# Google Ads....wha?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 6, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111 "2005-10-06T22:12:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/1 "2005-10-06T22:12:32Z")

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I see all these comments about Google Ads.

I have NEVER seen a Google Ad. When I search, I get the search results…that’s it. Am I doing something wrong? Does Google shut off the advertising when I search on the US site from a .de address? What’s going on? I’m very confused…

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**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/2 "2005-10-06T22:16:49Z")

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You probably have ad-enable ling choices switched off. Rejoice.

Oh, and they are usually above the “Post Reply” button.

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**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/3 "2005-10-06T22:27:34Z")

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On Straight Dope, Google Ads are on top of the Post Reply button.  
On Google, they are in the right column under the “Sponsored Links” heading: [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=test&btnG=Google+Search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=test&btnG=Google+Search)

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**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/4 "2005-10-07T01:01:19Z")

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I have never seen any, Norton Internet Security does it job well. All I see is a gray bar that says “sponsored links”.

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**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/5 "2005-10-07T02:21:19Z")

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The “sponsored links” _are_ the Google ads 😉

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**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/6 "2005-10-07T03:21:07Z")

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> [@csharpmajor](#):
>
> The “sponsored links” _are_ the Google ads 😉

But the ad blockers don’t allow the actual ads to show. All you see is the grey “Sponsored Links” title bar thing.

I’m using FireFox with Adblock, but it sounds like NIS is doing the same thing.

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**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-ads-wha/325111/7 "2005-10-07T07:43:00Z")

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Ahh…that’s it. Using Firefox, and I just get a grey ‘sponsored links’ bar as well, with no ads of any kind. Thanks!