* Installation of the Patch:
As previously mentioned, the tech folks tried to install a patch on Wednesday that was going to do two things: 1. Place a disclaimer under the ad banner, and 2. Fix the "can't save entries" problem once and for all.
When
it was installed live to production Wednesday morning, they found a
problem that hadn't appeared on either the test or beta systems; the
patch was then backed out.
I am waiting on an ETA to see when we'll try to install it again, and will let you know when that happens.
* Character Set:
Despite working on the problem all weekend, the tech folks still don't have a fix in for the character set problem,
which is that extended characters (basically, anything other than what
shows up on your basic, American QWERTY keyboard -- stuff with accents,
special symbols, etc.) displays improperly.
As
noted, the tech folks are still working the problem -- it's caused a
lot of the non-U.S. journals to become basically unreadable, so this is
a high-priority problem.
* Archive Dates Counts and Listings:
This is the problem of inaccurate entry counts in the monthly archive view:
Both of these problems are still being worked on -- the tech folks are looking at database mismatches as the primary suspect.
* Ad Banners:
Outside
of the pending disclaimer install I mentioned above, I have nothing new
on the status of the ad banners. I know that the execs are aware of
your complaints and are weighing all the issues involved with the ad
banner placement, but again: Everything I see says the banner ad isn't
going away.
Over the weekend, it looks like there was a temporary outage
over at advertising.com, which is an AOL-owned company that serves up
ads all over AOL, including those on AOL Journals. This meant that
there were sporadic outages (now resolved) of the banner ads on your
Journals. It was a techncial problem -- we weren't toying with you.
Also
over the long holiday weekend, several different news outlets carried
the "You've Got Ads" story that originally ran Wednesday on WashingtonPost.com.
You know something's up when it rates its own Fark.com discussion thread.
Weblogs, Inc. CEO (and now AOL employee) Jason Calacanis
has weighed in on the issue in his blog, raising a lot of different
issues regarding transparency, the role of PR and corporate
communications, listening to members and more.
I'm not going to address Jason's points, since I agree with nearly everything he says.
For
my own part, I haven't injected a lot of my own personal feelings about
the ads in doing these blog entries, mostly because win, lose or draw,
I have to live with whatever happens.
(Incidentally, this has
led some people to speculate that I am gaining personally from the
presence of the ad banners in some way. I don't know how -- kickbacks?
A performance bonus? -- suffice it to say, I do not.)
There's
also been a lot of internal discussion and debate on why we did this,
how we did this, what we can do to make things right, what we would do
if we could, etc.
For the record, I don't like the ads, I don't get the business rationale behind them and I am personally against them. However, as they say: Talk is cheap.
I can rant and rave against the ad banners, but in my opinion, if they don't go away, that may give me a few points as an "Earnest, Authentic Blogger", but I lose several thousand points on the "You're a Big Dumb Hypocrite" side of the board.
That's it for right now; talk to you later. Thanks -- Joe
36 comments:
glad to hear you agree with Jason....... Joe, why is it not possible to remove the ads from the paid account journals right now, and from that date forward all new blogs get them? Call it a concession to the journalers that built this place (aol didn't build it), and anybody coming on board from X date or later can make the informed choice BEFORE they put all the work into building a journal???? Why is that not feasible, and why will nobody address it?
judi
Well, Joe, they may say that talk is cheap, but what you just said is worth bundles to me. I don't think anybody thought you (or John, for that matter), as seasoned bloggers, applauded the addition of advertising, but it sure is good to hear (read?) you actually say it. And if we know (now for certain as opposed to speculating) that you are in there, in whatever capacity you are in, arguing against them, we can go forward. So thanks, for what that's worth, from me.
Okay now. What is fark.com?
~~ jennifer
Never mind. I just visited fark.com. I know now. Not for the faint of heart, apparently. ROFLMAO
~~ jennifer
You too, I do not know how to cook turkey & my sister do not want me to keep the turkey from Thanksgiving. Why? Because she is a vegertarian & a veggie lady do not want my uncooked turkey allowed in her oven & she got me fed up. And I am trying to find a simple solution of how to save my uncooked turkey. It ain't magic. Oh, it is her oven alright, & she maybe afraid that her oven will explode & will go up in smoke. So I decided to save the uncooked turkey in the freezer & let the turkey freeze itself up. It is heavy & unused. And I want to eat it so badly. Gobble, Gobble everybody!
It's good to hear YOUR thoughts on the matter, and not just the canned corporate talk. I certainly understand you saying that this is how it is and you have to live with it, because so do we, unfortunately. They are talking about how to make it right? they are far from that, it appears. Mr. Calacanis has some WONDERFUL suggestions. I wish those with decision making power, would pay attention. Alot could be gained by doing so.
thanks for the update, Joe.
Judith -- Early on, the tech folks had proposed grandfathering current AOL Journalers so they could keep their blogs ad-free. It's technically possible (though in techspeak, just about anything is "technically possible"; with enough resources, they could make it so your Journal could do your dishes, but you need to commit the resources, which are unfortunately finite)...we can followup on this line of thinking, but unfortunately, I don't think the business rationale (such as it is) works, since the point of putting ads on Journals is to leverage the existing traffic and pageviews.
As noted, we're kicking around a lot of ideas regarding ad placements to try to balance the needs of the business with the needs of the customer -- I will let you know if we come up with anything.
Thanks -- Joe
The need of this customer is to have the ads removed entirely. I don't want to be "used" by AOL. I am not anybody's marketing tool.
What kind of traffic to you get when we have all left?
Virginia
Put the ads somewhere else. Oh wait, AOL can't because they've already used up EVERY FREAKIN AVAILABLE SPACE ON AOL for ads. It's a wonder our foreheads aren't taken over Joe.
" I don't think the business rationale (such as it is) works, since the point of putting ads on Journals is to leverage the existing traffic and pageviews."
Translation: The whole point of the ads was to use us and our journals for gain.
Nice.
Ari
Thanks Joe, for your update and your thoughts. They are appreciated.
Is this another "miss-fire???" The ads are gone????? Whoa...
" I don't think the business rationale (such as it is) works, since the point of putting ads on Journals is to leverage the existing traffic and pageviews."
Hi, my name is Omar and I'm being exploited.
Okay, so if we're stuck with these ads, and anything's possible with technology...how about the option of what ad we have there. I mean come on, I can live with an ad for stopping child abuse. I'd be exploited for that in a heartbeat. I mean has that even been discussed?
eeks... I freaked I guess... they're back :-(
Hi...tech folks are rebooting the servers, so you might see some weirdness, including the disappearing ad banner.
I'd also seen a broken image in place of one of the blue buttons, but it came back after I reloaded.
That should be it -- no outage is expected. Thanks -- Joe
Joe:
Here's what the advertisers think of TV:
The advertisements are "content"
The program is "filler"
I will not be filler.
http://redsneakz.blogspot.com
Haha, I'm so glad some sites are picking up on this story. All in all, this whole thing is a complete embarrassment for AOL...I mean, the last thing they need is bad press with them already loosing thousands of subscribers each year.
Joe you just cant win for loosing on the banner issue. I do hope they get the patch thru for the entries and stating I am not endoring the ads. I have a problem with the aol though and I LL email you if you have a fix for it.
Hey, Joe. Can I change my screen name and keep my existing journal under the new one? My teenagers snicker at my screen name and they finally told me that the suffix 420 on my SN means "stoner." I just want to change the 420 bit on it. Once again, THANKS, Joe.
I agree with one of the commentors. If there were ads that actually helped like against child abuse or anti-drug ads, I wouldn't mind it so much. I still have concern with the flashing ones. Our journal As I Am has readers that are bothered by them. Oh an I am still getting two of each comment!
I think the only thing that should matter here is the customers Joe........ that is the only way I understand business ethic.... you treat the customers right and they will stay with you. I really do not think aol understands just what they are killing here. I am sad beyond words.
judi
Joe, I work for a non-profit institution as a fundraiser (that means I'm basically a walking, talking advertisement), and I understand the concept of being part of the machine. I also understand what it means to be a small fish in a big pond.
I have never blamed you for any of this ad nonsense, but I am glad to see you take a personal stand in your journal. It does give credence to your support of the community, which in the end, is the whole point of journals and America On-Line.
With peace and love,
Charley
http://journals.aol.com/CDittric77/Courage
Thanks for your comments, Joe.
It's sad to hear that "There's also been a lot of internal discussion and debate on why we did this, how we did this, what we can do to make things right, what we would do if we could, etc." in the sense that it's clear that the "higher-ups" had no idea what had been created "down here." They just saw it as a commercial enterprise onto which they could slap more advertising. The transparenency suggested by Jason Calconis is clearly the way to go, but there are obviously people up there who have no idea that the rest of us are here, too. Ironic, isn't it, that the very people responsible for creating a forum for a community never even knew it existed? And/or that there are media people so inured to advertising that they have no idea that the world is full of people who hate it, actively avoid it, and want no personal connection to it.
Thanks for the update Joe! I agree with what a couple of other commenters have said. I could live with the ads if I had some control over what I am 'sponsering'. I wouldn't mind being exploited for a good cause <g>.
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind
http://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com/
DANG! They rip AOL and us "dumb" customers to shreds over at Fark. "AOL never fails to amuse. Therefore, they provide an important service to the rest of the net."
Nice to see that I am put into a subcategory of computer users because I pay for AOL which I guess, by most is considered a dinosaur that only Internet incompetent ppl use. Maybe this whole Ad Banner situation (as much as it deeply hurts) was the wake up call we needed so we can start weaning ourselves off AOL, since you know, it will be obsolete in the next 3yrs. umf.
I think they should use some of the ad banner revenue to give you a pay raise & improve our journals, maybe get more staff to work on the technical problems. I know that would help settle my problems with it all... Maybe you could pass that on to your higher-ups.
Shadie
Fark.com cracks me up.
I've noticed that the people who openly hate on AOL are always tech-geek types who seem to be making the one stand that they can against the masses that doesn't involve the chance of them being slapped around a bit.
The rationale I used when deciding whether or not to flee AOL Journals when they whored out their journal community is almost entirely based on the fact that I feel that I can get the most readers to my journal here.
I could sign up to blog on Fark.com, but why bother? I could be heard by more people simply by sticking my head out the window and yelling. A common denominator I've seen among non-AOL blogs discussing the Whoring is that they usually get only 5 or 6 comments in pieces they write that don't concern AOL.
For all the talking down that the pencil-necks on Fark.com do, I had never heard of their site until they wrote about AOL, and I can see me not returning there unless they write something else that relates to me personally. It's a cheap site with awful graphics and a bunch of flashing ads that may just produce a Grand Mal seizure in someone. I can see Fark.com vanishing from the market in a few years, and their users being scattered to the 4 winds.
It's kind of sad to see that I'll be the only person defending AOL (warts and all) on that page.... and that I have to wait 23 hours to post a comment after signing up.
I like Joe personally, but I wouldn't want someone working for me who could see that Fark.com anti-AOL-leaning article and not hit back a bit in the comments. Never let a man spit in your nest... or even AT your nest. AOL can hire all the techies they want... but they need a few people who can get into the gutter, if need be.
I had a dream last night that included my original aol journal. I awoke from that dream, and as I often do when I cannot sleep in the middle of the night, I thought of what I would post today. When reality crashed in and I remembered the ad banners, and the fact that I am not writing at aol until they come down, it was a sad moment.
AOL execs have NO IDEA how important and special every one of these journals is.
judi
If I had the type of job performance in my employment as a police officer that is (barely) demonstrated by the AOL Tech division, I'd be dead, in prison, or on trial.
So, what DOES work?
ummm what's with the fonts on the journal now??? size 12 fonts are smaller then size 10!!.. it's tiresome to continue "editing" to find a font thats correct.. any suggestions?
http://journals.aol.com/deslily/HereThereandEverywhere/
http://herethereandeverywhere2ndedition.blogspot.com/
.....It's technically possible (though in techspeak, just about anything is "technically possible"; with enough resources, they could make it so your Journal could do your dishes, but you need to commit the resources, ......
Of course! Then this is out of the question. Aol must have feeling for its customers to dedicate RESOURCES to accomodate their paying customers.
http://deabvt.blogspot.com/
V
Dear Mr. AOL Journals Editor and Caretaker of Mini-brouhaha Central,
I'm baaaack!!! Bet you're thrilled about that too, huh? "Uh oh"
hmmm.... now that I've gone a few days without blogging (My Thanksgiving was fantastic, thank-you) I can honestly say, I'm not surprised to come back here and get more of the same bureaucratic rhetoric that we all have been getting for: How many days now? I understand the problems this little/big/had to happen "update" has caused. what I don't understand is why it's taking such, in my opinion, humongous ginormous Customer Based Service Plea/Outcry/Whatever to trash the whole shabang and start completely over without all of the technical bugs that came with it. ? If Grandfathering is the ultimate solution for us J-Land Elders, I'll be expecting the big chunk of cash in my hand very very soon -it's been six months since AOL has been giving away, what I HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR, for free. I still have some hope left. But! If these "problems" persist, you can be sure that I WILL be demanding some kind of kickback for my "petty little inconveniences".
and.....
(dang, to be cont...)
(part 2)
What EXACTLY (give us something -maybe a little "anything") are the "mini-brouhaha" "issues" that are being weighed here. The damn thing is broke! Since the Hijacking began it's been one problem after another. How much money is being weighed? I can't SEE it measuring up. We (the Elders) are a small loyal crowd that WERE minding our OWN business when we were attacked and sabotaged during the night. So... Retribution shouldn't be too painful for Mr. AOL Big Man Bully, right? hmmmm... Correct?
I haven't read "all" of the articles and feedback, so please give me "some" leeway with this comment for now. This is a big fat "me me me" "I I I" "you you you" comment, I know. I'm cool with these ads not being your thing either but, I'm not sure if this (constant questioning about what exactly is being done) is something, I'm sure, you would just wish would go away also....
Sorry, I'm still hanging on the fence with that. The "Hi Folks." is a dead give away.
Barb-
Interesting that Jason had to speak his own mind before you'd speak *yours*, Joe... Were you just waiting to see if speaking one's mind could get one fired or not...? "For the record, I don't like the ads, I don't get the business rationale behind them and I am personally against them. However, as they say: Talk is cheap." Actually, in this case, talk would have at least let all the angry journalers here know that you're more than just a corporate slave...
But I digress --
"I know that the execs are aware of your complaints and are weighing all the issues involved with the ad banner placement, but again: Everything I see says the banner ad isn't going away." So basically, your bosses have decided that they'll flip us the bird as long as they can get away with it and they're making money... Nice to know...
But this issue isn't going away, Joe... We're going to make noise til we get what we want... Eventually, AOL is going to have to deal with us, one way or another...
a fark quote:
"As America Online turns more toward advertising dollars to offset the shrinking number of subscribers who pay a monthly fee, the company may be upsetting the longtime customers who have remained faithful over the years."
The lesson here? The best way to save a floundering business model is to alienate your remaining consumer base.
When your mass-marketing strategy for delivering 1025 free hours of AOL into the hands of every man, woman, child, orangutan and flying squirrel on the planet fails...DON'T think to update your marketing strategy. NEVER adapt. REFUSE to change -- all while the amorphous internet continually reshapes itself.
Cheers to you, AOL. If the Cretaceous era taught us anything, it's that adaptation is overrated."
http://beyondmediatv.com/
Dear Joe,
Hope you had one too.
Thank you for the updates.
I'm still hoping that archives will be easier to track one day.
hugs,
natalie
h
how can you find all movies on here
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