OnPoint by Keith Ng

So long as you're in a consumer activist mood, you could tweak your hosts file to block the ads from the Herald website.

Ads? What are they?

A while ago someone recommended AdBlock nd FlashBlock, and I've never looked back. Unfortunately (?) it means all these threads complaining about such and such an ad here are completely lost on me.

Firefox + Adblock Plus means "what ads?" for me as well. it's amazing the amount of screen real estate you can regain by blocking the ads.

I only block ads from sites that use unsolicited video and other obtrusive crap, and it's only a handful really... do AdBlock and FlashBlock allow you to manage exclusions?

do AdBlock and FlashBlock allow you to manage exclusions?

Yeah, totally. Normally the last step of the installation for AdBlock Plus is to choose a canned list of exclusions that magically kills ads all over the place, but you could just skip that step and then add your own filters.

Alternatively you can choose a general ad-blocking list and then disable the extension for those excellent sites that you wish to support with your pixel real estate.

Stuff have been putting up these abusive ads for quite a while now - it was one of the reasons I stopped visiting regularly

Is that the ad that pops up over the top of the article you're trying to read? If so I only look at it long enough to find the x to kill it. Lucky for them they don't have their band displayed where I notice it, otherwise the advertiser would be on my shit list as well as the site that allows that kind of crap.
I alternate between Stuff & NZH, Stuff seems to load more slowly, but I can flick between tabs to fill in the wait. If obnoxious popover ads become more prevalent, I'd be quite happy to avoid the site, or install ad-blocker software.
Note to advertisers, and sites carrying ads - obnoxious and annoying ads might get a few extra clicks here & there, but create a negative brand image for many more potential customers than you'd gain. I prefer the image of the Herald as a reliable source of news, not as looking like some dodgy warez site.

I don't care about the advertising so much as the fact those AMEX bastards never make offers like that to existing cardholders!

I've had one of these cards since it launched and I've never been given a free flight other than the ones I've earned myself by using the card so much.....grrrrrrr....

I have abandoned AMEX. The cut off my credit, twice, during a 6 week business trip in April because I was over my "normal" monthly spend. "Normal" was an arbitrary setting that they failed to inform me about. Had lead to some pretty embarrassing moments. This was despite the fact my business has a perfect payment history with them, that I checked the account online and even made an early payment. They also have a habit of losing cheques.

To add insult to injury they didn't have a 24 hour service number I could call (I was in Europe) and the credit section was based in Aussie. I was asked to fill in a form about the service I received from them during that hiatus. Weeks later I still haven't had a response.

We now use VISA for company credit cards.

PA vengeance is mine :-)

I gave my AMEX back cause the whole idea of credit (debt) scares the sh*t out of me.
We do need a someone other than WestPac to have a VISA etc debt card in NZ though. Nothing wrong with westie they're not that competitive though.

I found that the newly designed Herald Site always performed so badly, American Express ads or not, that I switched to Stuff...which I find to be a far superior online experience.

That pains me to say because I reckon Tim Pankhurst runs a very substandard daily in the Dominion Post!

I haven't seen the AMEX online ads...but coincidentally had my AMEX bill sitting on my desk waiting for me to chop up my card and return to sender.

SNIP SNIP POST - done.

Another plug for Firefox and Adblock plus (and flashblock),

They stop pages like stuff and the herald that dance around like Trevor mallard and Pete hodgson on Party pills,dead in their tracks. You get to filter what you want and tell the browser to actual remove the ad panes so the pages actually resemble what you want to see, It also totally stops those popup slide ins that I notice if I happen to be using someone elses machine that only has IE.

Amen brotha' - I called back after my Mekong with Prawns came with Chicken. Chicken!

Consumers unite!

thx for the tip guys. flashblock and adblock installed.

no more annoying bullshit taking up my bandwidth.

as a sidebar:

I once signed up for an Amex at a trade show. By the time the cards arrived (yes, it was some special deal for two) I decided I didn't want them. Rather than 'activate' the cards by signing them, I cut the cards and sent them back.

Despite this I still got a bill but the only charge on it was the membership fee. Odd since the 'special deal' was no membership fee for 12 months! And the bills kept coming, as did the threatening letters demanding payment, despite my calls to Indian call centres to explain I'd never used the card.

Took over two years before it stopped!!

NB- that new card they're offering a 'free' transtasman air ticket with has a membership fee of $350 per annum. That's the same price you'll pay for a cheap seat anyway. You'd probably wanna cancel after the first year.

do AdBlock and FlashBlock allow you to manage exclusions?

Flashblock gives you a box with a play button where the Flash would have been. If you want to watch it, you press play.

I also use NoScript, although that can be a bit more of a pain - stops any JavaScript running unless you allow it. I hadn't noticed how much Google profiles me until I switched it off for a while and looked at the ads.