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Why do I have ads when I am paying NOT to have them?

  1. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    I notice with dismay that I now have advertising on my blog - even though when I signed up I paid with the understanding I was paying to not have advertisements.

    In the info, you say that free blogs will have occasional advertising on them, but not only is mine not free, but the advertising appears to be permanent - at least, it's always there whenever I look.

    It's terribly tasteless and spammy advertising too - the completely misleading type. I mean it was telling the reader they were the millionth person on my blog, when I haven't even got half a million views over all.

    I'm quite distressed about this, especially as I was led to believe I would never have advertising on my blog.

    Can you please explain why I am not getting what I paid for?

    The blog I need help with is waltzingmorethanmatilda.com.

  2. timethief
    Member

    Do you have an active No-Ads Upgrade?
    Look here:
    Store > My Upgrades

  3. timethief
    Member

    To off-set the costs of providing free hosting to millions of bloggers, WordPress.com has been running advertising on our free hosted blogs since 2006. Many bloggers do not know this because despite the fact they ticked the box required to get a free blog, they did not read the ToS. Many also do not read the advertising entry in the support documents after registering their username and blog(s). Also note that as the ads do not display to us when we are logged in, and as many use browsers with ad blockers when logged out, they may not realize they are there at all.

    If the ads you see are found at the end of blog posts then what you are seeing is WordPress.com generated advertising.

    WordPress.com does not use text enhance or text link ads or pop-up ads or links in comments. If you are seeing those then that's a browser-ad-on issue, or in some cases, it's embedded into free games downloaded from the internet. See here: Bloggers: Beware of Adware.

    If what you are seeing whenever you save or update a post or page is an automatically added code/script block at the end of posts and pages that you can't delete then see here: Malware Targets Macs and Windows PCs

    All of WordPress.com ads are family-friendly. If you feel an ad is inappropriate please take a screenshot of it, upload it via Media -> Add New to your Media Library. Then return to this thread to post the file name to let Staff them know it's there for them to view.

    Lastly, note to eliminate all advertising on our free hosted WordPress.com blogs we can purchase an annually renewable No-Ads upgrade.

  4. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    As far as I know it's active, and I can't think why it would be inactive.

    I do recall when I signed up it said "Do You Want NO Ads?" and I said yes to that option.

    It would be great if someone who has access to my account can tell what exactly I paid for.

  5. timethief
    Member

    The No-Ads upgrade is an annually renewable upgrade. You can access your upgrades page and take note of whether or not you have the No-Ads upgrade in effect or if the upgrade has expired.
    http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/keep-your-upgrades-in-order/

    Please do that for me now.
    Dashboard > Store > My Upgrades
    Dashboard > Store > Billing History

  6. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    I clicked on the $30 Ad Free and it's somehow bundled with other things and is $79.

    Can you explain how I just pay the $30? I have already paid for my domain name, I don't want to pay for it again, and I don't want the other things it's bundled with, like extra space and Video Press.

  7. timethief
    Member

    Hi again,
    Thanks for the updated information. I've flagged this thread for Staff to work through this with you. Please be patient while waiting.

  8. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    Thank you.

  9. raincoaster
    Member

    Also, please go through your browser add-ons and confirm none of them are doing this. There are tons of extensions that cause unwanted ads to appear in your browser. I am not using any adblockers and I see no ads on your blog.

  10. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    I can see them on a browser that doesn't have any add-ons.

  11. justjennifer
    Member

    Since you have a Custom domain, there is a chance that you may have WordAds activated on your site. WordAds is the WordPress.com ad revenue sharing program. http://wordads.co/

    Please look in your Dashboard under Settings and see if you see WordAds there. If you do, you can turn them off.

  12. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    There is no history of a No Ads upgrade on your account, just a domain registration for $25, and a later renewal of the same registration the next year for $25.

    DId you ever receive a receipt for a No Ads upgrade?

  13. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    No I think I thought it was bundled because during the sign-up that's how it was made to sound, or that paying for my blog meant that it wasn't "free", as to me, free means that no money at all has changed hands during the transaction. Caveat emptor, I guess.

    Thanks to everyone for their answers, which have certainly provoked many more questions for me.

  14. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    Yes, the domain registration only pays for the domain name itself. It doesn't cover the other costs here, like server hardware, bandwidth, personnel, etc.

    The only things that are designed to cover those costs (and not just the specific upgrades they provide) are the ads or the No Ads upgrade.

  15. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    For future reference, is it possible to only pay $30 for the $30 upgrade?

  16. timethief
    Member

    Yes, of course it is. I pay for the No-Ads Upgrade and it costs $30.00 US per blog, per year. http://en.support.wordpress.com/no-ads/

  17. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    I think you may be getting the upgrade confused with the bundle.

    The $99 Value Bundle does include the No Ads upgrade, but the No Ads upgrade can also be purchased separately for $30.

  18. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    It's just that when I press on the button which says "Pay $30 for No-Ads upgrade" it puts the $79 bundle into my shopping cart.

  19. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    Hm, that's very odd.

    Would you please check your shopping cart to make sure that the bundle isn't already there?

    Since the bundle includes No Ads, you won't be able to add No Ads if the bundle is already in the cart.

    If the bundle is in the cart, remove it and try again.

    If it isn't, please try from the Store section of your blog's Dashboard instead.

  20. waltzingmorethanmatilda
    Member

    Yes that was the problem - I removed everything from my chart, and it was fine.

    I'm now wondering if that's why I thought I had already paid for it - if I put it in my shopping cart, but the payment didn't go through for some reason, that would explain it.

    Thank you.

  21. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    You're welcome!

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