Anyone else having trouble with the site?

[beachreader]

It wasn't too bad this morning, but last night and just now I'm having such slow reactions on the site. I think it might be related to that obnoxious Macy's banner ad with all the stuff moving around on it.

I know James has to make money, and I'm glad he's able to find advertisers to support the site (I am not anti-advertising in general), but I can't figure out any other reason why everything is so bloody slow. I'm OK on other sites, so I don't think it's my computer.

It's very frustrating and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep coming back.

[AdGuy]

I am not anti-advertising in general.

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_20_3.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxmk762YYUS)


Now that you mention it, I've had a few times over the past 48 hours where it just chugged along. I had to close out than refresh to fix.

[DougSR]

It's been slow for me around lunch each day. I'll click the link and then just bog. Then suddenly it's rolling again. No worries. :confused:

[minniemex]

Same here for me!! In a previous PM to James he mentioned that we are getting larger and he may need to move us to our own server. It could be that. We are just having growing pains.

I will send him a PM over on Playa.Info, but he usually checks in here at least every other day.

[Lynnette]

VERY slow last night and this morning. I'm getting work done between threads it takes so long to load. ;)

[PhyllisB]

Usually happens when we've exceeded bandwidth or something like that. James'll get it running right again I'm sure.

[beachreader]

OK, glad it's not just me, thanks!

I don't suppose we can ask for non-moving banner ads, can we? I find them seriously annoying, though I suppose they pay more and I can really just move my screen down a bit so I don't see them.

[beachreader]

It's much better now, and I'm noticing that there's no dancing Macy's ad at the top anymore, so I guess that must be the problem.

[james]

It's much better now, and I'm noticing that there's no dancing Macy's ad at the top anymore, so I guess that must be the problem.The adverts are Google AdSense. They are actually loaded off-site and the size of the code is tiny so it's not that. Ads are geo-targeted so what someone sees in the US will be different from what someone sees in Mexico or Sweden. I've not seen the 'dancing Macy's ad' but I'm sorry if some adverts are annoying, blame Lee, not me, I don't choose them.

They work like this: when visitors click on adverts, Google "feels" the click and keeps track of it. We get paid (a tiny amount) for the click, which helps us offset the costs of maintaining this site.

There are no revenue streams on this site beyond the Google AdSense, so we are 100% funded by the advert clicks ( in other words, this site operates in the red).

I'm GMT +1 here in Sweden, 6 hours ahead of the US Eastern Standard time, so I'm often on this site during the off-peak time, and it loads as quickly as any other site I visit.

I'll open a ticket with the hosting company and see if they have any plans to bump up peak capacity.
I had to close out then refresh to fix.Hmm. Sounds like a browser problem if that actually did anything. HTTP speed should be independent of your browser.

[AdGuy]

I've not seen the 'dancing Macy's ad' but I'm sorry if some adverts are annoying, blame Lee, not me, I don't choose them.

Wow...that bus James sent me is sure getting close and picking up speed! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/12/12_7_8.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxmk762YYUS) Heading right for me! Arrrgghhh!! :p


Hmm. Sounds like a browser problem if that actually did anything. HTTP speed should be independent of your browser.

It could be but I'm not having the problem on other sites. It probably just "gives me something to do" and, when I come back later, the traffic might be different. I'd probably have similar results by running around the block and coming back...but that sound like no fun! :D

[beachreader]

Well, I haven't had any problems since the Macy's ad went away, but I guess you're saying that's a coincidence? OK.

I'll keep an eye on things and see when/if it happens again.

[think]

It's been fine for me today and pretty much always is. However yesterday and maybe the day before it was very slow.

9 63 ms 62 ms 63 ms te3-4.co2.as30217.net [84.40.24.50]
10 74 ms 68 ms 65 ms e49te.dr5.as30217.net [84.40.24.82]
11 68 ms 62 ms 65 ms e49te.dr6.as30217.net [84.40.24.38]
12 65 ms 78 ms 65 ms bce0-ss1.sr1b.as30217.net [84.40.24.138]
13 73 ms 77 ms 73 ms 100-156-232-66.tpa.kgix.net [66.232.156.100]

[james]

thanks for the tracert. It's fine for me as well, though I don't doubt that there may be issues.

The server is being moved to a newer datacenter over the summer. Faster machine and faster network, so things will only improve.

thanks for all the feedback!

[beachreader]

Thanks, James!

[FITZ]

So everytime an ad gets clicked it's a good thing. Does just going to Tulum.info generate any revenue or does one have to click on an advertisement or is it both? I'm not trying to be nosey about any income, I've just always have been curious.

[james]

there are *some* adverts that pay by impression (an amount for every thousand times they are shown) but most Adsense adverts are based on clicks alone, so just having one show up doesn't generate any income for the site hosting the ad.

[beachreader]

That's a drag. Maybe I'll start clicking on some ads for the cause.

[james]

That's a drag. Maybe I'll start clicking on some ads for the cause.only click ads that interest you, please don't click to 'help', thanks!

My explanation of how things work is in no way a request for clicks, which I'm sure is against the terms of use for the advertising service. I just wanted to explain that I didn't think the ads were causing delays, and how they work and why they are here.

thanks!