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GOL On Advert Blocking, I Don't Hate You, But Please Don't Do It

By - | Views: 31,278
Now and then I do a little post to request that you don't block our adverts, or if you do then we offer you the option to support us without seeing any adverts and gain extra perks in the process!

To get this out the way: I don't hate you if you do.

Adverts pay for our hosting, pay for me to pick up games to video (or to buy Samsai to cast for you) and review for you when a developer won't give out a copy, and for me to generally get-by in day to day life. Time is money after-all and having a family time is short.

We also have GOL Premium, for $25 USD (£14.84 GBP/18.24EUR) a year or $15 (£8.90/10.93EUR) every 6 months.
In future I will also be implementing an ability for GOL Premium users to get a handy email when a game they want goes on Sale, it's half-done right now and I expect to finish it by the end of the month, GOL Premium users can already add it to their wishlist and track them that way, emails are to come soon!

Without adverts & GOL premium I wouldn't have been able to do this for as long as I have. I would never want to hide our content behind a forced "pay-wall" (as in you have to pay to see 2/3rds of every article or something like that) and never plan to. I don't see that as a way of getting rid of adverts and donations alone don't cut it sadly.

We are still to the best of my knowledge the most active Linux-focused gaming site around. It's not just that though, any developer has the ability to write about their own game and have it published here or to publish their thoughts on something related to Linux gaming, or even for regular gamers to write about games they are interested in to have it published here. We are an open platform and always will be which is why I think we work so well.

We never have and never will use popup adverts of any kind, we don't use noisy video adverts, we don't put an advert in the way of any content either. I spoke to another major Linux-focused website about the pop-over ads they use and that person told me the revenue from those is many multiples that of our adsense, but I still won't use it as they annoy even me. I've been approached many times for pop-under tab adverts and I show them where the door is as well to not annoy our readers.

If too many people block our adverts in future and the amount of people subscribing to GOL Premium stops/slows (currently we are doing o-k) then in future I may have to re-consider how much time I spend researching games for the site and maybe one day stop the site altogether, but currently that won't happen anytime soon don't worry!

I feel the same way as this guy: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/8854-The-Adblock-Episode, if you do block our adverts, don't be a dick about it.

In our tests over May 2014 58% of people blocked our adverts, that's a bit upsettingly high, but I will have to find a way to ignore it or else I will get annoyed and not post as much news and I don't want that to happen.

I still have a lot to learn about "internet life" and I make mistakes here and there, but I am always working for you to make Linux gaming better for everyone. I do it because I do enjoy it, not because I feel I have to and don't want to ever give it up.

Now give me all of your monies.

Finally: Thank you to everyone who has supported me, GOL and a big thank you to the many contributors we have. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
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72 comments
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Liam Dawe Jun 4, 2014
Quoting: TealWell, this made me go and throw the $25 at you on paypal, I hope I get my account thingy bumped up soon :p

<3 you're all set to go!
Paranoid Parrot Jun 4, 2014
Hey,
I disabled AdBlock, but Ghostery is still blocking Google AdSense, which I believe is what you're using, and I intend to keep it that way. Call me paranoid, but I don't like it when Google sticks its nose up my butt on every website I visit.

I think I'll donate something to you to be fair, because I think you're doing awesome work and this website is top notch. Thank you!
Teal 10 years Jun 4, 2014
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: TealWell, this made me go and throw the $25 at you on paypal, I hope I get my account thingy bumped up soon :p
<3 you're all set to go!

There we go! Thanks, man.
Half-Shot Jun 4, 2014
Quite frankly people, $25 is a hell of a lot cheaper than most magazines (Although I love Linux Voice <3) and so you could concider 3-4 articles a day (or about 2 pages) a worthy investment.

That makes around 60 pages a month which in turn equates to a magazine sporting 720 pages for only $25, surely thats more than enough of a reason to support GOL and Liam. And even those magazines have ads in them when you can actually morally turn them off.
Mike Jun 4, 2014
This site is on the whitelist after i read this. ;) This is a super site. You will not have to give up the advertising revenue from my side. :D
Anon Jun 5, 2014
When GOG starts supporting Linux later this year you will be able to earn some money from referral links.
fabertawe Jun 5, 2014
I've always had AB disabled on GOL but like someone else mentioned, I will always block Google, FB and Twitter, no matter what. The privacy concerns are paramount.

I think you do an amazing job (and the other contributors) and am constantly amazed how you find the time! I think the donation amount is a bargain (as has also been alluded to). Keep up the good work and you never know, as Linux adoption grows (SteamOS too) hopefully so will the subscriber base :D

I did have an idea but not sure if it's feasible... I have giftable games on Steam and Humble, is there a way they could be donated to some kind of monthly raffle? The legalities of this may be problematic however.
loggfreak Jun 5, 2014
Quoting: kalinI use addblock only because youtube and even I don't achieve desired result. I still have pop ups in player.
try the 'magic actions for youtube plugin' and enabling the ad-blocking feature, it's what i use + it adds some features to youtube
Cestarian Jun 5, 2014
As long as there are no pop-up or "new window" or "new tab" style ads, I am fine with them.

They're like little decorations, make the site less dull :P
Anonymous Jun 6, 2014
What about : https://adblockplus.org/en/acceptable-ads

With a little work on redesign of ads placement you can be on AdBlock whitelist.
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