# Click-bait: Do the content providers have NO shame? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989 "2018-06-29T14:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/1 "2018-06-29T14:30:20Z")
So, I’ve seen many, many cases where major news portals have “sponsored” click-bait, often with outrageous headlines bordering on libel, photo-shopped pictures of celebrities beat up, gratuitously scantily clad, etc. Do they just not care, as long as they rake in the cash? I’d be embarrassed to have that on my site, unless it was the national enquirer. I do think this contributes to the perception of “fake news.” ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/2 "2018-06-29T14:35:07Z")
no, no shame at all ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/3 "2018-06-29T15:33:14Z")
The only shame is if the clickbait isn’t sufficiently delectable to bring all the suckers around. Hence, over-the-top bait-and-switch garbage, all the better to bring the prey out. If you find yourself even slightly interested in a clickbait (and who wouldn’t, they’re morbidly fascinating like highway wrecks and crime scenes), check whether Reddit may be able to [save you a click](https://www.reddit.com/r/savedyouaclick/) or a dozen. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/4 "2018-06-29T16:20:11Z")
Do web sites pick their own individual ads? I was under the impression web sites use an ad service and the ads were based off of what the page visitor has in their cookies. This is just my guess as a techie, I do not actually run any web sites. Please correct me if I am wrong. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/5 "2018-06-29T17:57:44Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Do web sites pick their own individual ads? I was under the impression web sites use an ad service and the ads were based off of what the page visitor has in their cookies. > This is just my guess as a techie, I do not actually run any web sites. Please correct me if I am wrong. Your understanding matches mine\*, but I cut no slack for the website just because the primary culprit is the advertising broker. The website contracts with the broker, after all. My understanding is based on no special insider position. It’s probably the same as yours: reading about how the internet works. Mostly on the internet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/6 "2018-06-29T23:11:45Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Do web sites pick their own individual ads? I was under the impression web sites use an ad service and the ads were based off of what the page visitor has in their cookies. > This is just my guess as a techie, I do not actually run any web sites. Please correct me if I am wrong. Not only do the sites not pick their ads, the ads don’t pick their sites, as the kerfluffle about advertisers finding their ads on racist sites showed. The whole point about cookies is that the ads are tailored to you. When I take my laptop to visit my grandson half the country away, my ads change dramatically. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/7 "2018-07-01T20:52:21Z")
Use an ad-blocker (I prefer Ublock origin) and you don’t see ads, or have to worry about them. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/8 "2018-07-02T14:52:41Z")
This[Reply All](https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/123-an-ad-for-the-worst-day-of-your-life#episode-player) podcast explains the ads, how they work, and the whole process. This guy’s wife’s death was being used as click bait, and he wanted it removed, so they took it on to solve it. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/click-bait-do-the-content-providers-have-no-shame/816989/9 "2018-07-02T15:34:47Z")
The site Political Wire gets its money via subscriptions and the [owner is blunt](https://politicalwire.com/2017/03/29/why-a-membership-model/) about the problems of digital advertising, including for legitimate news sites. Fewer sites directly buy ads, instead relying on ad networks and the ad networks are largely consolidated around a few big ones who rely on clickbait to make money: > [@](#): > > There was a time when the publisher could sell advertisers access to an audience. The incentives were perfectly in line: Publishers who put out a quality publication attracted a quality audience which made sense to quality advertisers. All parties had a stake in the system. > > But as publishing moved to the Internet and digital ads evolved, the incentives grew out of whack. Publishers no longer have a direct relationship with most advertisers. Instead they increasingly use ad networks. These ad networks pool an audience across thousands of different publications and websites. Advertisers tell the networks what audience they want to target and their ads are shown wherever those readers happen to be visiting. > > What does this mean? Publishers no longer have direct relationships with advertisers so they try to make themselves as attractive to ad networks as they can. This often means sharing personal data about their readers and resorting to other reader unfriendly tactics to show as many ads as they can. Advertisers no longer care about individual publications since their audience may come from thousands of different sites. > > To make matters worse, the Internet has a virtually unlimited inventory of ad space which drives prices down to ridiculously low prices. This often leads to ads that are in very poor taste.