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Dear Moderators,
I just tuned in and was greeted by several ads for Nintendos, Metroids, Nintendos, etc.
While I rather enjoy the ebay adds for razor opportunities I may have missed or have not yet become aware of, I think the adds for computer games are not needed here and I, for one, don't appreciate the invasion.
Can anything be done to ban the "off topic" adds?
feeling somewhat smug about the topical segue, Bruce
There is a way that they can be reported or blocked, but I think the actual link has to be recorded. Joe knows exactly what needs to be done, I havent seen this type of ad, but I will keep my eye out for it.
I am not sure what you mean by pop-up ads though. I only see ads on the side of the forum, no pop-up ads are ever present when I browse.
i have a pop up blocker, however i never get pop ups off of SRP. do you have any other windows open in the background??
vgod
V and J,
I was incorrect in calling them pop up ads in that it is not the phenomenom of another window opening up with a new ad in it, rather it's the ads which populate the space under the top bar of the web page boiler plate and the left edge of the screen. Right now I'm looking at ads for an Elite lcd car charger for an Apple Iphone, current bid$6.99, a black horizontal pouch holster for an Apple Iphone, current bid$0.99, and a current $13.99 bid for an Apple Iphone Metal Aluminum Housing Case Cover + Lcd.
Obviously SRP has sold advertizing to ebay and those ads used to be for shaving related things which has devolved to mostly Zeepk model perfect razors and burshes(sic) and strops. At least they are shaving related. This new stuff offends my delicate sensitivities and since I have not Iwhatzits one, won't prompt me to buy anything. If shaving related at least ebay has a chance to get me to part with some coin.
Bruce
Are the adds "smart"? I mean, does some software crawl through the posts to pick up key words in order to target the ads from the topics under discussion? If so, we're probably going to see a lot of non-razor ads because of the Off Topic forum :shrug: Or are they just random?
James.
PS I'm looking at three adds at the moment for Iphone cases.
I'm moving this to the site comments forum to be more on-topic... I hope that's ok. (if not, please contact me via PM)
Now, as to the ads...
Bruce -- I'm sorry the ads offended you. I haven't seen an occurrence of the specific situation you mentioned, but admittedly I don't pay much attention to the ads very often. I'll pay more attention for a while to see if there's anything we can do.
There are three ad types being rotated in the advertisements area on the left side of the screens:
- vendor ads -- these ads are screened by us and originate from our server, so we know they're appropriate because we control them in real time.
- Googleads -- Googleads are context sensitive, ie, the ad keys off of content contained on the page being displayed. The actual ad is served in real time by the Google ad server... ie, we have no control at that point. Most of the time our content is chock full of terms like razors, soaps, aftershaves, etc. and so we get appropriate ads. Occasionally, however, someone will mention a term like, eg, "gameboy"... and voila... you get toy ads.
- Auction ads -- these work a little differently in that they are constrained to the key words we supply... eg, razor, aftershave, etc. So for the most part, only those types of auctions appear. However, things are not always what they seem... if an auction for a tv contained the verbiage "razor sharp picture" it might show up being served to our site because of the match on "razor".
Now, all that said, sometimes there are glitches and google or auction ads are unable to provide a well targeted ad due to some problem on their end, so they just serve up any old ad, so to speak.
Hmm...there is a thread in the OT forum about xbox and video games...I wonder if that did it.
could be, but only if that was the post he was looking at.
AZ and JL,
Ads in general are fine as I'm guessing they are needed to bring in some much needed funds to support the site. The ones I've cited are new and not related to what we all profess to enjoy. I'm more curious about how or if one can control what comes onto the SRP.
Thanks for the work you guys do; I don't want to give the impression that this is a gravely serious matter for which I'm asking prompt and vigorous action. My issue with these ads is really as significant that old grain of salt - particularly if they are bringing in some money. I can ignore them as easily as I do the Zeepk ads, but sometimes when one rolls to the wrong side of mattress, one can't help but feel the pea. My curiosity is more about how they are able to get in if they are not invited.
Bruce
since I've not witnesses the issue, I don't know. I assume the ads you're seeing are in the Advertisements box at the left. If the ad is served by AuctionAds it will say "Ads by Auctionads" at the bottom of the box. If Served by google ads, it will say something like "ads by Google" at the top of the box. We do have control, but not in real time. We define the keywords that they look for matches on. Also, we can exclude specific urls of advertisers, etc. No matter how you try, however, there will always be some bogus ads get through since the advertisers know how to work the system to their advantage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce
Historically, AuctionAds has more operational problems and so they are not filtering properly more often than Google. But Google isn't perfect either... for example, a while ago "razor" and "Razr" seem to be equivalent in their minds... so we got a flurry of cell phone ads.
What screen or thread or post does it seem to happen most frequently on for you?
Honda Mounting Plate, youth Dirt bike helmet, Power Winch.....4X4 and Bikes.
Oddly enough, nothing on this "Reply" page.
I see so many ads on the Internet that I don't even notice them anymore - I've never seen anything advertised in that manner that I went "Ooooh, I gotta get one of those!"......but it is interesting how the software is keying in on the site.
:hmmm:
Greg
Wow... auctionads serves up some pretty interesting stuff when I'm in the Motorcycle thread in the OT forum... I think it's keying off the "crotch" rocket phrase that Ilija mentioned :eek:
:roflmao:roflmao:roflmao
We now have a Frank1954 (new member, first post) advertizing a bunch of cell phones, etc. for sale. Great prices probably, great opportunity likely, but will they hold an edge?
It's getting a bit ridiculous. I hope is was not I who opened that door.
Bruce
It was Andrew, originally.. I was just catering to his vocab :DQuote:
Wow... auctionads serves up some pretty interesting stuff when I'm in the Motorcycle thread in the OT forum... I think it's keying off the "crotch" rocket phrase that Ilija mentioned
:shrug: All forums have spammers lurking in the wings. We've plugged the holes for the the bulk of the program generated spammers, but the live humans can always register and post (just like any of us)... those will always have to be handled manually. I guess we could require evey post be approved by a moderator... gross overkill in our case since we don't get very many of these. Bruce, when you see posts of this nature just click the report post icon and a mod will take care of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce
Ummm.... no we don't :wQuote:
Originally Posted by Bruce
Frank1954 is permanently banned, and his cell phone peddling thread has been deleted.
AZJoe,
I'd be more than happy to click on that report post icon if I only knew where to find it. If you could, kind of, point me in that direction I would be both tickled and better informed, and that's not a bad combination for Friday.
Bruce
It's in the upper right hand corner of each individual post frame.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce
......that's enough for one Friday.....
.....I'm going back to bed now!
-whatever
-Lou
Scarface,
AHA!! The little triangular gizmatchee with the exclamation point in it (I have my glasses on). Thank you, I've both learned something today and found away to vex the moderators without taking up the valuable time of the thread weavers.:y Friday just keeps getting better.
thanks again, Bruce
vex tr.v. , vexed , vexing , vexes . To annoy, as with petty importunities; bother. :nono:
Antonyms: aid, assist, help, please, soothe :tu
:roflmao:roflmao:roflmao
...z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z...
-whatever
-Lou