# Do we need gun ads? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 30, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284 "2020-12-30T18:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/1 "2020-12-30T18:36:23Z")
Just observing that for the last couple of days, just about every SDMB page I’ve opened as ad an ad w/ a picture of a handgun, saying something about holsters. Yeah, I know the Dope’s gotta get $, but I’d personally prefer ads for porn. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/2 "2020-12-30T18:42:56Z")
Guns are perfectly legal and so are there accessories. The ads provide needed income to the board and although many users here advocate stronger gun control legislation this is not and anti-gun site. Look the other way and move on is my suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/3 "2020-12-30T19:40:34Z")
I have an ad for “shiningcityonahill. us” advertising “The best of Ronald Regan. Quotes and Jokes from America’s Bloke”, whatever the fuck that means, as well as “America’s Comeback”. I don’t think these ads are targeted very well. Eta: seriously, wtf is “America’s Bloke”? Did anyone ever call Reagan that? I Googled it and can’t find anything, just articles about Americans being confused about Australian slang? ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/4 "2020-12-30T21:20:54Z")
The only ads I’ve been seeing on here for the past 6 weeks or so have been either 1) Oregon or Washington tourism agencies, and 2) Adam & Eve, the porn/sex toy company. I have no clue what I may have Google’d to trigger either of those type of ads, but neither one has any interest to me. A gun ad wouldn’t, either, but it would be a nice change if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/5 "2020-12-30T23:40:27Z")
I am not directly involved in how the advertising works here, but as I understand it, we don’t actually control the ads that we get. In other words, no one at the SDMB ever decided to approve or disapprove that particular gun ad. What we do instead (as most web sites with advertising do) is that we contract out to an ad broker. Generally these do come with some options, but other than including or excluding some broad categories, we don’t get to pick the ads that we get. Advertising these days is also targeted to the user. If you are getting ads for guns, something in your browsing history, the cookies set on your machine, etc. is triggering the ad broker’s algorithm to think that you are in the marketing demographic for gun ads. > [@Babale](#): > > Eta: seriously, wtf is “America’s Bloke”? Did anyone ever call Reagan that? That’s the first time I have ever heard him called that. The nicknames that I remember for him were Dutch, The Gipper (from one of his movies), and The Great Communicator. I also remember Democrats calling him the Teflon President. The word “bloke” is mainly British slang, so maybe some folks across the pond called him that, but I never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/6 "2020-12-30T23:42:17Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > That’s the first time I have ever heard him called that. The nicknames that I remember for him were Dutch, The Gipper (from one of his movies), and The Great Communicator. I also remember Democrats calling him the Teflon President. The word “bloke” is mainly British slang, so maybe some folks across the pond called him that, but I never heard it Makes me suspect that [shiningcityonahill.us](http://shiningcityonahill.us) is not really an American run site ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/7 "2020-12-30T23:53:11Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Makes me suspect that [shiningcityonahill.us](http://shiningcityonahill.us) is not really an American run site Well, their WHOIS registry info says “Virginia”. Of course, that could just be a PO box, but there you have it. ``` Domain Name: shiningcityonahill.us Registry Domain ID: DEF308CF6C8FF4A53A4BB5F4CD968BCE1-NSR Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com Registrar URL: whois.godaddy.com Updated Date: 2020-09-18T17:56:06Z Creation Date: 2020-09-11T01:14:28Z Registry Expiry Date: 2021-09-11T01:14:28Z Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC Registrar IANA ID: 146 Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@godaddy.com Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4806242505 Registrant Name: Eric Sapp Registrant Organization: Eleison Group, LLC Registrant Street: 1901 N. Fort Myer Dr. Suite 900 Registrant Street: Registrant Street: Registrant City: Arlington Registrant State/Province: Virginia Registrant Postal Code: 22209 Registrant Country: us ``` ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/8 "2020-12-31T00:03:07Z")
Might be some irony here as the ads you see on websites are not random and are not the same as others see. All the devices you and your family use are tracked and the ads you see are chosen by your browsing/online behavior. This is why if you’re browsing for something on your phone you’ll suddenly start seeing ads for similar items on your home PC or other Internet connected device. You’re seeing gun ads because Google or some other tracker thinks you fit the profile of someone who wants to buy guns. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/9 "2020-12-31T02:29:42Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Advertising these days is also targeted to the user. If you are getting ads for guns, something in your browsing history, the cookies set on your machine, etc. is triggering the ad broker’s algorithm to think that you are in the marketing demographic for gun ads. Thanks for the explanation. For the life of me, I can’t imagine what that could be, and it just struck me as off that they came so thick recently. But now they seem to be gone. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/10 "2020-12-31T02:43:17Z")
Me, I’ve got Walgreens Pickup, J.P. Morgan, affresh, and Dick’s. Mostly, though, I have those foreverspin machined metal tops. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/11 "2020-12-31T05:08:27Z")
If you looked at anything gun-related, that’s likely the reason. I mean, my wife looked at something a while back, and now I’ve been getting a bunch of ads for grown-up onesies/union-suits on here. Except that the ads are clearly women with one shapely cheek hanging out of the trap door. Nice idea, but not really the target audience. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/12 "2020-12-31T07:48:30Z")
If you stop looking at guns all the time you’ll stop seeing ads for them. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/13 "2020-12-31T16:36:56Z")
Yeah - I understand that. But I can’t remember the last time I looked at a gun related site - or even a gun control related site. Was wondering why these particular ads were so persistent for a couple of days. Now I’ve got an ad for a Hyundai. Never owned or googled a Hyundai, last bought a car 5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/14 "2020-12-31T16:39:46Z")
I participated in a thread about Hanukkah and now I’m getting ads for US/Israel lapel pins. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/15 "2020-12-31T16:40:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But I can’t remember the last time I looked at a gun related site - or even a gun control related site. You do visit a site that has a few gun related threads. Even if you don’t open them, they may still end up influencing the ads that you see. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/16 "2020-12-31T19:38:52Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > You do visit a site that has a few gun related threads. Was about to mention that. The very nature of the SDMB is that there will be threads discussing such things and that can trigger the algorithm by association. And so can where you are and what demographic checkmarks you _or people associated with you_, tick, which our Online Overlords over at Big Tech have been harvesting from us all along. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > What we do instead (as most web sites with advertising do) is that we contract out to an ad broker. Generally these do come with some options, but other than including or excluding some broad categories, we don’t get to pick the ads that we get. If anything, gun holsters and adult toys are entirely unsurprising to me given some of the content of the discussions we carry out. If we went for granular exclusions based on what different members like or dislike we might wind up excluding just about everything but cannabis and pet supplies. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/17 "2021-01-02T20:23:58Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > …entirely unsurprising to me given some of the content of the discussions we carry out… Now I’m getting big ads from rightwing. Org Saying that the Dems have plans to give illegals all sorts of social security with a big red “vote button” I didn’t vote ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/18 "2021-01-02T20:44:27Z")
And now it’s for a “Keep America Great” collectable coin… Surely I’m being punished for something. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/19 "2021-01-02T22:28:08Z")
Google ad data isn’t that simple minded. It may hit the wrong target but it’s not by a simple “he reads gun articles therefore we give him gun ads”. You probably read a bunch of websites that show you to be conservative and have expendable cash. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284/20 "2021-01-02T22:38:48Z")
Lately I’m mostly seeing ads for shirts, with either quips on them, or optical-illusion patterns. Mixed in are a few for a telescope you can attach to a phone, and a “tactical wallet”, whatever that is. The oddest was, a few months back, I was getting a whole bunch of ads for a site that buys and sells general-aviation planes. No clue what prompted those. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gun-ads/929284.md?page=2)