Regarding the Different Color Ads You are Seeing

[Adina P]

I realize NOBODY likes ads.  Whether on TV, radio, or websites.  They are annoying and there's always something MORE fun that could take their place.  It would be dreamy to not need them at all.  Believe me...I've resisted ads for a long time, but they are quickly becoming necessary--one of the things that allow us to continue to give you DoodleKisses.com

Doodle Kisses is my baby.  I care about this site and its members immensely. Probably too much.  It's what I wake up to in the morning and what I check last before I go to bed (as well as constantly through the day--even if just on my phone).  I want to do the best I can by you!  While I realize not everyone will be happy with each and every decision we make and we will get complaints, these complaints DO hurt ME personally. They really do.  I'm not so far removed as an admin that I can just slough it off because I like you and I want to see you happy with what we have created and maintain with love.

 

This is not to say nobody should complain.  Complaints give us important information.  But sometimes they aren't constructive and just feels like criticism of my baby.  Please send ME your complaints whenever possible. 

At this point managing a site with nearly 8,000 members and all that comes with it is more than a part time job.  Most of my free time is spent checking in and administering and making sure things are running smoothly.  I don't even participate in discussions half as much as I used to because there's not enough time in my day to do so.  I'm doing the BEST I can to make and keep DK an excellent place to be.  In the past few months I've started moderating membership so that we can keep out those annoying dreaded spammers.  It's not that any one thing is time consuming on its own, but it adds up through the day and with growing membership.  And this is with Clark's help as well.

There's no way to sustain my putting in this level of commitment to you without the site actually doing more than paying its monthly/annual fees.  It just isn't realistic to expect otherwise.  The new ads aren't saving me time or making my commitment to you any less.  But, YES, we are experimenting with new ways to display ads so DoodleKisses.com brings in more revenue -- what you see is pretty minimally invasive in my opinion.  It may or may not be a permanent change.  We have a lot of ideas for improvements but realize that every change can be really dangerous and make members feel intruded upon.  We really do try to tread carefully.

Every page that has one of the new colorful ads added, has had a different banner ad removed from the top of the page.  This actually moves the important content UP on the page.  The only difference is that it is a picture instead of a text ad.  Nobody has to click on the ads if they don't want to.  And the content isn't really much different than what is on the side of pages.  They are obvious ads, in my opinion, and aren't going to be misconstrued as 'DK suggestions'.  If something horribly inappropriate pops up, do let us know.

And please remember that 25% of all proceeds the site earns is donated to doodle and dog rescue.  So even if you really despise these things and vow to never click on them, at least remember that every time someone else clicks on one of the ads, doodle rescue will be earning some money too!  You might wonder "what rescues does DK support?"  Historically we have given to DRC, IDOG, and a local all-breed rescue near us.  We plan on giving to these three organizations and perhaps others again this year. 

Moving forward we will continue to look for ways to support Doodle Kisses and doodle rescue more.  In the next few weeks we are going to introduce a DoodleKisses/Amazon.com store that will allow you to make all your Amazon.com purchases in a way that supports DoodleKisses and doodle rescue.  It seems like a win-win to us.  You shop at Amazon anyways, now you can do it and support doodle rescue and DK at the same time.

I'm on YOUR side.  I am the most active user of this site.  I don't want to do ANYTHING that makes the site suck.  I started this site because I absolutely love doodles, not to be the next Bill Gates.  I feel that we have succeeded in creating the best doodle lovers' community available and we will constantly strive to improve it and keep you happy.  I realize this is one of two kinda noticeable appearance changes lately, but DoodleKisses.com is still the same place it's always been.  The same great doodle loving members, the same rules and standards as before. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

OMD, you know that this batch of lettuce will soon hit the bin too : ) Please don't report me. Did you hear someone hacked Fox's twitter account and Said the President was assassinated in Iowa. Thankfully not true, that's all we need.

[ClarkP]

Clearing your cookies of Google and ad related cookies will remove your history as far as they know it. But unless you opt out, new cookies will be left with your new search and browsing behavior going forward. So to make a clean break, you can opt out using the link above and clear your cookies.

[F, Calla & Luca]

What does opting out get you out of, exactly? Also, does it then prohibit any kind of access to anything for the user?

[ClarkP]

Opting out stops Google from creating any new cookies on your computer going forward. This will not prohibit any kind of access on any site (unlike Facebook where blocking some of their cookies will keep you from signing in to FB).

[F, Calla & Luca]

That sounds good.

[ClarkP]

If you want Google to also "not remember" any of your old behavior, you can clear your cookies (at least the ones related to Google).

[F, Calla & Luca]

I can selectively clear cookies?

[ClarkP]

You can with all browsers that I know of.  It will be in an "advanced" section of your cookie management area.

 

Now, cookies are not always names in the most informative manner (on purpose, I'm sure).  But they do have to display what URL they are from (although some hide behind an IP address).  Just make sure you get cookies from ad networks that are now included in the Googleplex such as DoubleClick. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

What an eye opener. I literally have hundreds of  cookies. Usually I just declutter everything at once periodically. This will be a major project if I do it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I opted out and downloaded the opt out plug in. I restarted my browser and still see ads for St Joe's local medical center here. But I will clean out my history and cookies at a later date. I hate cleaning cookies because I then have to remember user names and passwords for a zillion things, or more likely, look them up. Maybe I'll actually have to start using one of those central password thingamabobs.

[ClarkP]

Yes, clearing all your cookies will make stored passwords go away as well. That's why it might be a good option to take the time to delete cookies individually.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Clark, I want it known now that any ad that pops up in my blogs/discussions regarding finding a date or men looking for women or women looking for men are only there because I had to do research when I was making a Personal ad for Fudge and Vern. Phew.....glad I got that off my chest...LOL!