Lag, it's a problem

There are multiple points.

Ads on the site are not new, period (as it was implied in your post).

Having ads isn't something that is apparently turning too many people off and if it is a huge deal, the site will start losing basic customers (and I don't think that is happening at this point).

Revenue generated by the ads is unknown. It may be significant or may not be. Apparently it is significant enough for the site to keep them. I have never claimed they are an "absolute necessity." I'm in no position to know that, even if they were. What is a necessity is a money source to provide for the site's upkeep and upgrades.

If certain ads are causing problems, they should be reported. Keeping ads from causing lag is a good thing, though I understand you think getting rid of them may be better.

its been 4 days now, super lagging.  takes away all of the fun of seamless gameplay.  I feel sorry for those who have paid for a membership, cant play rated, funny things going on here on this site.  

If I remember correctly (chess.com once said it in some news), ads provide a very small portion of chess.com's income. But the income is significant enough to keep.

See? Ads may bring in additional revenue, but their presence still comes at a cost, albeit not a monetary cost.

I dislike ads in their entirety. I dislike how people are forced, yes FORCED, to consume them whether it is their will to do so or not. That fact that advertising has to be literally forced upon people suggests that, given the choice, people would avoid them like the plague that they are.

I just think that the pushy nature of ads is entirely unscrupulous and totally unwanted and unwarranted. Unfortunately, sites often persist with ads to the detriment of the running of their site or their customers experience. Clearly just a cash grab. Clearly an indication of grubbier priorities.

You are not questioning my submission that ads are a pest are you? You don't believe that anybody actively welcomes their presence do you? They are tolerated because the love of chess is greater than the hatred of ads, but so what? Does that justify them? Ads on this site benefit one thing and one thing only - somebody's wallet. I'm looking at an Autotrader ad right now. What relevance does Autotrader have to me enjoying a chess game?

Interestingly, there is another Ad right now asking whether I qualify for £3000 towards 'super fast connectivity'. How appropriate that it should appear on this particular thread. God, they're just so sleazy and the world would be a better place without them.

So staff members go to people's houses, force them to sign up to the site, force them log on and view ads? People that sign up and decide to remain basic members know what the situation is; no one is forced.

If you don't like ads there are ways to not see them, even if you love chess. They have been mentioned and if there is another site that doesn't have ads, people can do that isnstead if they really don't like it. That is the market at work.

You can train yourself to tune out advertising. A wee bit of self-hypnosis and you'll never see an ad again.

1. Don't use this site
2. Buy premium membership
3. Adblock

Three easy ways to avoid the ads. It's ridiculous to claim that anyone is forced to see them.

I have also somewhat faced lag, but not much on my end but more on my opponent's end. Out of maybe 25 of my last live chess games, 18 opponents have disconnected and reconnected during the game at least 10 times which is ridiculous. For me, occassionally I drop a couple seconds but I play with increment so it doesn't really bother me. 

Defend ads if you want to, but we'll. just have to agree to disagree. You believe they are OK, I believe they are not OK. Vive le difference.

For FIVE days, NO problems anymore !

Thanks, Chess.com !

the lag is awful. i lose so many games because of it.  comes on intermittently and at the end of some games. and then i can't move!

Maybe if you subscribe and give Chess.com your money the lag will go away. But chances are, it wont. 

You're right, it probably won't. I don't believe the problem is chess.com's fault. It could be at your end or anywhere in between. Other people know more about the details than I do. But if the problem is with chess.com's website, why are there thousands of people playing at any one time without any problems?

Another day in lag paradise. MMMM! particularly lagolicious today. 

Try FICS if you want lag.

Try rebooting.

Maybe Chess.com's business model is flawed and it's not making the profit margins it anticipated. In such a scenario I could see Chess.com dying a slow death and letting its customer base suffer (knowingly) during that period. It's not out of the realm of possibility anyhow. I've seen bigger websites do worse to their customers. 

I don't know how else to explain it as the issue of crippling lag is well known to them, yet it continues unabated. No ackonwledgement or "we're are sorry about this or we are working on it" has been given (to my knowledge anyway.) So... enjoy the free chess folks, albeit laggy free chess. 

Haha, well said.

It seems that once a site gets to a certain size, the jeremiads come out of the woodwork and start going on about the endless decline. I often play with "red" signal strength. In Australia, occasional lag problems are just expected when it comes to online gaming. Build a bridge and get over it.

Also if you are experiencing lag there are a million other things it could be, besides the design of the website.

I will take that advice and bu

...ild that bridge.