To start, I want to share this article that was recently posted here in chess.com. It is very general, it doesn´t enter into specific variations, but could be a start.
As for me, I play the inmediate c5.
Handling the Advance Variation
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Apr 6, 2015
0
#3
I have been playing Bf5, always leads me into a tight position for black. I am going to try c5 for a few games myself.
I totally forgot to paste the link to the article, so here it goes: http://www.chess.com/article/view/more-ways-to-battle-the-caro-kann
Apr 6, 2015
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#5
Thanks for the link. I was playing and analyzing 3...Bf5 with 5...c5 vs 4.Nf3 and 5.Be2 but found issues in my analysis. I'm currently on 3...Bf5 and 5...Nd7. I need to give 3...c5 a closer look.
If you are going to play c5, I will take a closer look to 3... c5. After you develop your bishop to f5, seems like black doesnt have enough time to also play c5. Anyway, it depends a lot on what white plays. For instance Bf5; Nc3 e6; g4 was a popular line when white has a good initiative on the kingisde, and black has no time to an early undermining on white´s center with c5.
Of course, c5 is a "must" positionally in this variation for black, because the queenside is the part of the board where you should look for counterplay. But has to be properly measured and played.
In what precise line are you thinking about 5... c5 Ryan?
Yes, $Nc3 has fallen from favor and is rarely seen on GM´s practice this days. Althought one has to know at least some of those antidotes or you will enter a difficult position as you may well know. The same can be told about the 4) h4 line, played even by Tal himself. With several interesting games, untill black found good ways to answer such a risky plan.
I am happy with this topic! Thank you! Could be important... 
Apr 7, 2015
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#9
I think objectively (and most GMs agree) that 3...Bf5 is objectively better. A lot of the theoretical lines and other variations I looked at with Rybka showed imbalanced positions, but often I didn't see sufficient compensation for white's extra pawn in some variations and in variations where black wasn't down a pawn (I'm not saying there's no compensation) white had a very good grip on the position, often with two bishops. The line I have in mind is actually the one being played in the US Championship Nakamura-Shankland! Or at least it will transpose to the game: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 is what I used to play as late as last summer but after delving deeper I decided it was not practical (I didn't have enough time) to keep on top of all the immensely complicated variations that followed in lines with Qb6 and Qxb2 (not to mention the Caruana-MVL game from Sinquefield Cup 2014). The line I'm interested in currently is: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.Nbd2 h6 7.Nb3 Nd7 8.O-O 9.g5 Ne1 is the critical position.
Apr 7, 2015
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#10
And my opinion on the lines with 4.Nc3 and 5.g4 with N1e2-f4 coupled with h4 is that black stands at least fine. Definitely not theoretically critical variation, and my prep seems sufficient thus far. I think a weird sideline that gets to interesting middlegames starts with 4.h4 h5 and then 5.c4 e6, but still there I like black's position. I do like this variation I previously mentioned (5...Ne7 6...h6 with ...g5) because it leaves open both the possibility of breaking with ...c5 and ..f6 depending on what plan white adopts. It is also flexible in that, while it is logical to ...O-O-O, my analysis has revealed that black can get away with not castling at all in some variations (playing instead with ...Kf8).
Apr 8, 2015
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#12
It's not a worse advance French... sure we are down some tempi, but one tempo was put on the useful ...Bf5 unless you mean the 3...c5 lines. The Bf5 can often go to e4 where it puts pressure on the white center. Usually you leave the tension on ...c5 after white goes c3. Sometimes you can also play ...f6 as well
Apr 8, 2015
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#13
It's actually a chess position... but I assumed you were speaking from the white perspective for some reason. My mistake...
Sep 29, 2015
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#14
I usually try for an early ...c5 too, but have experienced issues with the weakening of the e8 to a4 diagonal - a lot of times (after they defend d4 w/ c3), they'll bring out the high-stinking Queen (or light-squared bishop), checking my King.
Just a link to a game of my own, recently finished where black didn`t hurry to recover the pawn with &... Bd7 (an early c5 was played) and I was able to hold the pawn and get a better position after the opening ended.
http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=107514896
If I have the time in the coming weeks I`ll post it with diagrams and some more comments
Dec 20, 2015
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#17
This is how I would approach the opening in your game with black. I think Qa5+ after e6 is interesting as it forces Nc3 (ideally white wants c3 and b4 to grip the QS). It should not be possible for white to hold on to both e5 and c5, and while white maintains a space advantage in the linked game, black equalizes without too much difficulty.
Thanks for the game posted Ryan. Certainly Qa5 is a well known maniobre just to disturb white´s setup on the queenside.
Oct 20, 2016
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#19
I've dabbled a tiny bit with this setup. I don't know how good it is, but it looks different and interesting, and seems solid enough at first glance.
Black plans on playing Nh6 and eventually Nf5. The other knight will likely go to d7. Black might attack on the kingside or simply play g6, castle short, and play to undermine white's center with something like c5. There are almost no games with this setup, so this really is terra incognita.
I really like the idea of playing h5 and Nf5, but there is some trickiness in figuring out what to do with the light squared bishop. Anyway, have fun exploring this if you want.
Here's a sample game.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1502436
What do members of this group play against the Advance Variation? I'm hoping for this to be a place for theoretical discussion.