In general, yes.  Ads generally pay per view and per click, although some are only pay per view only, and some are pay per click only.  Seeing the same ad again typically pays less than the first impression, but still pays.  If you hit refresh 100 times, you probably will not get the same ad for all 100 times.

I don't think it's a case that Malware on this site has always been taken seriously in the past. It seemed to have the same infections for weeks on end. I stayed clear of the site for a few months because of this. But I have to say that in the last year or so things have been much better, to the extent that I now concider it to be a safe site.

Dangit! You got to that post before I removed it. For some reason the last sentence didn't input properly in the quoted post. Further, I didn't like my tone, so I reworded it (my edited post can be found a few posts back).

Anyway, I fully understand what you are saying, and I see the issues you face. Your need to generate income must be balanced against annoying your user base too much.

For me, the full-screen "forced-interaction" ads (what are they properly titled?) are a step too far. They cheapen my experience here and make the site unenjoyable to visit. The moving banners are, to be blunt, an arse, and I don't like them, but if handled correctly they do not bother me so much. Having a moving banner cover a part of the screen that contains no actual content is coolio with me (over the site's banner, or a section of it, as a single example), even if I don't like them, but having them cover content interrupts my use of your site, and makes it less enjoyable and convenient to visit.

For me, that's the key: ease of browsing. If your ads interrupt my browsing and make it a pain to navigate your site, I'll not want to visit. If your ads are complementray to your site (and, importantly if you want to come across as a gaming site, and not a site just out for ad money: relevant as well), then I have no issue in the slightest.

As I said, I'm not the sort of user that wants everything for free. Adverts make you money. So, use them. However, if you use them to an extent that it becomes a pain to navigate your site, then you will drive users away. Or, at the very least, you will drive me away.

Hand on heart, I would dearly hope that would never be the case, but I can understand that it may become so.

Please please please

It may pay well but no more Rollover ads, I beg you.

This particular ad was mistakenly activated, pretty much every time I page scrolled.

Ironically my hatred for it (rational or otherwise) was the main reason I DIDNT buy Bioshock 2

I have no issues in general with ads, but I do have 3 major issues which has caused me to use an ad blocker, things like Ads taking over your screen, adds with annoying sounds that play when you’re not even on them, and in general adds that are so badly coded they slow down the browser, the 1st and last are the ones I've experienced here on VG, these are the things I classify as intrusive and something I do not tolerate.

I know that these more intrusive ads pay more, but at the same times it's a catch 22, as the content holder, do you go for higher pay at the cost of your user base blocking the ads in effect decreasing your income in the long run, or do you take a slight income hit while keeping your readership happy enough that they don't use an ad blocker which in effect guarantees to some degree a continued steady income.

my 2 cents.

Is this referencing blocking all ads? I see ads on this site but always have popups blocked mostly bc they are annoying and some are malicious.

Can we complain about the ads. Or better yet express a pref for a certain type and only get exposed to those.

I got an idea. Why don't you increase ads for people who aren't members. This would result in more people being members, then if they were really fussed with the current level of ads they could pay $2 dollars a month or $10 to remove them for a year!

This would result in greater revenue, no change in ads for current members and a greater number of members meaning a more active community!

I should run a business.

I don't block ads on this site, and will continue not too.

For me, the line should be drawn under two points (and this is without too much thought, I'll admit):

1) Adverts that impede site navigation.

2) Adverts that make noises without user input.

1 makes the site feel like it is more about adverts than the content, and cheapens the experience. Further, I would suggest the cost is far greater than a simple 5% loss for a week (to use your suggestion). The cost is to your image. Slowly, you become less the site about console sales and gaming, and more the site about grubbing your users for money.

2 is just a crime for more reasons than I can list.

So, to counter your: 'but at the end of the day if we get an offer for an ad that will pay well and only annoy a small amount of users then we have to go for it': I would have to say that no, you don't have to. Your reputation can and will be affected by poor choices of adverts, and that won't show in a simple check of the number of visits in a week. What do you want this site to be known as? The site of adverts where getting money is the primary concern? Or the site that is a centre for gaming and gaming sales? Of course, you are running a business, but most businesses don't like thrusting their drive for money into their customers' faces, as it tends to get a very poor response. I truly believe that if you focus too much on the adverts, your image will suffer for it in the long term. There is a reason advertisers offer more money for the bloody annoying adverts, after all.

That said, if money is more important than an overall reputation for your site, then it really won't matter in the slightest how I or others feel about the adverts. Your core users will presumably be happy with matters as they stand, and others will troll away (probably elsewhere), claiming VGC is little more than an excuse to generate advert revenue, but that won't matter as the money will be rolling in, albeit at the cost of an easy to navigate site and a generally positive reputation.

In short: very intrusive ads makes it appear that you're only in it for the money, no matter if it is the case or not, and makes the site a pain to navigate. The costs of this are unlikely to be felt in the short-term, however.