# Let's pit the google ads... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137 "2005-09-23T22:19:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/282 "2005-09-25T12:16:28Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Call me a silly, naive idealist, but I am somewhat saddened (not a lot-perhaps dismayed is a better word here) to find that the SDMB is just another business out for profit, no matter what. I admire and respect the researching skills and the humor of the column and “Cecil”. But this has changed things for me in a strange way. It is silly–and I’ll get over it–but it is “Cecil” to me now–he is just another manipulation to separate me from my dollars. Me, I don’t give a shit if they make a few bucks. I’m just sick and tired of feeling like some chump looking for a free lunch. I, have paid every single penny that has ever been asked of me to support this board, same as all other subscribed members. We have outperformed their expectations in signing up and renewing, yet we are still in the red. It is not OUR fault. They don’t offer any merchandise outside of one ugly tshirt and one ugly mug, which I already own. They don’t offer premium memberships, which I would buy. Instead they throw ads at their only paying customers and expect us to be happy about it. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/283 "2005-09-25T12:44:06Z")
> [@](#): > > 2008 > > The cost of renewall will now equal the cost of 10 gallons of gas. Au contraire, at the rate gas prices are going, the cost of SDMB subscription renewal by 2008 will be **less** than the cost of a gallon of gas. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/284 "2005-09-25T12:47:44Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Me, I don’t give a shit if they make a few bucks. I’m just sick and tired of feeling like some chump looking for a free lunch. I, have paid every single penny that has ever been asked of me to support this board, same as all other subscribed members. We have outperformed their expectations in signing up and renewing, yet we are still in the red. It is not OUR fault. It’s definitely not our fault. Nor is it their fault if they decide to raise revenue. We can always refuse to come back if they product they offer is no longer worth the price they charge. It’s a luxury product. We don’t need it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/285 "2005-09-25T12:51:00Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Me, I don’t give a shit if they make a few bucks. I’m just sick and tired of feeling like some chump looking for a free lunch. I, have paid every single penny that has ever been asked of me to support this board, same as all other subscribed members. We have outperformed their expectations in signing up and renewing, yet we are still in the red. It is not OUR fault. > > They don’t offer any merchandise outside of one ugly tshirt and one ugly mug, which I already own. They don’t offer premium memberships, which I would buy. Instead they throw ads at their only paying customers and expect us to be happy about it. Good comment. This is the only web board I pay for or have ever paid for. I personally don’t care about the adverts, but it would give me a warm and fuzzy if they at least acknowledged that I dug into my wallet when asked. Regarding merchanising, I feel that the SMDB and [the wailing list people](http://www.despair.com) are a natural fit. Surely there are some synergies to be monetized in a win-win fashion? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/286 "2005-09-25T13:44:44Z")
With regards to this ad hub-bub (and the now locked Pit thread), all I want to say is I have no problem with ads. Companies are certainly entitled to make money. Companies however are not “entitled” to lie to the customers. The gray area here seems to be whether it can be proved that they are lying in regards to the “need for more revenue”. I have much more respect (and indeed prefer to do business) with a business that is forthright. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/287 "2005-09-25T13:55:29Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Companies however are not “entitled” to lie to the customers. > > The gray area here seems to be whether it can be proved that they are lying in regards to the “need for more revenue”. > > I have much more respect (and indeed prefer to do business) with a business that is forthright. I just don’t see convincing evidence that they’re lying. I see people using a paltry set of facts to build castles in the air. I see the company saying, “Here’s our story, and we’re sticking to it, and we don’t much care whether you believe us.” I can deal with that. People are trying to catch them in a lie by claiming they’ve said something that they’ve not said. That’s just foolish. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/288 "2005-09-25T14:48:34Z")
The only problem I have with the ads is that the majority of them seem to be for mailing services. I don’t like the idea of paying to subsidize a board which is subsidizing the telemarketing industry. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/289 "2005-09-25T14:53:29Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Companies however are not “entitled” to lie to the customers. 😕😕😕 cite ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/290 "2005-09-25T14:57:08Z")
My WAG, which could be totally wrong: I wonder if Google treats mailing list folks with contempt, and requires them to pay per view of an ad instead of paying per clickthrough? If so, it might make sense for them to feed mailing list ads to a site until they’ve got a handle on what sort of ads might result in clickthroughs from that site. **jdavis** has suggested over in ATMB that the spiders are going to crawl thread by thread, and are likelier to crawl a thread the more links to the thread exist. I’m not sure how well that will work here; if they don’t derive some sort of gestalt for the board, we may end up seeing the mailing list ads indefinitely. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/291 "2005-09-25T15:04:08Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > …if they don’t derive some sort of gestalt for the board, we may end up seeing the mailing list ads indefinitely. Or not. If the ads bother you, why don’t you just turn them off? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/292 "2005-09-25T15:09:26Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Or not. If the ads bother you, why don’t you just turn them off? They don’t really bother me. I was just speculating. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/293 "2005-09-25T15:58:03Z")
I added Google AdWords to my personal site last night at about 4 AM. By 5 AM it was showing relevant ads. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/294 "2005-09-25T16:55:00Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > you’d think kittens were being raped or something. They’re not? :dubious: :eek: and 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/295 "2005-09-25T17:28:58Z")
I never even noticed ads until I started seeing all the “Pit The Google Ads” threads. They’re certainly not being shoved in my face or anything. All I see now are two links at the bottom of the page. Easy to ignore, in fact, almost impossible to pay attention to without extra effort. Are there some other obnoxious ads I’m not seeing? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/296 "2005-09-25T17:38:56Z")
> [@SP2263](#): > > Are there some other obnoxious ads I’m not seeing? I keep getting pop-up ads for “Lesbian Latino Lolitass [sic]”, and mis-spelling “Lolitas” is pretty damned obnoxious. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/297 "2005-09-25T17:40:54Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > I keep getting pop-up ads for “Lesbian Latino Lolitass [sic]”, and mis-spelling “Lolitas” is pretty damned obnoxious. YMMV. You misunderstand: it’s underexposed pictures of a lesbian Mexican man’s butt. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/298 "2005-09-25T17:43:34Z")
Hm. On a serious note, “Lolitass” could be the intended spelling. One of them, “located NEAR YOU IN KANSAS CITY!!!”, is certainly doing some creative things to the other one’s ass…highly creative, almost inspired… ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/299 "2005-09-25T18:40:39Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > I keep getting pop-up ads for “Lesbian Latino Lolitass [sic]”, and mis-spelling “Lolitas” is pretty damned obnoxious. YMMV. As a Nabokov fan, I find the whole co-opting of “Lolita” to be the single most obnoxious thing about the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/300 "2005-09-25T19:19:29Z")
That is obnoxious and pit worthy. I haven’t seen any pop-ups since I got Spy Sweeper last year. I’ll turn it off and see what kind of ads I get. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/301 "2005-09-25T19:19:55Z")
> [@wring](#): > > 😕😕😕 > cite 10000 posts and you’re still a putz? No one is entitled to lie to anyone. Try it sometime, maybe in a court of law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=16)