Adverts at top of forum.

Discussion in 'Network Information, Suggestions and Feedback' started by Belville, Feb 2, 2011.

  1. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    I noticed today that the ads at the top related to David Irving which I feel is completely unacceptable on these boards which are not supposed to include holocaust denial material. Pleas can theybe removed/banned or whatever.
    Also the very offensive "oriental/russian " girls adverts, which are often on the pages relating to women. Please take action.
    <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    zahonado,
    I've moved your post to an exisitng thread on same subject.
     
  3. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    sorry ,just noticed there was a thread already. The point is not that I personally am offended by these ads (I am) but I don´t think that any old advert is justified provided it pays.... what next, prostitutes, pornography ,child abuse? Come on....
    <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
     
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    .... what next, prostitutes, pornography ,child abuse?


    That'll only appear if you have searched for them on your computer.
    I've been getting lots of adverts for holiday caravan parks as I was searching for them for my in-laws.
     
  5. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    I absolutely don´t accept that the ads are related to my browsing history. I have never looked at anything related to David Irving and have no interest in foreign women . Please investigate further.
     
  6. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I'll have a word with Admin about it.
    See what they say, I'm just a lowly mod.
    I just ignore them myself.
     
  7. Vitesse

    Vitesse Senior Member

    I absolutely don´t accept that the ads are related to my browsing history. I have never looked at anything related to David Irving and have no interest in foreign women . Please investigate further.
    You may not have looked directly at them, but tracking cookies aren't that tightly targetted - they just pick up on keywords from previous searches. See my previous posts in this thread.
     
    Owen likes this.
  8. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Thanks for that Owen. That is always what I would want from a moderator! Don´t give up! But seriously I would be concerned by this site benefiting from the profits of any of those so called "business interests" And if I happen to use the word child in a web search, I hate to think of the stuff that might come up...
    <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
     
  9. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    If you don't like the ads here, just blame me, I'm the guy that inserted them into the site. I tried to avoid using them as long as possible, but keeping this site going costs much more to maintain than you might imagine.

    Overall, Google ads are known to be the most non-offensive on the web, if fact they won't even allow their ads to be displayed on sites with offensive topics (soft-porn, warez sites, etc). This is one of the few occasions where a slightly bothersome ad was displayed, I can't say it bothers me at all, but I must admit I don't even "see" the adverts anymore. There is a phenomenon known as "ad blindness" that internet users tend to develop if ads are placed in a consistent location on sites they visit. I'm happy to say I am sufferer of this affliction.

    You should see the garbage that Google serves up during presidential elections on military sites like this one if you visit from a US location. I would absolutely love to block them.

    So, apologies to all who are offended by the ads, but they are an all or nothing proposition, and unfortunately there is no way to filter the online dating ads. I certainly would remove them altogether if I could, but they do pay the bills.

    As for for they work, Google Ads are generated via a combination two main factors; what is on the current webpage and where the person browsing from. A person browsing a thread on "football" will undoubtedly see different content if they are browsing from Liverpool vs Chicago. Tracking cookies might play a small factor, but it depends on the specific advertiser.

    In any event, there are useful tools out there to block anything that any website serves up. I use AdBlock Plus for firefox, but there are others if you use a different browser.

    If I could I'd like to remove billboards from the side of the road and commercials from TV shows, but ads a necessary evil of life on the internet. In contract with some of the more obnoxious ads possible, I think ours rate very low on the intrusion factor.
     
    Owen and von Poop like this.
  10. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    No offence here Otto and keep up the good work.....My current ad (I had to check, we obviously have the same affliction) is to win a iPhone. Andrea has obviously been looking for a iPhone again whilst I've been away.

    Normally I get porn ads but thats from when Andrea goes to bed and its quiet on here :lol:
     
  11. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    Some guy called Henry lived just up the road from me; wasn't so keen on Catholice marriage rules, so he re-wrote them, big-time...
     
  12. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    ad blindness


    I guess I am afflicted, also. I never even look at 'em.
     
  13. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    So , am I right in thinking that anything would be acceptable, just so long as it helps keep the site free ???
     
  14. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    It ain't about 'acceptable', no matter how much you may want to push this.


    It's about Google Ads being probably the best, and least 'out of order' advertising system available, and hosting not being free.
    As Otto says; "they are an all or nothing proposition" - you either sign up for Google Ads in their entirety, or get no Google Ads at all.
    If you think Google Ads are sometimes inappropriate, you should see what some other systems throw up. Google's are just about as clean as Web-Adverts can be. Probably not perfect (what is?) but mostly harmless, and a damned sight better than most of the competition.

    You perhaps begin to sound like the site being free isn't such an important thing?
    If this were a pay site, I can guarantee that it would be comparatively little site at all.
    If we depended on donations, then it would be an ongoing struggle; it wouldn't help with long term stability, & I would have to periodically bug people - I hate bugging people.
    As it stands, we can allow everything to tick over as smoothly as possible, while Otto's not inconsiderable generosity in financing our noodling here is propped up by that extra revenue.

    Look up hosting costs for a largish forum on a decent host, combined with licensing Software etc.
    It ain't so cheap, and only gets gradually more expensive as the place grows - you can't just stop a forum as the bills grow, unless you want to kill it. We are not a static site by nature - and yet we all play here for free, because free forums thrive.
    This is a very important point when attempting to keep such a place rolling. It is one of the primary points in encouraging growth, and getting the maximum concentration of chaps that can help each other out in the same place.
    When I get a person with a query emailing me out of the blue, whether passing Family History noodler, Veteran, or dedicated WW2 nut, it is a fine thing to invite them to register while including "(for free)" in that invitation. If I couldn't say that, I would feel most uncomfortable inviting anyone in - A member's information, good humour & participation should make the site, not their cash.

    A small compromise is made to help facilitate that.
    And a mostly harmless one.
    I feel reasonably comfortable that that compromise is bearable to most, because only two chaps have ever felt the need to object. Those objections are, of course, fine, and didn't cost anyone a penny, but they don't really form enough of a basis for reconsidering the funding of the site.

    I'm completely ad-blind too these days, but now use an ad-blocker on my primary browser 'cos Google, understandably, don't like site admins or 'staff' clicking on their own ads - something I was accidentally prone to. :unsure:
     
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  15. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Zahonado

    So , am I right in thinking that anything would be acceptable, just so long as it helps keep the site free ???


    Speaking as someone who has sometimes had to make the choice of "voting with my feet", i.e. walking away from a site that has, in my opinion, superseded acceptable boundaries of decency, may I respectfully suggest that this option is also available to you, should you feel that the advertising displayed is just not acceptable.

    As for me, and I suspect other forum members, I am simply grateful for a forum that enables me to be in contact with like thinking folk and in a time of ever rising costs, is still delightfully free :)

    Ron
     
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  16. WhiskeyGolf

    WhiskeyGolf Senior Member

    I guess I am afflicted, also. I never even look at 'em.

    I obviously have the same problem as you then Jeff. But then I'm also too busy looking at the posts to notice the ads.


    As for me, and I suspect other forum members, I am simply grateful for a forum that enables me to be in contact with like thinking folk and in a time of ever rising costs, is still delightfully free :)

    Ron

    Ron - couldn't agree more.
     
    Owen likes this.
  17. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    So , am I right in thinking that anything would be acceptable, just so long as it helps keep the site free ???

    zahonado

    there are a few suggestions on here re Adbloc Plus
    download that and your problem is solved.
     
  18. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I am also seeking a perfect solution fro this problem. Some should post the relevant information for solution.

    how ironic , a spammer posts on the thread.
    Gimme a mo I'll ban them.
    :)
     
  19. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    If the ads type is dependent on the user browsing history, then I'm heading for sainthood, see below :lol:

    Clipboard01.jpg

    Looking up the Cannibalism thread I get an ad from Vodafone. Are they trying to swallow Orange?

    On the Jokes thread I get "Funny Chuck Norris Jokes, so all is shipshape :D

    On the other hand going to the Eastern Front section I get:

    Clipboard02.jpg

    I swear to you I'm writing from my work computer, I certainly don't search for company nor have I bought any second hand MiG fighters lately! I'm very much inclined to think that ads are context sensitive, in my PC there is certainly no cookie, crumblie or kit-kat concerning anything of the kind.

    In other news, Hi Otto :)
     
  20. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    My birdwatching in WW2 thread gives these ads.
    Quite harmless .

    birds.jpg
     

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