Until very recently the search engine was a perk for paying users. Since Google was disallowed from crawling the site in robots.txt, the only way to access an old thread was to a) get your shovel or b) use the board search engine (there is a site somewhere which offers a poor index of the boards content).
I don’t know if it is possible to block Googlebot while allowing Mediabot (technically yes, I mean adsense policy wise), but they are both now able to crawl the boards content.
This means that the internet at large has access to what was previously a members-only perk, while at the same time members are stuck viewing ads along with the internet at large and have no choice but to simultaneously lose the perk that they paid for.
So, what gives?
Is it absurd that you pay for cable television just so you can watch advertisements? Maybe, but you knew there would be ads when you payed. Not so for us Charter Members. And just in case you do find it absurd, in retrospect, that you pay for cable television and watch ads on it, regular members shouldn’t have to see them either.
I suspect that within a few months the board’s content being widely available on the Internet is going to bring in a substantial influx of casual readers, and also paying members. This is going to press the issue of processing power, and add a new dynamic to the Reader’s ability to supply demand. It seems appropriate that in return for what will no doubt be periods of lag, combined with the lost search perk, that only logged-out users should be shown ads.
Argh!!! I just went to Google and searched on my username. There are some hits for my posts here on SDMB, but apparently there is also someone using the name FatBaldGuy who posts on the “Incest Taboo Sex Forum.” :eek: :eek: :eek:
It does seem that non-paying guests will now be able to search the boards via google, will this be rectified or is there something else I get for my membership fees that I’m not seeing? Oh yes I am paying for the privilege of helping to create saleable content for everyone to make an advertising dollar from. I’m not happy about the advertising but was prepared to live with it. However the search was about the only thing keeping me paying. I’ll have to think a little harder about it now I guess.
Yup. They just get to read the threads. You get to comment on what a worthless pile of festering horseshit you think they are. See? You really do get what you pay for.
The FatBaldGuy at the Incest Forum is probably thinking the same thing. “There’s a guy with my name on this Straight Dope site, and they talk about goat felching over there!”
Yeah, well by having paid I get that coveted “Charter member” tag next to my handle, which gets me free beer and a front-row seat at Astros home games. Er, well, no it doesn’t, actually.
BTW, there are a lot of El_Kabongs out there on The Internets. When I googled my handle (is that sort of thing even permissible in Texas?) the Dope didn’t show up till the bottom of the first page. On the plus side, however, here is part the sample text that was displayed with the link:
“El_Kabong, I mean I’ve seen hot but Jesus Christ!”
Yeah, this really bothers me. I don’t like my old posts being available to the general public after I was explicitly told they wouldn’t be made available; I don’t mind ads but I really mind this. This is the reason I’m not going to renew next year and sorry that I did this last time. You don’t promise people a certain level of privacy then take it away, unless you’re a shitty business, and it seems that you (the SDMB) are. I wonder what the boards will look like after April? (Well, I’ll still be here since I registered in October, but I’ll be posting way less.) You do know that some people only paid the fee so they can still search the forums, right?
I guess it’s worth it for some. I don’t have the need to post as often as others I guess. Besides my point was that the only thing I was really sold on when membership became an issue was the fact I could still search the board. This was worth the price of admission. However this function is now available for free from Google.
I guess Google really is my friend, after all they’re may end up saving me about $10 per year.
Alright, I misunderstood. When you said it bothered you that the general public would be able to see your posts, I didn’t quite get your meaning, as when you posted the original message, anyone from the general public who happened across the boards could see your posts. My immediate response was “Wow, what’d she post that she doesn’t want anyone to see?”
And also, isn’t the reason we’re not to resurrect old threads because there might be something embarrassing in them, because after all people change and someone might not want their dirty laundry from three years ago to be scrounged up to where the general public can see it? I can’t wait till I read the first mod call-out of a thread reviver. Sweet hypocrisy.
I don’t care about ads. I can just leave if I don’t like them. I don’t care about pay to post. I can just leave if I don’t like it. But I’m a bit bothered by having my posts here splashed all over Google. I didn’t expect that, and I can’t undo it by leaving.
