A happy post from across the street...

[RWB]

“Anyone blocking ads will be removed from the board. “

 

DonWillis

President, PCGS

Friday June 19, 2009 11:19 AM

[zrlevin]

 

I guess my membership will not last long there.

 

I'm glad they don't do that here.

[MunkyMan95]

How will they know if you block the ads or not?

[DC Dawg]

How would they know whether a user was blocking ads? Most traffic analysis software stinks and has a difficult time in correlating user activity in general, how will they match whether the user blocks an ad, especially when there are no log entries when there is no activity?

 

They must have had some advertisers complaining that their ads are not being seen by enough people and not getting the number of click-thrus they expected, so they want a credit. That's not going to look good on the Collectors Universe annual report!

 

Scott

[James_OldeTowne]

“Anyone blocking ads will be removed from the board. “

 

DonWillis

President, PCGS

Friday June 19, 2009 11:19 AM

Do you mean banner ads? Surely it's a joke ?

 

Edited to add:

 

OOPS! It's no joke! Found it right here!

 

That is just plain crazy. I don't block banner ads, but they don't bother me at all. But, why stop others from doing so?

[MarkFeld]

“Anyone blocking ads will be removed from the board. “

 

DonWillis

President, PCGS

Friday June 19, 2009 11:19 AM

Do you mean banner ads? Surely it's a joke ?

I don't think it was a joke - the thread was locked. That said, I was shocked when I saw that comment by Don Willis.

[James_OldeTowne]

Link reposted.

 

Isn't it possible to be blocking ads and not even realize it? I know that my browser will sometimes pop up a message saying "something or other has been prevented or blocked" (something along those lines).

 

Mark, you're right, it really is a shocking stance for Don Willis to take. Jeez.

[leeg]

I no longer am a fan of the PCGS brand. Tired of it being all about the money and not coins, the history of same, and education for collectors. NGC all the way for me.

[tenacious]

If your browser is blocking ads, then that is being done on your end. I don't know for sure, but I would be surprised if they can tell that.

 

And besides that, the forum software over there is antiquated. And it's so cumbersome and illogical to use that most people can't even post a simple link! So I would almost doubt that whoever maintains their forum has the knowledge, or motivation, to analyze every user's forum use and connections. They can't even keep the forum software up to date.

 

I doubt their "mad skills".

 

[BillJones]

I don't think it was a joke - the thread was locked. That said, I was shocked when I saw that comment by Don Willis.

 

Yea, Don Willis was a really good guy when he was running his own coin company. I guess when you get hired into the PCGS organization you have to become an 800 pound gorilla with an attitude to survive.

 

I only post accross the street when it's quiet around here.

[gmarguli]

Anyone know how the blocking works? Does the browser just not send the retrieve command for the picture?

 

I use FireFox with Adblock and am rather aggressive in adding blocks. I just looked at that link using IE and was surprised at how many ads are on the threads. Two picture ads at the top, then Google ads (including one for another slabbing outfit), then at the bottom more Google ads, and three more picture ads at the bottom.

 

BTW, if you use Adblock, you can see the statistics on how many ads are blocked based on each filter. Mine shows over 60,000 blocks from the PCGS site.

[PerryHall]

A few days ago, someone asked for a single pop report number on the forum ATS and Don Willis read him the riot act and told him he should pay for the pop reports rather than get them for free from others. Then other forum members pointed out how to get them for free (PCGS Registry, Heritage Auction Archives, etc.). Don is not a happy camper these days.

[BillJones]

Every time I log-in over there I get a message that the site contain secure and unsecured elements. I suppose if I told my computer to block the unsecured stuff, I’d get the boot.

[Schatzy]

I really just thought this was a joke!!

 

but

Don I think you have lost your mind!!

 

 

[braddick]

“Anyone blocking ads will be removed from the board. “

 

DonWillis

President, PCGS

Friday June 19, 2009 11:19 AM

Do you mean banner ads? Surely it's a joke ?

I don't think it was a joke - the thread was locked. That said, I was shocked when I saw that comment by Don Willis.

 

Seriously Mark, shocked?

 

I'm perplexed and surprised you would think a PCGS representative (no matter who) wouldn't or couldn't come up with that.

[braddick]

On another note: I enjoy the banner ads. At times, more entertaining than the threads or posts themselves especially when the ad is for NGC services.

[EZ_E]

“Anyone blocking ads will be removed from the board. “

 

DonWillis

President, PCGS

Friday June 19, 2009 11:19 AM

[MunkyMan95]

From the posts I've read from Don on the PCGS board, he seems like an utter person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed bag. Other PCGS execs (David Hall, Ron Guth) seem to be nice people, but Don Willis does not seem to be a nice person at all.

[rrantique]

I really just thought this was a joke!!

 

but

Don I think you have lost your mind!!

 

 

[Houston Investor]

About what I would expect from them.

[mommam17]

I bought a coin from Don Willis before he joined PCGS. Seemed like a real nice guy and his posts over there seem friendly. He`s OK in my book.

[Tradedollarnut]

I think that it's really poor form to be asking for an ad blocker in a thread on the forum you're utilizing. That's how the forum gets paid for in the first place.

 

Don probably misposted and that the spirit of his post was more along the lines of those seeking out adblockers or sharing them publicly on the forum will be banned. I actually kinda agree with that.

[leeg]

Keep the cost of submitting a coin for grading low, submissions go up, then no need for ad's.

[Tradedollarnut]

Keep the cost of submitting a coin for grading low, submissions go up, then no need for ad's.

 

Not exactly how they teach it in Econ101

[RWB]

A few months ago, there was an open and free-wheeling discussion of how to configure browsers and avoid the extra ads. The final response, in the original post, above, on that subject seems unusually harsh. Maybe there is a lot of stress we can only guess about…?

 

Correction: There are at least half a dozen past threads on this subject - all unmolested.

[BillJones]

From the posts I've read from Don on the PCGS board, he seems like an utter person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed bag. Other PCGS execs (David Hall, Ron Guth) seem to be nice people, but Don Willis does not seem to be a nice person at all.

 

Than was not the case when he was a dealer who had tables at the national shows. In my opinion the national show circuit lost something when PCGS plucked him out of the show arena and made him their chief executive. He was an affable, honest dealer who always had an inventory that was worth reviewing.

 

I think he has overacted, and I think that those who want to block run-of-the-mill ads that appear at the top of the page also over react. BUT pop-up ads suck, and I will not bother with web site that have them. And I would advise any business that uses them to stop. Pop-up ads are counterproductive.

[ldhair]

I can see that he may have needed to say something but the choice of words could have been better. I'm sure the ads are important to PCGS.

[michael]

 

Yea, Don Willis was a really good guy when he was running his own coin company.

 

I TOTALLY DISAGREE

[michael]

 

He was an affable, honest dealer who always had an inventory that was worth reviewing.

 

 

TOTALLY DISAGREE

[michael]

From the posts I've read from Don on the PCGS board, he seems like an utter person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed bag. Other PCGS execs (David Hall, Ron Guth) seem to be nice people, but Don Willis does not seem to be a nice person at all.

 

 

FROM MY EXPERIENCES TOTALLY AGREE