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If I have 200 rep, shouldn't I not see the 'Sponsored Tag' Header Ad?

I don't mind the sponsored tags, but I hate losing screen space to the Header Ad.

Please exclude those users from seeing the 'Sponsored Tag' Header Ads, who were excluded from Header Ads before.

Edit: Alex has pointed out that it only shows on the Tags page, which doesn't really bother me. I'll leave this question up for those who care.

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3 Answers 3

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I don't consider the header to be an advertisment in the traditional sense. It's a collection of links to resources that are relavent to the tag.

It's only shown on the tag home page... where one would expect to find such links.

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    I didn't realize that that was the only place it was shown, so now it doesn't really bother me, but I'll leave this post up for those who care.
    – Lance Roberts
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 16:05
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At first I didn't think this was so bad, but I'm imagining what it would look like if Microsoft sponsored all the .NET related tags. Ouch! Every time you looked at .NET or c# you'd lose all that space to links you've seen a thousand times already.

Agreed - drop it for 200+ rep.

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  • All the links you've seen a thousand times... but what about the vast majority of the users who haven't seen them, and would be very much interested in such info?
    – Alex Papadimoulis
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 15:57
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    @Alex - if I'm a 200+ user, I've probably seen all that. The newbies and Googlers would still see the links.
    – user27414
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 15:58
  • What if the links change from time to time- say, based on an rss feed?
    – Joel Coehoorn Mod
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 16:01
  • @Joel - the links will certainly change from time to time.
    – Alex Papadimoulis
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 16:05
  • What about those below 200 who get annoyed by the ad and never come back to earn their 200? Why are they such scum as to be discouraged? What you can only hate advertising once you've earned some rep?
    – Jeff Yates
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 17:22
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    @Jeff - how is that different from how the site behaves now? You have < 200 you see more ads. Since most of the traffic is from non-registered users, this must be a significant revenue source for SO.
    – user27414
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 17:52
  • @Jon: I didn't say how it works now is right.
    – Jeff Yates
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 20:06
  • @Jeff - fair enough. But if this issue is showing ads to newbies and low-rep users, then the issue is bigger than the sponsored tag concerns that have come up today.
    – user27414
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 20:08
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I'm skeptical of anything that makes it harder for SO to generate revenue because I'm tight and I don't want to pay for the service. However, that said, the advertising practices on the site should reflect the desires of the users to some degree or there would be no audience for the advertising.

Making the advertising more annoying for new users feels wrong. If it is annoying for users at 200+, why is it not annoying for those below that level? That is to say, what makes the user not get annoyed and stay long enough to get 200 rep so that they no longer see the ad? Seems to me a more workable solution all round is required lest we replace one problem with another.

Perhaps the advertising can be expandable? Provide an overview in the collapsed view and then expand to show links and such.

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  • That's a fair point... Really should avoid the ex-ex trap, where the site is decent for high-level users, but unbearably obnoxious for new / drive-by users.
    – Shog9
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 17:26
  • This is why I'm not a fan of the 200+ thing. The advertising we have not annoying to any reasonable person, whether he has 2 or 2K rep. By having it be a "benefit" to see less ads, it implies that it is annoying. I agree that it should be an option to see reduced ads: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/14710/…
    – Alex Papadimoulis
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 18:15
  • Eh... The one that inserts itself between the first and second answer is pretty annoying. All this time, and I still occasionally miss an answer because of that one. I'm not a fan of ad-blocking software, but if i was stuck using a low-rep account more often then i'd probably have to do something about it; for me, it impacts the usability of the site in a distinctly negative way.
    – Shog9
    Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 18:52

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