More than once I’ve run across a banner that says “Click here to remove landmines.” Of course I am thrilled that there is such an effortless solution to a huge problem, so I immediately click on the banner. The result is that I am now directed to www.clearlandmines.com but I don’t see anything leading me to believe that any landmines have been cleared.
Does anybody know the straight dope on this? Have I actually cleared any landmines?
Source: http://www.clearlandmines.com/about.cfm
Clicking on the link takes you to the web site where you are encouraged to donate. It is your donation that helps pay for the clearing of landmines.
[Seinfeld]
That, my friends, is one magic banner.
[/Seinfeld]
OK, I was a little tongue-in-cheek, but the banners leading to these ads generally imply that the act of clicking in itself causes some sort of clearing activity to occur. The wording implies that there is in fact some sort of per-click sponsorship going on. Do a google image search for “clearlandmines” and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Once upon a time, those buttons linked to a site that apparently did have sponsors paying for every click. Here is an archived version of the page from late 2003.
However, it seems that that program has since ended, leaving only the old, broken links pointing to a site which basically just redirects you to their main home page.
Now, the only landmines you’ll get to clear are from links like this.
No, no, the banners are to mark where the landmines are. You clear around them by clicking on the other squares. But you can’t ever clear the landmines themselves, or you’ll blow up and have to hit F2 to start again.
Thanks. That was good.