Why Does Newschoolers Sell Our Data?

[SpicyK]

(moved to here from news bc haha, I am an idiot.)

Hey Everyone, this post is less about skiing than anything else, but I feel strongly about this so felt I should share. I do not understand why it is even optional to have your data collected and sold on Newschoolers, or any site for that matter. Shouldn't the creators and admin of the site care about our data being secure? Is the money, along with the top and bottom banner ads, significant enough to run the site and turn a profit? I care about where my data goes, and I care about the community of this site. I remember a little while ago they "got Newschoolers back" what does that mean? That new people are here to portray this illusion of community? Newschoolers should be a site away from all the BS of the true internet, except our classic trolls and rage baiters. I don't mean to sound like an idiot, so please let me know if I do, or feel free explain any of the questions I've asked above - Spicy K

 

[Lenny-]

[tag=1706]@Mr.Bishop[/tag]

 

[skierman]

YO STOP SELLING MY COOKIES!

 

[Mr.Bishop]

(moved to here from news bc haha, I am an idiot.)

Hey Everyone, this post is less about skiing than anything else, but I feel strongly about this so felt I should share. I do not understand why it is even optional to have your data collected and sold on Newschoolers, or any site for that matter. Shouldn't the creators and admin of the site care about our data being secure? Is the money, along with the top and bottom banner ads, significant enough to run the site and turn a profit? I care about where my data goes, and I care about the community of this site. I remember a little while ago they "got Newschoolers back" what does that mean? That new people are here to portray this illusion of community? Newschoolers should be a site away from all the BS of the true internet, except our classic trolls and rage baiters. I don't mean to sound like an idiot, so please let me know if I do, or feel free explain any of the questions I've asked above - Spicy K

So I mean the bottom line is that yes, it is about Money. You see, we did in fact "get this back" but there are still mouths to feed, servers to keep online, content to buy, code to write, etc. All of these things require money, and without it - Newschoolers simply ceases to exist.

Now - that is all on the presumption that people don't want to pay subscriptions to be members of Newschoolers to pay the bills. That is an option we can definitely consider, and something which could simply give an option as to whether or not you want to have it for free (supported with ads) or pay for it, and never see ads or anything that goes with them.

All that being said, I spent all of my in between years of my Newschoolers tenure running a company called Advally. We specialize in helping Advertising-based businesses do better with their programmatic advertising. Programmatic is when people buy ads non-direct on a site. We open up the channels to buy, and there's all kinds of auctions going on that purchase unsold inventory on the site. This is how a company like Ford, McDonalds, Burger King, Coke, etc. would advertise on Newschoolers. Since we're not part of a big company anymore, we aren't going to be getting those buys directly and having our inventory available on the open markets is the only way to get that cheddar.

This is where Anonymized User Data comes into play. Instead of sending a media kit to Line skis (Like Zorko and the sales team would do) we push this data out into the markets and advertisers bid on it. When they like what they see, we get paid.

Right now, there *should* be a consent banner running everywhere, so if you don't want your data sold you can just opt-out. Lets be honest - the entire free internet runs off of these systems, so it is not out of the ordinary to have your data flowing like this. I don't necessarily think it is *right* persay... and I support the changes coming to get rid of the 3rd party cookies - but right now the best solution is essentially for you to agree to give away your email address. Advertisers like bidding on data right now, so it is pretty difficult to get away from it as a whole.

We're open to ideas of course. Right now the #1 mission is to get solvent again, as we don't have a big company simply paying the bills. Newschoolers is currently being funded out of the shareholders pockets, and everyone is working for free. So we do need money to get ourselves sustained... but if we can figure out how to get that balance going then we're all about new ideas.

Let me ask you this - Is there a problem with the consent banner? You can reject selling data like that.

 

[dontdodead]

For some things to make the site money you could expand on the donator status to give you some cool features on the site like removing ads and giving you access to unique profile customization features(It’s cool as long as you don’t remove existing features). $5 is probably more money than a single person earns the site in ad money.

Maybe you guys could also expand on the online store, right now none of the tshirts are in stock and you could collaborate with some artists to make some killer unique shirts and après stuff(please leave out any big logos and anything that makes it look like merch, we will all feel more comfortable wearing them in public. Im thinking if they are styled like the printed tshirts at vans stores.) You could also do stuff like donate with your order and get complementary stickers/lanyard/socks/buttplug/etc.

So I mean the bottom line is that yes, it is about Money. You see, we did in fact "get this back" but there are still mouths to feed, servers to keep online, content to buy, code to write, etc. All of these things require money, and without it - Newschoolers simply ceases to exist.

Now - that is all on the presumption that people don't want to pay subscriptions to be members of Newschoolers to pay the bills. That is an option we can definitely consider, and something which could simply give an option as to whether or not you want to have it for free (supported with ads) or pay for it, and never see ads or anything that goes with them.

All that being said, I spent all of my in between years of my Newschoolers tenure running a company called Advally. We specialize in helping Advertising-based businesses do better with their programmatic advertising. Programmatic is when people buy ads non-direct on a site. We open up the channels to buy, and there's all kinds of auctions going on that purchase unsold inventory on the site. This is how a company like Ford, McDonalds, Burger King, Coke, etc. would advertise on Newschoolers. Since we're not part of a big company anymore, we aren't going to be getting those buys directly and having our inventory available on the open markets is the only way to get that cheddar.

This is where Anonymized User Data comes into play. Instead of sending a media kit to Line skis (Like Zorko and the sales team would do) we push this data out into the markets and advertisers bid on it. When they like what they see, we get paid.

Right now, there *should* be a consent banner running everywhere, so if you don't want your data sold you can just opt-out. Lets be honest - the entire free internet runs off of these systems, so it is not out of the ordinary to have your data flowing like this. I don't necessarily think it is *right* persay... and I support the changes coming to get rid of the 3rd party cookies - but right now the best solution is essentially for you to agree to give away your email address. Advertisers like bidding on data right now, so it is pretty difficult to get away from it as a whole.

We're open to ideas of course. Right now the #1 mission is to get solvent again, as we don't have a big company simply paying the bills. Newschoolers is currently being funded out of the shareholders pockets, and everyone is working for free. So we do need money to get ourselves sustained... but if we can figure out how to get that balance going then we're all about new ideas.

Let me ask you this - Is there a problem with the consent banner? You can reject selling data like that.

 

[SpicyK]

Yo, I really appreciate u getting back. I think it is important for you guys to make money & not leak our data like you said, I am more curious on the structure that will prevent that, especially if you guys aren’t currently being paid. One of the coolest things I own is my Newschoolers t shirt from ten years ago or so. I think many people like me and especially the youth need some Newschoolers merch. (Not merch) (but merch). I know that this community is for one, broke, but also willing to support NS so we can show our future kids these edits that aren’t anywhere else. One thing I’m wondering is, Who owns Newschoolers? Whose operating? I definitely don’t want to turn this place into discord, but mods & admins might just work for free, letting others have more time for importanter things. - thanks

So I mean the bottom line is that yes, it is about Money. You see, we did in fact "get this back" but there are still mouths to feed, servers to keep online, content to buy, code to write, etc. All of these things require money, and without it - Newschoolers simply ceases to exist.

Now - that is all on the presumption that people don't want to pay subscriptions to be members of Newschoolers to pay the bills. That is an option we can definitely consider, and something which could simply give an option as to whether or not you want to have it for free (supported with ads) or pay for it, and never see ads or anything that goes with them.

All that being said, I spent all of my in between years of my Newschoolers tenure running a company called Advally. We specialize in helping Advertising-based businesses do better with their programmatic advertising. Programmatic is when people buy ads non-direct on a site. We open up the channels to buy, and there's all kinds of auctions going on that purchase unsold inventory on the site. This is how a company like Ford, McDonalds, Burger King, Coke, etc. would advertise on Newschoolers. Since we're not part of a big company anymore, we aren't going to be getting those buys directly and having our inventory available on the open markets is the only way to get that cheddar.

This is where Anonymized User Data comes into play. Instead of sending a media kit to Line skis (Like Zorko and the sales team would do) we push this data out into the markets and advertisers bid on it. When they like what they see, we get paid.

Right now, there *should* be a consent banner running everywhere, so if you don't want your data sold you can just opt-out. Lets be honest - the entire free internet runs off of these systems, so it is not out of the ordinary to have your data flowing like this. I don't necessarily think it is *right* persay... and I support the changes coming to get rid of the 3rd party cookies - but right now the best solution is essentially for you to agree to give away your email address. Advertisers like bidding on data right now, so it is pretty difficult to get away from it as a whole.

We're open to ideas of course. Right now the #1 mission is to get solvent again, as we don't have a big company simply paying the bills. Newschoolers is currently being funded out of the shareholders pockets, and everyone is working for free. So we do need money to get ourselves sustained... but if we can figure out how to get that balance going then we're all about new ideas.

Let me ask you this - Is there a problem with the consent banner? You can reject selling data like that.

 

[Lenny-]

Ide pay ~$5 a month to be able to see who likes and dislikes what posts. Mods already abuse this by using it to call people out if they don't like them, I want that same ability.

I would never even consider wearing NS merch, or putting the logo on anything I own. Couldn't pay me.

I think having ads and selling data is probably the best course of action. If anything you can just use ad blocker and run a VPN if you want no ads and valid privacy. If the play store app never got pulled I would say sell an ad free version but that ship sailed. Even if the app came back I would stay on Firefox without ads.

Plus mods here abuse their ability to view IPs and selectively post peoples IP when they don't like someone. So there's massive incentives to use VPNs.

I would bet the best way to absolutely obliterate the user base this site has left is to make being able to post/be a member a paid subscription. That being said I would like to see y'all try.

 

[eheath]

Ide pay ~$5 a month to be able to see who likes and dislikes what posts. Mods already abuse this by using it to call people out if they don't like them, I want that same ability.

I would never even consider wearing NS merch, or putting the logo on anything I own. Couldn't pay me.

I think having ads and selling data is probably the best course of action. If anything you can just use ad blocker and run a VPN if you want no ads and valid privacy. If the play store app never got pulled I would say sell an ad free version but that ship sailed. Even if the app came back I would stay on Firefox without ads.

Plus mods here abuse their ability to view IPs and selectively post peoples IP when they don't like someone. So there's massive incentives to use VPNs.

I would bet the best way to absolutely obliterate the user base this site has left is to make being able to post/be a member a paid subscription. That being said I would like to see y'all try.

 

[Lenny-]

[tag=38820]@eheath[/tag]

 

[Lonely]

I

Plus mods here abuse their ability to view IPs and selectively post peoples IP when they don't like someone. So there's massive incentives to use VPNs.

Not being a fan of that is fine but I would say that saying that mods only post IP's when they don't like someone is a bit of an exaggeration.

The only instances I've personally seen are when some shitposter has 2, 3, or even more accounts that they use to well, post shit, and are getting called out (for breaking the alias rules) with proof.

I would know. It happened to me when I was 15 getting all my high school buddies to make accounts, and making a few myself to try and stir shit (all under the same IP) and clog up the forums. Caught a ban for it from Mr. Heath

Maybe you're just upset because that's something you did a lot of? I was pretty assmad when I was young too so I get it I guess

 

[Lenny-]

Not being a fan of that is fine but I would say that saying that mods only post IP's when they don't like someone is a bit of an exaggeration.

The only instances I've personally seen are when some shitposter has 2, 3, or even more accounts that they use to well, post shit, and are getting called out (for breaking the alias rules) with proof.

I would know. It happened to me when I was 15 getting all my high school buddies to make accounts, and making a few myself to try and stir shit (all under the same IP) and clog up the forums. Caught a ban for it from Mr. Heath

Maybe you're just upset because that's something you did a lot of? I was pretty assmad when I was young too so I get it I guess

No I just think it's an over stepping to post ip's publicly on the forums. Banning multiple accounts I have no problem with, especially if someone is stupid enough to leave evidence even a moron like Eheath could find. I would actually ban these accounts instantly instead of arguing with them and letting them harass members for 3-7 days before banning.

Also, you are stupid they didn't post milfys IP yet they posted the other retards because they disliked him more. That happened like last week are you not keeping up with the corruption lore?

 

[Lonely]

No I just think it's an over stepping to post ip's publicly on the forums. Banning multiple accounts I have no problem with, especially if someone is stupid enough to leave evidence even a moron like Eheath could find. I would actually ban these accounts instantly instead of arguing with them and letting them harass members for 3-7 days before banning.

Also, you are stupid they didn't post milfys IP yet they posted the other retards because they disliked him more. That happened like last week are you not keeping up with the corruption lore?

I guess I'm not keeping up on the corruption lore, but was Milfy posting on multiple accounts at once? Or did he make a new account, do stupid shit, and that one got banned as soon as he was found out?

I'm not going to say I support it outright, but there have been many an instance where a long-time member was posting on their main, and then responding to their own posts in to make it look like people agreed with them or to just break rules. Trying to fake a narrative. That usually gets a response with the picture of that same person and their accounts so people can see that all the people stirring shit are actually the same person using different accounts.

When it comes to someone who is banned and making multiple accounts...there isn't much point to show that since they aren't acting like multiple people. They're just trying to get around a ban, which is why they just get banned. Which happens all the time you just don't see it. Different things IMO

I know this is a personal issue for you, but believe it or not bans and showing that someone has multiple accounts isn't just done "because they don't like them". There's a lot of beefs and a lot of disliked people....yet they are still around, because they don't break rules or fuck with the site.

**This post was edited on Aug 18th 2024 at 10:30:20pm

 

[Lenny-]

I guess I'm not keeping up on the corruption lore, but was Milfy posting on multiple accounts at once? Or did he make a new account, do stupid shit, and that one got banned as soon as he was found out?

I'm not going to say I support it outright, but there have been many an instance where a long-time member was posting on their main, and then responding to their own posts in to make it look like people agreed with them or to just break rules. Trying to fake a narrative. That usually gets a response with the picture of that same person and their accounts so people can see that all the people stirring shit are actually the same person using different accounts.

When it comes to someone who is banned and making multiple accounts...there isn't much point to show that since they aren't acting like multiple people. They're just trying to get around a ban, which is why they just get banned. Which happens all the time you just don't see it. Different things IMO

I know this is a personal issue for you, but believe it or not bans and showing that someone has multiple accounts isn't just done "because they don't like them". There's a lot of beefs and a lot of disliked people....yet they are still around, because they don't break rules or fuck with the site.

**This post was edited on Aug 18th 2024 at 10:30:20pm

If the goal was to show it's the same person to the community there's ways to go about that without dropping someone's IP. For instance you could blur everything expect the last 3 digits.

It's really not that personal, my accounts been banned 3 or 4 times but never for having multiple accounts, Ide imagine there's a log you can look at to see that yourself. Also I've never had someone post my IP here, I just watched that happen and think it's gross, then that contributes to me not wanting to support this site.

Probably the main reason I would never want to wear the merch or support the site is because there's still tons of old racist threads that haven't been cleaned up, the community is largely xenophobic and the majority of people here are sexist. Kinda the same reason I wouldn't wear Facebook merch or allow Facebook to show me Ads.

Also you called me a scammer despite seeing evidence otherwise, because you didn't like my tone and the fact that I don't give out my phone number to retards. So corruption runs deep here, y'all are basically your own low rent swamp.

 

[Lonely]

If the goal was to show it's the same person to the community there's ways to go about that without dropping someone's IP. For instance you could blur everything expect the last 3 digits.

It's really not that personal, my accounts been banned 3 or 4 times but never for having multiple accounts, Ide imagine there's a log you can look at to see that yourself. Also I've never had someone post my IP here, I just watched that happen and think it's gross, then that contributes to me not wanting to support this site.

Probably the main reason I would never want to wear the merch or support the site is because there's still tons of old racist threads that haven't been cleaned up, the community is largely xenophobic and the majority of people here are sexist. Kinda the same reason I wouldn't wear Facebook merch or allow Facebook to show me Ads.

Also you called me a scammer despite seeing evidence otherwise, because you didn't like my tone and the fact that I don't give out my phone number to retards. So corruption runs deep here, y'all are basically your own low rent swamp.

Wait your that guy?? lmao

Are you saying that you didn't do all that? I saw the receipts. You were the one who asked me to remove that from your profile when nothing was said was wrong. Told bro shipping would be 60$ and then got caught out and went wild when you accidently had the receipt attatched.

Racist and threads such? Didn't you post the hitler skis and some...other images... about religious groups?

Never been banned for making multiple accounts? Bro I can see that shit.

C'mon man you gotta at least try with the trolling.

 

[Lonely]

You weren't nearly as upset about it back then...

"Lonely thank you for taking the time to respond to my problem I appreciate you. No other green name would even respond to me. I hope you at least got a laugh out of it.

My favorite part was in all his dumb ass messages he never asked how many times they were mounted. Arguably the most important question as they had been mounted 4 times already (many shops won't mount after 3)."

 

[Lenny-]

Wait your that guy?? lmao

Are you saying that you didn't do all that? I saw the receipts. You were the one who asked me to remove that from your profile when nothing was said was wrong. Told bro shipping would be 60$ and then got caught out and went wild when you accidently had the receipt attatched.

Racist and threads such? Didn't you post the hitler skis and some...other images... about religious groups?

Never been banned for making multiple accounts? Bro I can see that shit.

C'mon man you gotta at least try with the trolling.

I'm saying the guy didn't ever pay for shipping, he agreed to pay $250 for the skis I pay shipping not skis+shipping as I had offered originally because he didn't like the quote that USPS gave. I don't see why I have to explain this I thought you already understood. I didn't get "caught" doing anything and of course I didn't try to hide the price I paid. You didn't like the fact that I made fun of him for being an idiot and that I used a fake phone number so you called me a scammer, ok fine.

You can still pull up old threads that are just NS users having a racist circle jerk. That used to be this site. I put Eheaths head on Hitler then put that on a pair of ON3Ps (all the hasidic homies loved that). NS sponsored xenophobia against half the middle east this summer.

I've never been banned for having multiple accounts...

You weren't nearly as upset about it back then...

"Lonely thank you for taking the time to respond to my problem I appreciate you. No other green name would even respond to me. I hope you at least got a laugh out of it.

My favorite part was in all his dumb ass messages he never asked how many times they were mounted. Arguably the most important question as they had been mounted 4 times already (many shops won't mount after 3)."

Yeah and I'm still not mad about it today, but I am just as disappointed as I was a year ago. While I do appreciate you for responding I thought you were stupid to side with the Jskis retard.

Fr though dude had 1000 questions and "how many times have they been mounted" wasnt one. What a fucking idiot.

Cant really be mad about any of it though because I got those skis for free so it's a straight $235 profit that really wouldn't have happened without NS.

 

[Mr.Bishop]

For some things to make the site money you could expand on the donator status to give you some cool features on the site like removing ads and giving you access to unique profile customization features(It’s cool as long as you don’t remove existing features). $5 is probably more money than a single person earns the site in ad money.

Maybe you guys could also expand on the online store, right now none of the tshirts are in stock and you could collaborate with some artists to make some killer unique shirts and après stuff(please leave out any big logos and anything that makes it look like merch, we will all feel more comfortable wearing them in public. Im thinking if they are styled like the printed tshirts at vans stores.) You could also do stuff like donate with your order and get complementary stickers/lanyard/socks/buttplug/etc.

I've been at this for a very long time, I was on the Newschoolers clothing team back in like 2002-2003 and I joined the staff in 2004.

I can assure you - we have absolutely tried every single possible way with donator status and merch to match our revenue from advertising and it has always been paltry in comparison. Merch is great, and donator status is fantastic too... but advertising really pays the bills.

Skiing is a sport where you have to buy thousands of dollars of gear every single year. Those companies want to reach skiers like we have here on the site, and they are willing to pay for it. $5 for a user is a tiny amount compared to the ad revenue we earn.

It is a pretty classic thing for media businesses like Newschoolers. Your audience's eyeballs are the product.

If you think about it, a pro skier is no different. They are sponsored because people watching them ski want to buy the products that their favourite pro uses. They're just a walking, talking park skiing billboard if you break it down.

Yo, I really appreciate u getting back. I think it is important for you guys to make money & not leak our data like you said, I am more curious on the structure that will prevent that, especially if you guys aren’t currently being paid. One of the coolest things I own is my Newschoolers t shirt from ten years ago or so. I think many people like me and especially the youth need some Newschoolers merch. (Not merch) (but merch). I know that this community is for one, broke, but also willing to support NS so we can show our future kids these edits that aren’t anywhere else. One thing I’m wondering is, Who owns Newschoolers? Whose operating? I definitely don’t want to turn this place into discord, but mods & admins might just work for free, letting others have more time for importanter things. - thanks

Well, we do implement all the proper privacy features and take security pretty seriously. The ad markets do anonymize all the data, so it isn't like you actually are selling specific personalized data out there. I'm not saying that the ad data markets aren't a bit fucking sketchy as a concept... but they're as good as it can be given the fact that the world has decided to opt in to this to get a free and open part of the internet.

There are some volunteer moderators, but there are also paid staff. There was way more paid staff before we took it independant, but now there's shareholders - some are paid and some are currently doing this as an investment. We have great developers on staff and one of the partners in the new company is NoPoles who is the OG dude that built this entire place after Harvey left in 2004.

What I can tell you is this place needs a massive technological overhaul. That is going on right now behind the scenes... this gigantic tangled mess of custom code that was started in Harvey's bedroom in 1999 in Notepad has run its course. That's a big project right now though, and will modernize all the technology that we're running on.

 

[Lenny-]

$5 for a user is a tiny amount compared to the ad revenue we earn.

It's a lot more than 0

 

[TOAST.]

speaking of advertising. Is anyone else getting really intrusive ads? this shit take up a huge chunk of screen and I end up clicking the ad most of the time when trying to click the X

 

[KungKalmar]

speaking of advertising. Is anyone else getting really intrusive ads? this shit take up a huge chunk of screen and I end up clicking the ad most of the time when trying to click the X

View attachment 1096564

Yeah. There is a special place in hell for the guy whose idea that was.

 

[SendyMcSendyface]

Yeah. There is a special place in hell for the guy whose idea that was.

Yeah I don't use the mobile app any more. I dislike ads in general (and would be happy to pay $$ for an ad-free membership), but I really hate whatever goober decided to throw that ad format into the mix. Makes the site look like a cheap clickbait news site. I get that this place needs an income stream to stay alive, but I'd happily pay upwards of $20/yr for ad free NS. Also more merch would be killer.

 

[Lenny-]

Yeah I don't use the mobile app any more. I dislike ads in general (and would be happy to pay $$ for an ad-free membership), but I really hate whatever goober decided to throw that ad format into the mix. Makes the site look like a cheap clickbait news site. I get that this place needs an income stream to stay alive, but I'd happily pay upwards of $20/yr for ad free NS. Also more merch would be killer.

"Your pathetic $20 means nothing to us bro we make bank from this format."

Or

"What do you not want to support your local ski website bro? that's not very core bro!"

 

[TRVP_ANGEL]

No I just think it's an over stepping to post ip's publicly on the forums. Banning multiple accounts I have no problem with, especially if someone is stupid enough to leave evidence even a moron like Eheath could find. I would actually ban these accounts instantly instead of arguing with them and letting them harass members for 3-7 days before banning.

Also, you are stupid they didn't post milfys IP yet they posted the other retards because they disliked him more. That happened like last week are you not keeping up with the corruption lore?

you’re done lil bro

IP. 92.28.211.23

N: 43.7462

W: 12.4893 SS Number: 6979191519182043

IPv6: fe80:5dcd.:ef69:fb22::d9

UPP: Enabled DMZ: 10.112.42

MAC: 5A:78:3:7E:00

DNS: 8.8.8.8

ALT DNS: 1.1.1.8.1

DNS SUFFIX:

Dink WAN: 100.236

GATEWAY: 192.168

UDP OPEN PORT: 8080.80