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Advertising overload is killing your website

You are destroying your website, which has been drowned in a sea of intrusive and annoying advertising. Allmusic used to be my favourite music website, and I used it for many years for teaching and research.

Now, I'd rather use Wikipedia, which has more comprehensive information without the advertising overkill. Your website is dying, and only the website managers can save it. Limit advertising, update information, or your supporters will abandon you.

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JH

I've used AllMusic as a source for hundreds of citations on Wikipedia - I consider it close to definitive in terms of reliability. However, I all but stopped visting the site several years ago because the popups made it near impossible to use, so I in recent years I've limited my visits to quick lookups for a radio show I host and nothing more.

Tonight, I thought I'd give it another shot for an article I'm working on, but after 20 minutes or so I had to bail when an ad wouldn't close - the top-right button was labelled Close but the popup persisted and eventually it took over the screen.

I understand the need to monetize an enterprise and have no problem with ads in general. But your approach, the design of how you're forcing these messages on visitors, strikes me as self-defeating. Anyway, I know I'm defeated. The cost in time is a deterrent and I'm not about to pay ransom, especially since I have countless alternatives. Try something a bit more user friendly, for example, a sidebar that stays there on a PC or bottom bar for phones. Anyway, thanks for all your fine information but not for how you're trying to pay for it.

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JH

No, advertising overload is of Allmusic's doing, to the point that I (among many other readers, I'm sure) rarely visit your site any more. I have no problem with website advertising - we all have to make a living and readers of both print and electronic media readily accept this reality. But your approach with popups and the like that stop readers in their tracks borders on extortion. Akin to pay up or go away. I've opted for the latter.   

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JH

Hmmm. I see this wasn't my first complaint. It's been nearly a year since the one immediately below. I'm sure I made a visit or two, but also for sure, I didn't stay long. Really, you're getting this kind of thoughtful feedback from visitors and still you persist? I had to be a negative Nellie, especially with an organization that was once a successful publisher known for its solid reliability. A shame,

JT

There’s no chance of me either paying their fee (that they deny trying to impose), or accepting the overwhelming bombardment of trashy pop-ups that obscure content. It’s been 4 years since I first posted in this thread, and they still haven’t figured out how to manage effectively, and I don think they ever will. You can’t explain this shit away. I donate to wikipedia annually, because they don’t suck. I can get much of the same info there. 

JH

I want AllMusic to make money via advertising but how dare they allow ads to take over my entire screen playing a video ad multiple times after canceling them. THE most invasive ads I've ever seen are on this site.

GG

Came on here to say the same. This is a great database, but the site is totally jacked functionally by the ads. If I want to use the search engine, I literally have to time my checking boxes, because I know the page is going to scroll down automatically every 2 seconds. They either haven't found a way to make their revenue work so the site isn't totally plundered by ads or they just don't care it seems.

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