year. IMO refunds should be available for those who want them.


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## Maximilian (Jul 19, 2022)

I've reported my own thread, right now. Maybe they'll pay a little bit more attention now...


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## privatebydesign (Jul 20, 2022)

Craig was a con artist plain and simple. He’s gone, with all our $100’s, and doesn’t care.

That might sound harsh but remember, the ‘gifts’ never came and he reopened the ’Pro’ membership for one limited time, even though when he first did it he said he’d never do it again, and anybody that joined then not only didn’t ever get a gift but he knew he was selling the site at that time!


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## ReflexVE (Jul 20, 2022)

privatebydesign said:


> Craig was a con artist plain and simple. He’s gone, with all our $100’s, and doesn’t care.
> 
> That might sound harsh but remember, the ‘gifts’ never came and he reopened the ’Pro’ membership for one limited time, even though when he first did it he said he’d never do it again, and anybody that joined then not only didn’t ever get a gift but he knew he was selling the site at that time!


My feeling was he did not think through the long term implications. That said, is he gone? It looks to me like he quietly took over again a few months ago. And whoever did buy the site, which so far as I can tell was never actually sold, would also have the liability to deliver the promises.

Not that I ever expect to get anything out of it. Like the Xtra Kickstarter many fell for (and which I warned against buying into for months in the Discord), lesson learned.


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## Maximilian (Jul 20, 2022)

Ribbon is gone. Problem is solved.
Excuse/explanation would have been nice, but wasn't given.
Case closed


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## danfaz (Jul 22, 2022)

There's another one popping up at the bottom today...


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## NorthernNovice (Jul 22, 2022)

Seeing a bottom ad in my Firefox browser on my phone. At first, I thought I was not logged in. Nope, I was and they ad was there. Disappointed


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 22, 2022)

If you are a CR Pro and ads appear, its likely just a glitch since the site is updated from time to time. Send a message to Craig (He's still there) and he will get it fixed. It is usuallly a issue on a vendor's end, so it can take time to fix.


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## Stig Nygaard (Jul 23, 2022)

As a Pro-user, I still see ads in my desktop Firefox browser (Except content of ads seems to be blocked by my Firefox´s Tracking Protection set to Strict mode). A banner at bottom of page and I guess some video to the right: just above banner


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## snapshot (Jul 23, 2022)

Another bug?


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## Otara (Jul 24, 2022)

Same, ad to left and to bottom. Logging out shows a lot more arent showing though.


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## kaihp (Jul 24, 2022)

Oddly, that other thread on this comes up with a "Page cannot be opened" and that particular blue advertising line on it. what the hoot?


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## AlanF (Jul 24, 2022)

kaihp said:


> Oddly, that other thread on this comes up with a "Page cannot be opened" and that particular blue advertising line on it. what the hoot?
> View attachment 204837


This happens for me using Firefox on Mac but Chrome and Safari work fine. This is why I wrote that there are browser glitches. In general, Firefox is more flaky than the others, which I have to use for some on-line transactions. I do have ad-blockers on Firefox.


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## jprusa (Jul 24, 2022)

AlanF said:


> This happens for me using Firefox on Mac but Chrome and Safari work fine. This is why I wrote that there are browser glitches. In general, Firefox is more flaky than the others, which I have to use for some on-line transactions. I do have ad-blockers on Firefox.


Alan, you don't have the banner at the bottom on your machine that looks like the one in stig's post?


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## Maximilian (Jul 24, 2022)

Right now I am using the latest version of Firefox on a Win10 PC together with "AB Ultimate" add-on. 
It is like running the gauntlet until I locked in, but then I am ad-free. No experience with Mac.
I hope you'll find something, that is working for you.


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## kaihp (Jul 24, 2022)

AlanF said:


> This happens for me using Firefox on Mac but Chrome and Safari work fine. This is why I wrote that there are browser glitches. In general, Firefox is more flaky than the others, which I have to use for some on-line transactions. I do have ad-blockers on Firefox.


This is on my phone. And the image you see is decidedly served by the website. So if there is a "Firefox problem" then it's the website that has it. FF renders fine.

Edit:just tried FF on the PC. Views fine there. Boggles the mind. @AlanF - just FYI.


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## AlanF (Jul 24, 2022)

jprusa said:


> Alan, you don't have the banner at the bottom on your machine that looks like the one in stig's post?


No banners on my iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro (and my R5 doesn't freeze).


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## becceric (Jul 24, 2022)

I just got my first pop up since signing on as a “pro”. This was while using my iPad. I’ll have to check what occurs when I use the iMac.


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## unfocused (Jul 24, 2022)

Random Thoughts:

I've never paid the premium cost because: 1) I don't believe in paying extortionists. 2) I have no objection to reasonable advertising on websites. That is how they should be financed in my opinion. The problem with "ad free" options is that the shrinking ad revenue gets piled onto fewer and fewer users until sites because flooded with useless ads. CR is a great example of that. It's gotten so bad that the site now overlays ads on top of other ads, making even the ads unreadable. 

My impression is that Craig sold the site, but continues as a contributor. Most likely because he is the one that confidential sources dealt with and it's difficult to transfer those relationships to new owners. But I could be wrong.

I don't understand the personal animosity towards Craig by some, but then again, I was totally confused by his "meltdown" several months ago. I'm sure there is a story there, but frankly I kind of don't care. The site doesn't seem to be any better or worse than it ever was. 

I'm always skeptical of "deals" that are supposed to be limited or offer annual "gifts." Whenever there is a need for a new boost in revenue, the deals will get renewed and annual gifts have a way of disappearing after a year or two. The gifts are usually junk anyway.


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## jprusa (Jul 24, 2022)

AlanF said:


> No banners on my iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro (and my R5 doesn't freeze).


I don't have one on my MacBook but I have one on both iMacs . My R5 has never frozen.


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## Jethro (Jul 24, 2022)

It would be good to get some reaction from either Craig or the new owners as to what the status of the site is. Advertising is just one aspect of that. I'm getting a (relatively unobtrusive) small banner d at the bottom, but obviously others are getting more, and 'non-Pro' users seem to be getting much more. 

I value the site (and that is why I was happy to pay what I saw as a relatively small $ amount for the Pro membership to help fund it), but it would be good to know what the current status is.


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## privatebydesign (Jul 25, 2022)

Jethro said:


> It would be good to get some reaction from either Craig or the new owners as to what the status of the site is. Advertising is just one aspect of that. I'm getting a (relatively unobtrusive) small banner d at the bottom, but obviously others are getting more, and 'non-Pro' users seem to be getting much more.
> 
> I value the site (and that is why I was happy to pay what I saw as a relatively small $ amount for the Pro membership to help fund it), but it would be good to know what the current status is.


Take a look at the cookies and cross site browser tracking it does.....


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## Jethro (Jul 25, 2022)

privatebydesign said:


> Take a look at the cookies and cross site browser tracking it does.....


Well yes, Canonrumors gets an honourable (?) mention on the tracking list, although there are plenty of others. Safari does a reasonable job zapping trackers these days, but I'm never sure if they intercept anywhere near all of them.


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## Stig Nygaard (Jul 27, 2022)

Stig Nygaard said:


> As a Pro-user, I still see ads in my desktop Firefox browser (Except content of ads seems to be blocked by my Firefox´s Tracking Protection set to Strict mode). A banner at bottom of page and I guess some video to the right: just above banner
> 
> View attachment 204829



The banner at the bottom have disappeared for me now.
But the annoying video "popup" is still there. When scrolling down, it places itself just over the comments:


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## HeavyPiper (Jul 27, 2022)

I'm not seen any ads this morning for me, maybe fixed.


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## AlanF (Jul 27, 2022)

kaihp said:


> This is on my phone. And the image you see is decidedly served by the website. So if there is a "Firefox problem" then it's the website that has it. FF renders fine.
> 
> Edit:just tried FF on the PC. Views fine there. Boggles the mind. @AlanF - just FYI.


Today's update of FF claims to prevent all tracking!


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## becceric (Jul 28, 2022)

The lower banner ad has vanished from my iPad.


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## Stig Nygaard (Jul 28, 2022)

I wrote CRGuy directly, and got the following answer today:



> Canon Rumors switched Ad operations and we are waiting for the developers to update the code on the site to block the ads for you.
> 
> I hope that they can get this done this week.
> 
> We appologize for the inconvenience.



*EDIT:* Ups. The following is incorrect. Forgot I also had an adblocker installed in the browser I was using. I still see the video(placeholder) when my adblocker is disabled:

Meanwhile, the video are also gone for me now.

But I think it is "fixed" by update to the (Strict-mode) Enhanced Tracking Protection in latest Firefox-release (Firefox version 103 from yesterday). Because neither bottom-banner nor video are visible either if I open CR site in a "firefox private window" (_not _logged into CR).


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## unfocused (Jul 28, 2022)

Stig Nygaard said:


> I wrote CRGuy directly, and got the following answer today:


Just out of curiosity, which CR Guy did you write? The old CRGuy or the new ones?


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## Stig Nygaard (Jul 28, 2022)

unfocused said:


> Just out of curiosity, which CR Guy did you write? The old CRGuy or the new ones?


As far as I know Craig is still owner of the site, and he handles the site with help from a couple of assistants while a sale is being prepared and arranged(?).
But if it actually was Craig himself who answered my message, or if it was one of the assistants (or a new owner)?,.. Well, I don't know.

I wrote message to Canon Rumors Guy.


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## Jethro (Jul 28, 2022)

Further from Canon Rumors Guy:

'We are busy on a site redesign and re-launch of Canon Rumors under new ownership, and this ad free feature will continue. This was merely an oversight on our end.'


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## Maximilian (Jul 29, 2022)

Stig Nygaard said:


> ... got the following answer today:





Jethro said:


> Further from Canon Rumors Guy:


Thanks for sharing, guys. 

Would have been nice from CR Team to step up to all (pro) members, e.g. here, with that info to stop the complaints and calm us down.


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