Tommy Hughes
11 years ago
5 hours ago
645
Hmm... I wonder if one could replace the BIDSTACK_CHANNEL.xml with an empty file with the same exact name and then set the file as "read only" (which means it cannot be deleted or overwritten without the consent of the System Administrator)?
White Flag
16 years ago
2 hours ago
38
Hmm... I wonder if one could replace the BIDSTACK_CHANNEL.xml with an empty file with the same exact name and then set the file as "read only" (which means it cannot be deleted or overwritten without the consent of the System Administrator)?


Tried that: no impact. Maybe it is a different file after all.
stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
Since I've put Steam in "Offline Mode" I've not seen any Bidstack ads, but it's totally random so I need to check it over a period of time.

EDIT: Scrap that, they've just started showing again so that didn't work!
stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
Tried that: no impact. Maybe it is a different file after all.


Must be a different file, I've looked through everything I can think of and so far nothing has worked.
stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
What I'm finding is, If you turn the Wifi off on your laptop, then launch FM19, then these video adboards work, but, it records the first video from the XML file, and loops it for an extended time so sometimes during a game you'll not see the other video ads, so in the case of the EPL below, it records the top line (Sky) for an extended time compared to FM18:

<!-- English Premiership ads -->
<record id="1262" path="video_ads/england/premiership/sky" animated="true"/>
<record id="1263" path="video_ads/england/generic/sportpesa" animated="true"/>
<record id="1264" path="video_ads/england/generic/bt" animated="true"/>
<record id="1265" path="video_ads/generic/bet365" animated="true"/>
<record id="1266" path="video_ads/england/premiership/epl" animated="true"/>
<record id="1267" path="video_ads/england/generic/apollo" animated="true"/>
<record id="1268" path="video_ads/england/generic/vitality" animated="true"/>
<record id="1269" path="video_ads/generic/carlsberg" animated="true"/>
<record id="1270" path="video_ads/england/generic/bd" animated="true"/>
<record id="1271" path="video_ads/england/generic/tempobet" animated="true"/>
<record id="2095" path="pictures/ads/europe/england/premiership/prem blue"/>
<record id="2096" path="pictures/ads/europe/england/premiership/prem green"/>
<record id="2097" path="pictures/ads/europe/england/premiership/prem yellow"/>
<record id="2098" path="pictures/ads/europe/england/premiership/prem pink"/>


As you can see in the screenshot below, the static adboards are fine, but the video ad is the first line of the XML (Sky), it took until the 41st minute watching the game on FULL to start recording the second line of the XML in:

http://i63.tinypic.com/25ov5gg.png

That was all whilst having everything in this file set to "FALSE":

‎⁨Macintosh HD⁩ ▸ ⁨Users⁩ ▸ ⁨name ▸ ⁨Library⁩ ▸ ⁨Application Support⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2019⁩ ▸ ⁨Preferences⁩ ▸ ⁨version 3⁩ ▸ ⁨channels⁩ ▸ ⁨BIDSTACK_CHANNEL.xml

I presume having the internet off on your laptop stops Bidstack being able to communicate with the game to record their adboards in?
Tommy Hughes
11 years ago
5 hours ago
645
I didn't want to turn off my internet connection or set Steam to offline mode, as suggested in posts above, so I made a new rule for FM 19 in my Firewall, that disallows any inbound connections made to fm.exe. The rule can be easily switched to "enabled" or "disabled" depending on whether you want to keep blocking traffic to FM 19 or not.

Haven't tested it yet, but it should prevent any nonsense from Bidstack marketing department from reaching the game... I hope.

P.S. Do they actually think forcing ads on FM players is an advertising strategy worth the investment?! I don't know what the heck Bidstack is and I'm adamant not to even bother looking it up, because I don't want to - because they're being total wankers and do not deserve my attention or curiosity, far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, okay. Rant over.
stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
I've also raised this as a bug on the SI forum, because if you turn off "Targeted Advertising" in the preferences then none of these should show in game really.
Deleted Account #337576
I've also raised this as a bug on the SI forum, because if you turn off "Targeted Advertising" in the preferences then none of these should show in game really.


Removing bidstack ads please use my download link and follow instructions since me and my brother done this we have not seen any bidstack ads I'm not saying it will work for everyone but so far so good

go to my Documents /AppData folder/Local/Sports Interactive/ Football Manager 2019/ Remove Logs folder and replace it with this one
please note if there is no AppData folder in my documents click on window key click on run and type it in it will then show up remember once game is loaded clear cache and reload skin i have explained everything in this message what to do so please do not be asking stupid questions as i wont answer thank you and happy FM

https://www.mediafire.com/file/j5p0vaf42qmdf5a/logs.rar/file
White Flag
16 years ago
2 hours ago
38
I've also raised this as a bug on the SI forum, because if you turn off "Targeted Advertising" in the preferences then none of these should show in game really.


No, this isn't correct, not a bug. Turning off targeted advertising merely does what it says and turns off targeted advertising, leaving you receiving untargeted advertising.

It's no different than the impact cookies make on the adverts you get on a web page..
White Flag
16 years ago
2 hours ago
38
Removing bidstack ads please use my download link and follow instructions since me and my brother done this we have not seen any bidstack ads I'm not saying it will work for everyone but so far so good

go to my Documents /AppData folder/Local/Sports Interactive/ Football Manager 2019/ Remove Logs folder and replace it with this one
please note if there is no AppData folder in my documents click on window key click on run and type it in it will then show up remember once game is loaded clear cache and reload skin i have explained everything in this message what to do so please do not be asking stupid questions as i wont answer thank you and happy FM

https://www.mediafire.com/file/j5p0vaf42qmdf5a/logs.rar/file


No luck with this I'm afraid, but to be fair I am now getting a few "proper" adboards mixed in with the Bidstack crap.
Rivanov
14 years ago
3 months ago
143
Premium
Removing bidstack ads please use my download link and follow instructions since me and my brother done this we have not seen any bidstack ads I'm not saying it will work for everyone but so far so good

go to my Documents /AppData folder/Local/Sports Interactive/ Football Manager 2019/ Remove Logs folder and replace it with this one
please note if there is no AppData folder in my documents click on window key click on run and type it in it will then show up remember once game is loaded clear cache and reload skin i have explained everything in this message what to do so please do not be asking stupid questions as i wont answer thank you and happy FM

https://www.mediafire.com/file/j5p0vaf42qmdf5a/logs.rar/file

Still get Bidstack ads.
kfnielsen
17 years ago
5 hours ago
2,629
Premium
Rivanov
14 years ago
3 months ago
143
Premium
I give up. Nothing seems to work on my end. Can't understand it. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.. but I don't think it will happen.
kfnielsen
17 years ago
5 hours ago
2,629
Premium
We just have to wait and hope rabcp finds a solution
Deleted Account #337576
Still get Bidstack ads.


its worked for me as i said it might not work for everyone it was worth a try
pottersmad
14 years ago
1 hour ago
556
Premium
Try using this adboards pack This is the pack me and Arthur72 use and do as he say's in his post



http://www.mediafire.com/file/2zg872boi7077wa/CLUB_BANNERS_ADBOARDS_FM18_2.zip
White Flag
16 years ago
2 hours ago
38
Try using this adboards pack This is the pack me and Arthur72 use and do as he say's in his post



http://www.mediafire.com/file/2zg872boi7077wa/CLUB_BANNERS_ADBOARDS_FM18_2.zip


This is one of the the packs I've tried, same results with each.
Rivanov
14 years ago
3 months ago
143
Premium
I tried several ones (including the one mentioned above) but none of them work in FM 2019.
kfnielsen
17 years ago
5 hours ago
2,629
Premium
Didn't work for me either
aragornx17
11 years ago
4 months ago
20
Blocking FM19.exe in the firewall solved my problem but after that in the game first videoadboard rolling 3-5 times so I have a solution for it with adding one black frame video for all first videoadboards.
1-) Copy BIDSTACK_CHANNEL.xml into C:\Users\(USERNAME)\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2019\Preferences\version 3\channels
2-) Block FM19.exe in Windows Firewall Here is a video how can you do that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpZPKtFFS0Y
3-) Copy XML file which one you wanna use (Club or NoClub ) to C:\Users\(USERNAME)\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2019\ads
4-) Copy data folder to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 2019

http://www.mediafire.com/file/7l7y2e0hivmcbyw/FM19SolvingBitstack.zip/file
White Flag
16 years ago
2 hours ago
38
Blocking FM19.exe in the firewall solved my problem but after that in the game first videoadboard rolling 3-5 times so I have a solution for it with adding one black frame video for all first videoadboards.
1-) Copy BIDSTACK_CHANNEL.xml into C:\Users\(USERNAME)\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2019\Preferences\version 3\channels
2-) Block FM19.exe in Windows Firewall Here is a video how can you do it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpZPKtFFS0Y
3-) Copy XML file which one you wanna use (Club or NoClub ) to C:\Users\(USERNAME)\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2019\ads
4-) Copy data folder to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 2019

http://www.mediafire.com/file/7l7y2e0hivmcbyw/FM19SolvingBitstack.zip/file


Well, I'm delighted to say this works so far - 2 games in and all is well.

,Many thanks for this.
stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
Blocking FM19.exe in the firewall solved my problem but after that in the game first videoadboard rolling 3-5 times so I have a solution for it with adding one black frame video for all first videoadboards.
1-) Copy BIDSTACK_CHANNEL.xml into C:\Users\(USERNAME)\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2019\Preferences\version 3\channels
2-) Block FM19.exe in Windows Firewall Here is a video how can you do it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpZPKtFFS0Y
3-) Copy XML file which one you wanna use (Club or NoClub ) to C:\Users\(USERNAME)\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2019\ads
4-) Copy data folder to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 2019

http://www.mediafire.com/file/7l7y2e0hivmcbyw/FM19SolvingBitstack.zip/file


I've tried to replicate this on a Mac, but I can't get it to work.
aragornx17
11 years ago
4 months ago
20
I've tried to replicate this on a Mac, but I can't get it to work.

Sorry never use mac. So no idea about that. I hope you can find a solution for mac.
kfnielsen
17 years ago
5 hours ago
2,629
Premium
@ aragornx17
Its actually working
sweet
thanks
jroberts
15 years ago
9 hours ago
764
I didn't want to turn off my internet connection or set Steam to offline mode, as suggested in posts above, so I made a new rule for FM 19 in my Firewall, that disallows any inbound connections made to fm.exe. The rule can be easily switched to "enabled" or "disabled" depending on whether you want to keep blocking traffic to FM 19 or not.

Haven't tested it yet, but it should prevent any nonsense from Bidstack marketing department from reaching the game... I hope.

Hi Tommy, did this work for you?
stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
Sorry never use mac. So no idea about that. I hope you can find a solution for mac.


The only option I've seen guarantee to work so far (for a Mac) is just simply switching the WiFi to "off" on your laptop off.

I've used your blank code to remove the 3-5 loop of the first aboard though, so thanks for that!
Tommy Hughes
11 years ago
5 hours ago
645
Hi Tommy, did this work for you?

Yes, I believe the combination of my firewall solution and the blank adboard code solution provided by aragornx made it work for me again, though I've since only played pre-season games on small stadiums without video ads. But at least the static adboards have been working just like they should. No sight of Bidstack here.
Deleted Account #337576
Yes, I believe the combination of my firewall solution and the blank adboard code solution provided by aragornx made it work for me again, though I've since only played pre-season games on small stadiums without video ads. But at least the static adboards have been working just like they should. No sight of Bidstack here.


This the reply back from sports interactive when I reported it as a big

Hi @Jeff44,

Jack is taking some well earned holiday, so apologies that he hasn't responded to your message. In regards to your issue, you should have the option in the preferences screen to click yes or no for "Targeted advertising".

My reply back was I have done that and still they come through I've had no reply back again

stevemc
13 years ago
1 week ago
95
This the reply back from sports interactive when I reported it as a big

Hi @Jeff44,

Jack is taking some well earned holiday, so apologies that he hasn't responded to your message. In regards to your issue, you should have the option in the preferences screen to click yes or no for "Targeted advertising".

My reply back was I have done that and still they come through I've had no reply back again


I also had a reply to this too:

https://community.sigames.com/topic/455292-fm19-targeted-adboards-showing-pitch-side-when-set-to-no-in-preferences/
Deleted Account #337576


if you look at my attachment its from FM18 and we just ticked the box where i have put a red mark around it and it did stop bidstack ads coming through this time you have to click yes or no and they still come through so it might work for some but its not working for others yet again SI mess things up well do SI you deserve a medal

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