Advertisement on a shared note

[e nemo 3]

Dear Evernote!

 

It is absolutely unbelievable what are you doing.

 

When I'm sending some document to one of my contacts - I want to send a document, I do not want send them an advertisement of Evernote.

You are positioning Evernote as a tool to do thing faster and simpler, but you force my colleagues to see your ads. 

http://note.io/1d39XDB

 

What I am paying for?

 

It is impossible to use THIS for my job.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Dear Evernote!

 

It is absolutely unbelievable what are you doing.

 

When I'm sending someone note to one of my contacts - I want to send a document, I do not want send them an advertisement of Evernote.

You are positioning Evernote as a tool to do thing faster and simpler, but you force my colleagues to see your ads. 

http://note.io/1d39XDB

 

What I am paying for?

 

It is impossible to use THIS for my job.

 

Hi. Welcome to the forums. I agree that this is not terribly good for professionals. I was kind of bummed to learn that this has been happening with the notes I share with people -- I didn't know until a couple of days ago. It might be a recent change. At any rate, because of this I won't be using the Evernote note sharing with my colleagues or my students

 

There is another thread where we recently discussed this.

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/49820-what-is-wrong-with-evernote/?p=249970

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Yes, this is a bit intrusive, especially for my less tech-savvy family and colleagues who may not realize this can be skipped, and consequently waste time ditzing around the sign up screen and either signing up or more likely giving up!

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Yes, this is a bit intrusive, especially for my less tech-savvy family and colleagues who may not realize this can be skipped, and consequently waste time ditziness around the sign up screen and either signing up or more likely giving up!

Exactly. When I share a note, it is often with people who are unfamiliar with Evernote and are expecting to see the shared note, not some ad for the service popping up like a seedy site. Legitimate sites don't spam folks this way. These popups are exactly the kinds of things I warn everyone NOT to click. The fix is easy: no more sharing notes. It's a shame, because I found them quite handy.

There was already Evernote branding all over the page. This is over the top, and i definitely don't appreciate it

[HerbyDE 101]

 

Yes, this is a bit intrusive, especially for my less tech-savvy family and colleagues who may not realize this can be skipped, and consequently waste time ditziness around the sign up screen and either signing up or more likely giving up!

Exactly. When I share a note, it is often with people who are unfamiliar with Evernote and are expecting to see the shared note, not some ad for the service popping up like a seedy site. Legitimate sites don't spam folks this way. These popups are exactly the kinds of things I warn everyone NOT to click. The fix is easy: no more sharing notes. It's a shame, because I found them quite handy.

There was already Evernote branding all over the page. This is over the top, and i definitely don't appreciate it

 

 

same opinion - such pop ups are too intrusive. People who are unfamiliar with Evernote could think that I send commercial links/affilate network links and so on. Not good for my reputation

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Hi. Welcome to the forums. I agree that this is not terribly good for professionals. I was kind of bummed to learn that this has been happening with the notes I share with people -- I didn't know until a couple of days ago. It might be a recent change. At any rate, because of this I won't be using the Evernote note sharing with my colleagues or my students

 

There is another thread where we recently discussed this.

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/49820-what-is-wrong-with-evernote/?p=249970

I agree it's a recent change. I often share notes with my manager or co-workers as well as friends & family. I often confirm they are able to see the note (before sending link) by logging out of Evernote & clicking the link. I don't know when, but I'd say this is new in the past month or two.  And yes, this will prevent me from using this method b/c it doesn't matter if it's my manager, a co-worker or a friend or family member, I really hate sending anyone anything that has an advertisement pop up that requres them to acknowledge it.  I didn't mind the blurb at the bottom of the shared notes that existed previously or even the "sent from Evernote" (or whatever it was) in emails sent from my Evernote account.

[Metrodon 2,184]

It's things like this that mean however useful Evernote is for me, I could never use it for work or depend on it.

[sgarcata 49]

Do you think they might have stopped it already?

I just sent an email to one of my alternate eaddy's and didn't see anything.  Where was it coming up?

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Do you think they might have stopped it already?

I just sent an email to one of my alternate eaddy's and didn't see anything.  Where was it coming up?

AFAIK, the popup only occurs when sharing via URL, not email.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I think they'd also need to be logged out (if an Evernote user).

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Also you may need to clear your cookies to emulate the experience of non Evernote users.

[sgarcata 49]

ok... tested on another computer that had no info re: Evernote... see it clearly now...

[jbenson2 2,147]

This was truly an eye-opening post!

What a devious and underhanded method of fooling their own paying customers. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Evernote would stoop to this level to hide their blatant and objectionable popup from me.

I've shared over 750 notes over the past couple years.  I wondered why some of them were never opened.

Now I know!

Of course, I never saw the pop-up because I had Evernote cookies on my computer. In order to see the ad, I had to sign out (exit was not enough) and then I had to run a 3rd party program to clear all my cookies. Has anyone seen an explanation of this pop-up on any of Evernote's blogs or marketing material? My guess Evernote is going to spin this as a benefit.

Shame on you, Evernote!
 

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

This was truly an eye-opening post!

What a devious and underhanded method of fooling their own paying customers. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Evernote would stoop to this level to hide their blatant and objectionable popup from me.

I've shared over 750 notes over the past couple years.  I wondered why some of them were never opened.

Now I know!

Of course, I never saw the pop-up because I had Evernote cookies on my computer. In order to see the ad, I had to sign out (exit was not enough) and then I had to run a 3rd party program to clear all my cookies. Has anyone seen an explanation of this pop-up on any of Evernote's blogs or marketing material? My guess Evernote is going to spin this as a benefit.

Shame on you, Evernote!

It probably just doesn't come up because the service detects that you already know about Evernote and/or are a member, and so don't need the popup. They're trying to reach those who don't know about Evernote and would apparently be unaffected by the unobtrusive ads already on the page.

However, as you noted, this means that we have had no idea about what the shared notes would look like for the recipients of our links. In my opinion, this was a poor design decision (just like any popup -- there are others!), but especially one that appears whenever we share a note that is already covered with Evernote advertisements.

Uncool. But, devious and underhanded? I don't think so.

[jbenson2 2,147]

Uncool. But, devious and underhanded? I don't think so.

 

 

Well, you are entitled to your opinion.

As it has been pointed out many times, we are only users and not employees of Evernote.

So all we can do is use our crystal balls to predict what is in the mind of Evernote.

 

After using Evernote for several years, I am quite steamed about this revelation.

 

Was this kept secret on purpose?

If not, where is the announcement and the publicity promoting this feature? I haven't seen it.

 

I've shared many Evernote URL's with my associates, friends, relatives, and on social websites. I usually shorten the lengthy URL with Google's URL shortener. Not only do I get a much shorter URL, but it lets me know how many times the shared Evernote note has been opened.

 

And surprise, surprise, the Evernote URL's I post on this forum are opened more frequently than the ones I post on Facebook. I believe the reason is due the popup:

 

1.) Users on this forum have Evernote and therefore don't see the pop up.

2.) Many of my family members, relatives, and friends on Facebook don't have Evernote (and they don't want spam)

[sgarcata 49]

I find this a flagrant abuse of Evernote users who innocently share a document via a URL to someone without Evernote.  Evernote should require an opt-in flag for their Premium users.  For the free users Evernote should at the very least provide a notification on the "Share" UI that this would occur.

 

Evernote staff: consider this a formal request to provide this in a near future release.  I will also submit a support ticket with this request.

 

support ticket #283625.

[sgarcata 49]

Here's the response:  Just a canned response that says nothing... I think a senior EN decision-maker should weigh in here.

 

Hello sgarcata,

We appreciate your comment and suggestion, we will forward this information to our development team for the to discuss and address in a future release.

Thank you for using Evernote.

Tania Iniguez
Evernote

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Here's the response:  Just a canned response that says nothing... I think a senior EN decision-maker should weigh in here.

 

Hello sgarcata,

We appreciate your comment and suggestion, we will forward this information to our development team for the to discuss and address in a future release.

Thank you for using Evernote.

Tania Iniguez

Evernote

What more do you want to hear? They are considering your request and will talk it over with the development team. This is precisely what any of us could have hoped for really.

I am sure you are not the only one to open a support ticket about this, and Evernote also reads these forums, so I am sure they are aware that some of us are a little unhappy with this nag screen.

All we can do is wait it out and see if they make a change, because unless we are sitting in their meeting room, it is unlikely that we will hear anything definitive UNTIL it actually happens, or doesn't.

[jbenson2 2,147]

sgarcata,

Thanks for posting the response. Yes, it is canned. I'd like to see a more informative comment from an Evernote employee on this subject. As I mentioned before, their marketing department has been silent on why they made this change and why they kept it a secret from users who don't sign out of Evernote and clear their cookies on a regular basis. I can sort of understand their actions for the free users, but this is definitely not something the Premium users should be forced to put up with.

My solution? I am not waiting it out and hoping. There are alternatives.

I've completely stopped using the Evernote share feature.

I am using my Flickr account url's to share information instead.

 

Because Flickr is graphic, it's not as useful, but on the positive side...

I am not sending Evernote spam to my friends, relatives and business acquaintances.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

They aren't hiding it from users such as us, rather, they are ensuring that people aren't seeing it (hopefully) more than once. When a non-user passes through the nag screen, they shouldn't see it again until their cookies are cleared.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

They aren't hiding it from users such as us, rather, they are ensuring that people aren't seeing it (hopefully) more than once. When a non-user passes through the nag screen, they shouldn't see it again until their cookies are cleared.

 

Voice of reason & this is not uncommon (ensuring people aren't seeing something more than once).  As I stated above, I don't like this pop up approach & will not share notes via URL to anyone unless/until this reverts back to the way it was before so that anyone can view the note with out having to acknowledge an ad pop up.  I never minded the ads at the bottom of shared URLs or the branding in notes shared via email that did not require acknowledgement. 

 

But accusing EN of deceitful practices is just a bit too tin foil hat IMO.  Anyone who has dealt very long with EN folks should be quite familiar with their business practices & way of thinking.  So if you have dealt with them for very long & feel they are being deceitful & underhanded, then not only are you wrong & short sighted (JMO), but you should probably jump ship & find an app that is by devs you feel comfortable with.  I'm absolutely certain if I felt I was dealing with an unscrupulous company that I would no longer continue to do business with them.

 

And yes, you know who you are.

[jbenson2 2,147]

They aren't hiding it from users such as us, rather, they are ensuring that people aren't seeing it (hopefully) more than once. When a non-user passes through the nag screen, they shouldn't see it again until their cookies are cleared.

 

That could be your opinion and Evernote might be totally innocent. As has been pointed out many times, we are not employees of Evernote, so what we have to rely on is our experiences. I have commented on other questionable Evernote marketing tricks in the past.

 

My perspective is that Evernote fully understood the implications of this issue and purposefully avoided any discussion about this deceptive practice. I have not seen any mention of their spam pop-up to non-users in the Evernote's blogs, the Knowledgebase, the website, or past posts in this forum. Apparently, no other user has either.

 

The key undeniable point:

Several of the people, who were surprised, offended, or disappointed by this revelation, are long-term Premium Evernote power users and have already expressed their honest frustration with this marketing scheme.

[Soda Pop Jerks 4]

I just ran a quick test in both Safari and Chrome Incognito with a public note and it appears that Evernote stopped this practice. Correct me if I am wrong though.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I just ran a quick test in both Safari and Chrome Incognito with a public note and it appears that Evernote stopped this practice. Correct me if I am wrong though.

Yes. This behavior no longer occurs.

[jbenson2 2,147]

I just ran a quick test in both Safari and Chrome Incognito with a public note and it appears that Evernote stopped this practice. Correct me if I am wrong though.

 

Thanks for bringing that change to our attention.

[Ivan Klimovich 2]

I still can see it (note attached screenshot). May it be that I have to buy premium to remove that behaviour? I was trying to embed evernote into my Tableau Dashboards but due to the pop-up issue threw this idea away.

 

UPD: Just open this in Incorgito mode in your browser: http://www.evernote.com/shard/s111/sh/ad6160a9-5796-47ec-9739-e9b858dea9c8/21e0a087315e2b069eb1b34fa2088473

[Ivan Klimovich 2]

Anyone?

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I believe that screen should only be displayed one time to a visiter to the note. After it is displayed once, a cookie is written on the visitors computer so it shouldn't be displayed again. If the cookie is cleared, it will display again. It may not display if the recipient happens to be an Evernote user and has logged into Evernote on the web during that browsing session. 

 

 

Buying premium will not get rid of that screen.

[Ivan Klimovich 2]

Well. As I said I want to embed EN into Tableau dashboard. It means that cookies are empty every time a user opens the file. 

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Right, sorry, not familiar with the exact mechanics of Tableau. 

 

Unfortunately, at the moment, embedding shared notes doesn't work at all (such as loading it in an i-frame), or terribly well (such as adding it to the Tableau dashboard, I suppose). Evernote offers a rather sophisticated API so third-party applications and services can access notes, such as for the purposes of displaying them as embedded content. If Tableau hasn't utilized the API, your option safe severely limited.