The ads are out of control. I'm savvy enough on a computer to block 99% of ads without an ad blocker (a little hosts file editing will redirect the advertiser IPs to your local loop, but look like they succeeded). Most people will not know how to do this, and many people only access this site on mobile devices. Some are probably on Macs, and I don't know how to do that on those computers.
If the $40 subscription fee isn't the same as whatever you're getting from ads, then up it to make it worth it. The subscription page has been broken for months and results in this (after entering valid credit card info and such):
On my phone, it's way worse. Here's what is being broadcast in the mobile version, and note that it cannot be closed:
Really? You want some new reader to begin reading an article, maybe be intrigued, and then come across a "Trump is awesome!" ad? I can't think that's right. And what mortgage stimulus program did McConnell pass again? That's not the only one:
“Trump ends another Obama Era Program!” the stupid hat screams. You mean the ACA, environmental issues, international treaties, NAFTA? Which bill exactly did Obama enact that Trump removed that suddenly made home ownership more affordable for the Average Joe/Jane?
And how is Congress enacting this without the Senate? It’s a blatant appeal to the uninformed person, which most here are not. Congress has passed a bunch of legislation that has gone through McConnell’s shredder, and nothing about “Congress’s Stimulus Program” is a law that magically changes dates, depending on when you see it. In fact, I don’t know what the hell the ads here are talking about. Maybe there’s something that Congress has passed that McConnell used for toiler paper, but any sort of “mortgage stimulus program” would probably be pretty big news if it got enacted. Meaning that these ads are incredibly deceptive.
Not only are these ads deceptive at best (the changing date), they are crediting the worst thing to happen to America since, well, probably 2001. The people at LowerMyBills[dot]com appear to be responsible for them (going by the website listing in the second ad). It’s obfuscation at a time when we don’t need anymore of that.
This doesn't include all the ads on the bottom of the mobile page that constantly reload and have to be closed, which is an 80/20 proposition on whether or not you hit the tiny X correctly.
Seriously, now. I've brought this up before. I've emailed the helpdesk. I've done everything that can be reasonably expected of a frequent visitor. There's no way a credit card verification system is this difficult to install. I've done it. It takes a week. They have plug-ins and provide test CC numbers. It's not 100% drag-and-drop, but it's close.
Please, for the love of everything good (and so potential new users don't see "Trump has done it again!" ads only to be disappointed that it's an ad about something Trump didn't do), get. This. Fixed.
Thank you.