Sponsored "articles" are ruining my Yahoo experience.
I have been a faithful Yahoo user since the 90s. One used to be able to find the account date in account information, but that seems to have moved, I know my account dates back to at least 1998 and I have been on Yahoo daily since that time.
I used to spend time browsing headlines and clicking through to read many articles from your home page. However since the inception of sponsored content, I avoid the Yahoo home page.
I understand the need to generate profit but when every other "article" listed on the home page is in fact sponsored content, I lose my interest in the page. I do not care to spend my time deciphering actual articles from sponsored content. I could understand one or two sponsored links but looking at the Yahoo's home page in another tab, I stopped counting at 7 sponsored links (there were more).
Can your site continue to generate money from sponsored links if you drive your readership away?
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DAVE PUSKAR commented
keep the stupid ads off your site. their not news, their disgusting...
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michael fellion commented
You are selling products in those sponsored articles which are ads, most of which are BS. Figure out how to earn those millions for the CEO some other way. I simply ignore them which I suspect most people do as well.
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Jhvanriper commented
Agree sponsored articles are very spammy. Occasionally when I do click them Chrome blocks the site due to malware.
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Mila Asperin commented
maybe "sponsored articles" belong on a separate section where readers may browse and select those topics of interest that may match their actual need or interest at any given time. I think this "section' of sorts will add considerable character and popularity to Yahoo as a genuine resource for its users. Nobody wants to read adds; but when this arrangement is set up, I am sure readers will find if very appropriate and useful.
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Anonymous commented
agreed
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Steve_Karen Gates commented
Maybe someone can clarify, I don't know if iExplorer is capable of blocking ads, and likewise with Microsoft's new browser, Edge. However, I do know that Firefox has outstanding ad blockers and you can easily download it for free.
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Carlos commented
Hate that I see "sponsored" news in my news feed. those articles suck and are clickbait more than anything. how about becoming serious about reporting news and not so much blatant advertising. I know you need money but getting capital in the form of annoying your users will make me go to bing and google instead.
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V Noe commented
For two months I have been marking ever fake ad in the headlines section as "offensive". Doesn't appear to have made any impression on Yahoo, they have now made the news headlines even more difficult to read.
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Anonymous commented
Like the OP I have also used Yahoo for all my news since the 90s and like the OP that relationship is now ending. Putting sponsored articles in line with real news is deceptive and makes your site totally unusable. I am now using other sources for my news. What a shame, it used to be a great site.
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Rin commented
For me it's hard to understand why someone hasn't already shared their knowledge and told these people how to regain their peace of mind. Free access to shared ideas and information is the Internet defined. These traps are built for those who settle for the default settings and might over think that change is bad, and under think that they have access to something better. Well, I'm your catcher in the rye. I got your back. I will help you all.
Okay everyone this is how to stop the over population of sponsored links in the newsfeed, block ALL ads AS well as those automatically playing Yahoo preferred news videos:
1) Block all Yahoo non-moving ads that pose as real articles that say in hard to read light grey colored texted "sponsored" by using free plugin "Ad Block Plus" and tweaking it's preferences to block every got darn ad on Yahoo.
ABP also lets you block pictures that are offensive. Right click and block the "image" of any ad sponsored by light blue triangle logo "AdChoices".
2) And to further financially punish Yahoo for selling out to branded celebrities and products, stop Yahoo's preferred "Must Watch" automatic playing videos with free "Flash Block Plus." browser add-on/plugin. No more automatic play in the background. Bye-Bye Flash.
Make Yahoo News a pleasurable experience again.
ISSUES?: If you are having issues installing browser plugins then you have a virus. This happened to me all of sudden my Yahoo turned into times square.
1) Make sure your system is up to date, Open Start menu search for "Windows Update". Expect 30-45 mins and a system restart.
2) Install and run anti-virus program. Expect 30-45mins for it to check all system files for viruses. MAKE SURE YOUR BROWSER IS CLOSED OR THE VIRUS CAN"T BE REMOVED FROM A RUNNING PROGRAM, or you'll have to blow another 30mins to run/remove again.
3) Quarantine or remove all viruses by checking boxes or some act other than "ignore".
4) Wait for the "all clear/clean" blurp summary statement form the program.
4) Restart your computer.
5) Tweak your browser plugins with ABP and FB. I had to right click on an ad's "image" to switch ABP back on. The browser virus had it switched off.
Done and Gosh Darn You AdChoices.
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Rin commented
For me it's hard to understand why someone hasn't already shared their knowledge and told these people how to regain their peace of mind. Free access to shared ideas and information is the Internet defined. These traps are built for those who settle for the default settings and might over think that change is bad, and under think that they have access to something better. Well, I'm your catcher in the rye. I got your back. I will help you all.
Okay everyone this is how to stop the over population of sponsored links in the newsfeed, block ALL ads AS well as those automatically playing Yahoo preferred news videos:
1) Block all Yahoo non-moving ads that pose as real articles that say in hard to read light grey colored texted "sponsored" by using free plugin "Ad Block Plus" and tweaking it's preferences to block every got darn ad on Yahoo.
ABP also lets you block pictures that are offensive. Right click and block the "image" of any ad sponsored by light blue triangle logo "AdChoices".
2) And to further financially punish Yahoo for selling out to branded celebrities and products, stop Yahoo's preferred "Must Watch" automatic playing videos with free "Flash Block Plus." browser add-on/plugin. No more automatic play in the background. Bye-Bye Flash.
Make Yahoo News a pleasurable experience again.
ISSUES?: If you are having issues installing browser plugins then you have a virus. This happened to me all of sudden my Yahoo turned into times square.
1) Make sure your system is up to date, Open Start menu search for "Windows Update". Expect 30-45 mins and a system restart.
2) Install and run anti-virus program. Expect 30-45mins for it to check all system files for viruses. MAKE SURE YOUR BROWSER IS CLOSED OR THE VIRUS CAN"T BE REMOVED FROM A RUNNING PROGRAM, or you'll have to blow another 30mins to run/remove again.
3) Quarantine or remove all viruses by checking boxes or some act other than "ignore".
4) Wait for the "all clear/clean" blurp summary statement form the program.
5) Restart your computer.
6) Tweak your browser plugins with ABP and FB. I had to right click on an ad's "image" to switch ABP back on. The browser virus had it switched off.
Done and Gosh Darn You AdChoices.
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KM commented
I'm finding many ads include malware or are links to malware. I just clicked on one and was given a notice claiming my "media player may be out of date" and to click on something to "update" it. Yeah; right. Update their spyware. BTW, I don't use Media Player. It also locked up my browser so I had to force quit. Yahoo, give me a place to report this directly. You're liable for this since you're allowing it on your website.
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Aaron commented
Lately, yahoo news is littered with "right-winged" new stories. If this continues, I will discontinue my use of yahoo as my news portal.
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Anonymous commented
I HATE sponsored sites!!!!
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zak mack commented
I am ok with the sponsored content. Its usually unusual news or fun facts. The problem is that is is too much trouble to use. Its usually many pages and the full page does not fit on one screen & I have to artfully scroll down to avoid all of the advt links. Then I have to click an arrow pointing right to go to the next page. The pages load slowly & sometimes just hang.Its time consuming to navigate through them. I'd rather just read the entire article by clicking the down arrow button, page by page, as the page loads fast, as I do with a yahoo news article. As I said, I'd like to read them but they are too messy. But I guess that the sponsors are the onse that have to make the fix.
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Anonymous commented
I fully agree. Lately every article you click on you have to press Read More. This brings you to a different site with all kinds of popups and junk. I have stopped using yahoo for this reason. I too have used yahoo since mid 90s and used to love it. Now its one big mess. So many articles are biased to make you believe what they want you to. There is a reason the company is in financial trouble.
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Kerry commented
It's a deceptive practice if you ask me. I also wonder what kind of people would want to advertise with Yahoo like this.
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Janice Pucheu commented
Why does Yahoo continue to jam in so much sponsored content that it interferes with the purpose of my work. No matter how many times I answer the "why" question on the questionnaire, the same advert keeps appearing. I will never order any product from this company. Also, why was "MyComments" and the replies thereto discontinued? The homepage of the new format lists features that are only minimally mentioned in a titled article?
Has the Comments section stopped allowing postings on numerous subjects?One aggravating feature of your new format is that clicking on what purports to cover an article actually is only a blank space. Just plain empty with the exception of the adverts, of course.
Is it that Yahoo is trying to reformat under poor conditions? I don't know, yur new setup just doesn't work for me.
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gundagai tucker commented
Agree. To intermix ads with actual news stories is deceptive and ethically questionable. A sidebar for these ads would be acceptable.
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Anonymous commented
I hate to read through a story only to find out that it wasn't a real news article -- but instead it was an advertisement for some stupid service or a company!
If you want to improve on something, then you should consider that wasting someone's time is ethically wrong -- if the ONLY reason that it's being done is the satisfy the company who's paying for the ad.
Every single time when that happens to me -- I've gotten really mad. It's makes you feel like you've been duped! Who wants to be treated like that? I don't appreciate being treated like that!