I'm getting a LOT of religious ads

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1

Lately, the Google ads at the bottom of the threads have been heavily weighted towards religious sites, especially in non-religious threads. I just checked a couple of Pit threads, and sure enough the ads sounded like Christian missionary sites. (I don’t know if “Click here to learn about the Kingdom of G-d” really leads to a Christian missionary site or to the First Baptist Church of Mars, Reformed.)

How much control do the Board mods and admins have over the ad weightings, and how much influence?

And am I the only one seeing a lot of these ads, or are other people seeing them also?

2

The Mods and Admins (nor the Chicago Reader) have any control over the ad content.

You are not the only one seeing them. If you see a single banner ad at the bottom of the page, it’s most likely a default ad that is unrelated to the content of the thread.

So the Kingdom of God ad shows up because the adbots haven’t scanned the thread yet, or more likely, there are no keyword hits in the thread yet. The Democrats Suck ad and the Soul Mate Calculator ad were similar default ads that appeared in the past. With time, the Kingdom of God ad will go away to be replaced by another annoying default banner ad.

After posting, I saw three ads for security companies at the bottom of this thread. I suspect it’s based on the word STEAL in your sig line.

3

What he said. That’s the situation.

4

Which reminds me… I forgot the obligatory “A Mod or Admin will be along to confirm or clarify.” in my earlier post.

Now that it’s happened, it goes with out saying. But I like to think of myself as Master of the Obvious, so I said it anyway.

5

People think it’s easy, being the Master of the Obvious. Au contraire, mes amis! It requires constant vigilance, as our friend here has just demonstrated.

6

What, being the master of the obvious?

Obviously.

7

See? Constant vigilance.

8

Be sure to click on these ads. That way you cost the advertisers money for no return. Make them pay! :smiley:

9

Yanno, you say “vigilance” enough times and you start getting law-enforcement ads.

10

And you say “ads” enough times, you get meta-ads: Ads for Google Adsense!

11

Firefox + Adblock.

I haven’t seen a Google ad on here in months.

Goat and monkey sex
Just to see where that takes all of you

12

I think it’s because we’re a bunch of heathen bastards. No, seriously. As I understand the Google Ads model, a given ad stays up there until it gets a given number of hits. So, since we are less likely to click on this sort of ad, it stays up longer…way to go, Google! :smack:

13

Thanks, Mr Bus Guy! The number of hits on my site have doubled since you posted.

14

I now see 2 ads. One says “Don’t sign up for AdWords” and the other is “Religious Classes Online”.

15

I am rather disappointed that, as being anti-religious is a very common theme amongst Dopers, that there should be so many pro-religious ads these past few weeks. It seems strange to me, and I wish something could actually be done, like uncheck some options in your Google Ads account or something.

16

But they’re so fun! Why would you not want to see them?

And I left the goat and monkey sex in, because I think that kind of thing should be encouraged.

17

I am a Master of the Oblivious.

Hah! I banished the Adblock and the religious ad!

18

Getting too many religious ads?
Maybe the Baby Jesus is trying to tell you something?
Take heed, and repent, lest ye be damned to the
eternal pit of Hellfire, where your flesh will roast off
your bones, and then grow back, and roast off again,
for all of eternity! God hates sinners like you!
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