# 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:** 17
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/322 "2005-09-26T06:27:18Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > But I don’t get people who say “Oh, I like this board well enough to pay for, but not enough to filter ads.” How does that work? It’s more that the ads are there to be filtered than anything else. I don’t have cable TV or subscribe to magazines either. I don’t like double dipping. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/323 "2005-09-26T06:32:25Z")
Ok ok I admit it: I clicked on one of the ads and found it informative. Please don’t hurt me. Hoovers is a respected provider of financial data. I was curious about what they offered. Unfortunately, it turns out that you have to give them an email address to get pricing. Nice try buckaroo. * * * Ironically, I’m one of those vehemently anti-advertising types. I dislike most billboards and TV commercials drive me nuts too often. Yet these google ads don’t bother me in the slightest. I don’t mind google picking up the ad revenue; ditto for the SDMB. With respect to both organizations, I think I receive damn good value for my part of the exchange. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/324 "2005-09-26T06:55:52Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > I know that there are at least a dozen responses being typed _even as I type this_ that involve the words “door,” “ass,” and “hit.” Well, when I got home today, the wind blew the door at me, and hit me right on the ass. I was slightly peeved, but I got over it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/325 "2005-09-26T07:56:09Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > Well, when I got home today, the wind blew the door at me, and hit me right on the ass. I was slightly peeved, but I got over it. > > 😉 Well geez…I got up early to use the bathroom, slipped on a towel that someone here, (who shall remain nameless (my son)), left on the floor, hit the door with my bad knee and fell on my ass. Scared the hell out of my wife too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/326 "2005-09-26T08:14:07Z")
I was listening to a Doors album, when suddenly this long-eared ass came galloping into my room. I guess ‘Come on baby light my fire’ hit a nerve on the cutey. ---
**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 26, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/327 "2005-09-26T11:24:39Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > I’m going to guess that the cite he was asking for was one for your claim that the SDMB/Chicago Reader were making false claims. My apologies then. I thought a cite was sought for not being entitled to lie. ---
**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 26, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/328 "2005-09-26T11:27:03Z")
> [@wring](#): > > No one is entitled to lie to anyone??? > Bullshit. and This ain’t a court of law. :wally: I retract my apology. Anyone who defends lying as an entitlement is beyond a putz. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/329 "2005-09-26T11:32:10Z")
> [@solgrundy](#): > > Yep, that and the rest of your post hit the nail on the head. Every time one of these things blows up, you always get people crawling out of the dark recesses of the Pit to remind us that this is not a community, but a business being run on the internet. > > Well, no. If it were a business, the staff would be a lot more conciliatory, because they know they depend on our money. And the arrogant, condescending attitude that makes the columns interesting, gets really old after a couple of years. Time and time again, we keep getting reminded that we’re all just a bunch of whiny, petulant children, just this close to getting banned, and oh the Reader makes such sacrifices for us and we don’t appreciate it, and we’re always this close to having to shut down the boards altogether and then where would you go? Times like this actually make me realize how frail our little community is and how some of us are a bunch of whiners. I’m honestly not trying to be rude. I just think that if people valued this sense of community so much, they would be willing to put up with a few lines of text at the bottom of the page to keep it. Instead we get two good sized threads of swearing and accusations, one person leaving the board, and a threat. What a lovely community we have. Somebody made the comparison and I think it deserves reposting. We’re pretty much a group of people hanging out at a coffee shop. We get our cups of coffee, sit down, and chat for a while. Sometimes the manager has to come by and ask us to keep the noise down or stop swearing so much, but for the most part everyone gets along. One day they decide to put little ads for muffins on the tables and the shit hits the fan. The owners say that the business isn’t doing that well and they’re hoping the ads will increase sales to keep the business afloat. And lest you think I am being overdramatic, [cite](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6617413#post6617413). > [@Ed Zotti](#): > > These are tough times for the newspaper business; the Reader has been trying to cut costs. In a discussion recently with Reader management, the statement was made that while there are no immediately plans to pull the plug on SD website, the costs associated with it are “low hanging fruit.” It seems to me that if the community as important as people say it is, they’d support whatever it takes to keep it going. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/330 "2005-09-26T11:44:30Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Somebody made the comparison and I think it deserves reposting. We’re pretty much a group of people hanging out at a coffee shop. We get our cups of coffee, sit down, and chat for a while. Sometimes the manager has to come by and ask us to keep the noise down or stop swearing so much, but for the most part everyone gets along. One day they decide to put little ads for muffins on the tables and the shit hits the fan. The owners say that the business isn’t doing that well and they’re hoping the ads will increase sales to keep the business afloat. Close… except they’re actually ads for the payday loan store down the street. The owners aren’t trying to sell any more muffins, they’re just letting other businesses pay to advertise on your usual table. And they’ve chosen to do this instead of raising their prices, even though at the time when they instituted a cover charge, they said it was because advertising wouldn’t bring in any money. Meanwhile, the similarly sized cafe across the street doesn’t seem to be struggling, even though they have lower prices and no advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/331 "2005-09-26T11:50:18Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > Meanwhile, the similarly sized cafe across the street doesn’t seem to be struggling, even though they have lower prices and no advertising. So you think that Ed Zotti is lying? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/332 "2005-09-26T11:51:47Z")
And they don’t provide coffee… or chair… or anything, to boot. The day to day moderation is done by members made moderators and the content is 100% provided by members. It’s less a coffee shop and more a bare room with a few of the more trustworthy people in it given the power to throw out the tosspots. Only now it’s a bare room with a cover charge AND advertising plastered on the walls. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/333 "2005-09-26T13:21:51Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I retract my apology. Anyone who defends lying as an entitlement is beyond a putz. :rolleyes: hey asshole - this whole things started w/an affirmative statement “Businesses aren’t allowed to lie”. to which I asked “cite”, since as far as I know there is no legislation anywhere stating that it’s illegal for a corporation to lie (as a general statement - certainly they’re not allowed to file false corporate info etc). Otherwise, you’d never see such advertising as “new and improved” all the fucking time. you’ve since resorted to merely insulting me w/o actually addressing the point I’m making. I see businesses all the time raising prices w/out having to go through public justification for their prices. Criminey, the gas stations do this damn near daily. People grouse, some noise is occaisionally made, the only times I’ve **ever** seen a company prosecuted for lying was when it was on an official document such as a tax return or corporate income statement. Merely raising prices saying they “Have to” isn’t necessarily a “lie” or something they’re required to defend or prove (except in regards to the marketplace if they price themselves out of business- but that’s another vehicle). Nowhere have I ever even suggested that such an action was never **morally** wrong. Merely not illegal. Which is what I would imply with the statement “Companies aren’t allowed to lie”. So, fucknugget, try addressing the point that was made instead of the words you’re force feeding into me, thanks ever so. and the statement “no one is entitled to lie to anyone” is indefensible in MHO. If I’m under oath, I’m required to tell the truth. But to tell me that I’m never entitled to lie to anyone is absolute bullshit. I’ve lied to save my skin from time to time for example. and felt fully entitled to do so, thank you so much. I’ve not told the truth about a surprise present for some one from time to time for another one. I’ve not told the truth on occasion when I thought the person wasn’t entitled to the information they were seeking and weren’t taking the answer “I don’t want to talk about it with you”. There’s also occaisions where it does indeed seem that the person asking **wants** you to lie (“does this make my butt look big?” “what do you think about my new dress?”) I would **prefer** not to lie. But if my safety or wellbeing is on the line, some wonderful surprise would be ruined, some innocent’s feelings would be hurt (and more than the lie) etc, all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/334 "2005-09-26T13:56:10Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Times like this actually make me realize how frail our little community is and how some of us are a bunch of whiners. I’m honestly not trying to be rude. I just think that if people valued this sense of community so much, they would be willing to put up with a few lines of text at the bottom of the page to keep it. Instead we get two good sized threads of swearing and accusations, one person leaving the board, and a threat. What a lovely community we have. > > … > > It seems to me that if the community as important as people say it is, they’d support whatever it takes to keep it going. Note: you cannot in the same breath say you are not trying to be rude and then insult people. (also, not all of this is directed at **Harborwolf** --but I need to say all of it). Go to hell. I expressed me feelings, honestly and civilly shared–and apparently shared by more than one poster. Whiners? Fuck you. Why don’t you start listening to people instead of marginalizing them and criticizing them for NOT sharing your POV and your worldview? Christ–I agree with most of your posts and think you can be funny as hell sometimes, but you are not clueing in on this one at all. Honestly, if the SD folks had come to us and said, we have to raise your subscription fee–I would have done so in a heart beat. Personal budget constraints are one thing, but I assume that Dopers would have risen to the occasion, as in the past–I may well have ponied up for someone, myself. Ads? They suck. They suck like a black hole. I don’t care how “unobtrusive” they are. I don’t WANT my thoughts and feelings and lame attempts at humor and pittings to be underwritten by some crass commercial outlet whose only goal in life is the almighty fucking dollar. This changes the SDMB for me–in a fundamental way. Sorry that you are so bludgeoned insensate by the sheer pervasiveness of commerce that you are an apologist for Madison Ave now. You must be very proud. I WANT a community of intelligent, varied people who TALK about stuff–all manner of stuff, including stuff that Matters and stuff that is as ephemeral as the air. I would like “Cecil” to eradicate ignorance. But “he” also needs to look at questioning presuppositions, as well. Here’s one: “there’s nowhere that ads don’t belong.” Strange school of thought, indeed. Jesus- **catssix** (I think it was her) is correct–WE are the damned “magazine”–I don’t see SDMB providing content and interest here–the Dopers do (and their intelligence and humor contribute mightily to the books, I might add). Yes, the Reader provides the “room” for all our convos to take place. This is not as parasitic a relationship as the Reader would like us to think. “Low hanging fruit” my ass. Is the Reader in such bad financial straights? A liberal paper can’t make it in a liberal city in a blue state? My question is then, what is the Reader doing wrong? Newspaper circulation is down all over–ah, to hell with it. It is what it is. I see no reason to smile and say, “thank you sir, may I have another?”. To me, it is like the church analogy. At my church, the new pastor first asked us to up our plate collections. Then we were to up our pledges. Now, she says that nothing less than tithes will do AND my church now runs ads in it’s monthly newletter. Ads from church! Strengthened my faith no end, I can tell you. Fuck that. Don’t keep changing the damn goalposts(and the game itself) on me. Same prinicple is at work here, for all I support an increase in subscription fees. What comes next–in this oh, so homey “coffee shop”? Thread specific ads? My user name and email addy automatically linked to some “since you were active in this thread, you might like to try XX product”? Hell, it works for Amazon, doesn’t it? I can’t shop there for tripping over their "recommendations " for me–all of which are usually way off base. Where did the notion come from that ads and attempts by commerce to reach an audience at any time, in any place is a Right? A given? Why not have banner ads within books, for God’s sake? Acme Insurance could own the rights to all of chapter 12, bigger names, of course, get Chapter 1…It’s weird as hell. Now we see ads prior to movies that we have PAID for the seats and the right to watch. We have ads on the DVD’s that we have purchased to watch in the privacy of our own homes. Marketers do NOT, IMO, have the RIGHT to access my mind and decision making 24/7. Are people sheep? What do yo want? My life, brought to you by Sony? WTF? It’s the mindset that I rail against. The SDMB is just one more sad example. What happens when there is content that the ads people find offensive? Who wins that battle? Free speech and the community that is the Dope or the underwriters. No need to break for commercial for that one… :rolleyes: Forgive me, I do not know enough about the Internet or computers (I cannot even tell you what kind of computer I am typing on right now–and ya know what? I don’t care) to know IF I can install the adblock w/o screwing some other setting or whatever up. Dia knows the ads are easy enough to ignore (so far). It’s easier for me to just igore them, as I have stated more than once. That is not my beef. What has changed for me–me, the _whiner_ --is my feelings towards the Dope AND the Reader. Complete volte face over here. I came here looking for community and found it. Now I am less a community member than a consumer. I am one dissatisfied customer at present. If this is such a hard core business–act like a damned business. Listen to your customers-change your approach/selling points/products/marketing. C’mon–you want the message board to be profitable? Make a damned better one, then. You want me to put up with crap? Make it worth my while. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/335 "2005-09-26T14:04:33Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Go to hell. > > I expressed me feelings, honestly and civilly shared–and apparently shared by more than one poster. Whiners? Fuck you. Yeah, that response really proves him wrong… ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/336 "2005-09-26T14:06:01Z")
Yep. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/337 "2005-09-26T14:06:55Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Yeah, that response really proves him wrong… Wow. Did you have a special class in school? You don’t even understand that this is not a debate–not about who is “right” or who is “wrong”. Stay around the SDMB–you need to. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/338 "2005-09-26T14:07:08Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Yep. Oops, that Yep was pro-Eleanor. I liked your first post, too. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/339 "2005-09-26T14:10:20Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I don’t WANT my thoughts and feelings and lame attempts at humor and pittings to be underwritten by some crass commercial outlet whose only goal in life is the almighty fucking dollar. You’ve been here for three years, and you never realized the Reader was a private business? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/340 "2005-09-26T14:26:51Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > You’ve been here for three years, and you never realized the Reader was a private business? Do you people read? Or do you just take things out of context? Yeah, **Garfield** --that’s it. For three years I was under the impression that the SDMB existed in an enchanted land filled with swains, princesses and evil knights, until one day… Get a grip and try to understand another POV. It’s most refreshing. This post brought to you by Oscar Buyer–purveyor of fine luncheon meat and garden fertilizer for 43 years! ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/341 "2005-09-26T14:31:24Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Wow. Did you have a special class in school? Actually, yes. And whether or not it’s a “debate,” I find your vitriol amusing, since it’s a perfect example of the overreaction that **Harborwolf** was describing. He disagreed with you, pointedly but civilly, and _you_ flew off the handle with the profanity and the angry assertions that people can’t understand your point of view. We do understand it. We just don’t agree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=18)