Google Ads

[VideoGameCritic]

Since I placed a Google Ad on the top on my main page, the ads been generating decent money (for once), so I'm looking for ways to incorporate more without having a detrimental effect on the look and feel of the site.

I just added new ads to the top of the review pages.  You shouldn't even notice these, because normally the page "jumps" to the review you selected.  However, if there are any negative side effects please let me know.

Next I'm thinking about place ads in the margins, which won't affect the content at all and will only be visible if the window is stretched wide enough.

Feedback is welcome.

[Gentlegamer1]

Google Ads is a delivery system for malware.

[Steve1]

I wonder if it is true that Google ads is a vehicle for malware because ever since the ads started, even though I've never clicked on them, my computer is riddled with malware. I've already rolled back my pc twice and am infected again. Perhaps a stupid question but do you have to click on the ad or does rolling over it have the same outcome?

[VideoGameCritic]

Nah - actually that's one reason I went with GoogleAds over one of the independent ad providers.  If Google can't keep malware out, no one can.

I've actually had Google Ads on the site for years, but never this many.

Also want to thank all of you that have been using my ebay and Amazon links.  Please remember to click on these before you do your holiday shopping!

[mbd361]

[QUOTE=Steve]I wonder if it is true that Google ads is a vehicle for malware because ever since the ads started, even though I've never clicked on them, my computer is riddled with malware. I've already rolled back my pc twice and am infected again. Perhaps a stupid question but do you have to click on the ad or does rolling over it have the same outcome?[/QUOTE]

That's weird. Do you have a decent antivirus software such as Avast and Malwarebytes installed? Do you keep your software (Windows, Flash, web browsers, Java, etc.) up to date to prevent security holes?


Also, if you're getting lots of results from malware scans, it isn't necessarily actual malware. Some scans will also report third-party tracking cookies (like from ads on the VGC site). They're a minor privacy issue but otherwise harmless. You can disable third-party cookies in your browser.

[Vexer1]

I would strongly advise people to stay FAR away from Avast, it did absolutely nothing to stop my hard drive from failing, and even after I got a new hard drive my computer would still crash at least once per day, as soon as I uninstalled Avast and installed MSE my computer stopped crashing, so it was definitely not a coincidence.

I'd say you're much better off with VIPRE.

[mbd361]

[QUOTE=Vexer]

I would strongly advise people to stay FAR away from Avast, it did absolutely nothing to stop my hard drive from failing, and even after I got a new hard drive my computer would still crash at least once per day, as soon as I uninstalled Avast and installed MSE my computer stopped crashing, so it was definitely not a coincidence.

I'd say you're much better off with VIPRE.

[/QUOTE]

I've been using Avast for years and and I don't have daily crashes (or any crashes, really). Maybe it was conflicting with something else on your computer? Avast gets generally positive user ratings, so it doesn't seem like a common issue anyway.

And why would an antivirus software stop your hard drive from failing? Did it fail because of a virus?

[ptdebate1]

In my opinion, most antivirus programs (including avast but especially mcafee) are huge resource hogs and cause all kinds of system stability problems. I solved my issues by switching to OSX, which actually has built in antivirus protection. Crazy, right?

[Vexer1]

There was nothing else on my computer for Avast to conflict with(no other anti-virus programs or anything), not sure exactly what happened, all I know is after I got a new hard drive, my computer would not stop crashing until I finally uninstalled Avast and replaced it with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Ptdebate- VIPRE actually doesn't use up many resources at all, OSX won't do me any good since I actually like gaming on my PC, and gaming on a Mac is rather limited.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Vexer]

Ptdebate- VIPRE actually doesn't use up many resources at all, OSX won't do me any good since I actually like gaming on my PC, and gaming on a Mac is rather limited.

[/QUOTE]
Mac and Linux gaming is getting better though.  If you ever want to try Linux, I'd recommend Ubuntu, the most user friendly OS ever. 

59 pages of games on Steam work on Linux, including stuff like Borderlands the pre-sequel. 

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=&sort_by=_ASC&os=linux&page=1