# 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:** 18
**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, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/342 "2005-09-26T14:38:59Z")
In your judgement, I am overreacting. Since feelings are subjective–there is no “correct” level. There is only “correctness” within your subjective response and my subjective sharing. Each can claim the moniker "right’–but there is no standard by which to ultimately arbite such a thing. Simple, really. I find the disigenousness of your post amusing. ---
**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 26, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/343 "2005-09-26T14:56:47Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > It’s not that hard to set up a site that feels like a community, even with all the jack-asses that plague the internet – look at [flickr.com](http://flickr.com), for example. I’ve only found one other site on the internet that has a community nearly as good as this one. On that site, there are animated banners, a related publishing site, and a $25/year membership fee for services like searching posts–and they still have fundraisers to buy new servers. I am not at all convinced that it’s easy to set up a site with a feeling of community like this one. If you are convinced, then don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. I like having you around, but I don’t want you to feel that you’re here against your will. Either the place is worth it to you, or it’s not. It really is that simple. Daniel ---
**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, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/344 "2005-09-26T15:02:50Z")
What, are feelings now exempt from rational thought now ? :dubious: Feelings are indeed subjective, but they can be _disproprtionate_. You’re angry. We get that. But not all of us approach the SDMB like its an encounter group where we’re supposed to sit around and validate one another’s feelings regardless of what they say. IMO, an uncritical attitude of “well, who am I to say she doesn’t have a reason to feel that way” runs contrary to the idea of a fight against ignorance. But YMMV… ---
**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 26, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/345 "2005-09-26T15:34:11Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > So you think that Ed Zotti is lying? Personally, I think he is. We’ve got confirmed numbers that over the last five years the Reader has spent $100,000 on the boards. That’s an average of $20,000 a year. We know from membership numbers that the Reader made $41,000 last year from subsriptions. $41,000 \> $20,000 ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/346 "2005-09-26T15:46:39Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > And I’ve got to say I’m just about sick of the attitude here, especially since 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.” > [@LHoD](#): > > If you are convinced, then don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. Fuckin’ A, **Sol**. One down, eleven to go. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/347 "2005-09-26T15:47:43Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Personally, I think he is. > > We’ve got confirmed numbers that over the last five years the Reader has spent $100,000 on the boards. That’s an average of $20,000 a year. > > We know from membership numbers that the Reader made $41,000 last year from subsriptions. > > $41,000 \> $20,000 Could you cite the Confirmed numbers? It would change the basic argument a lot. ---
**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 26, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/348 "2005-09-26T15:51:03Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Fuckin’ A, **Sol**. One down, eleven to go. Naw, I was at least #4–he’s only got eight left :). 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 26, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/349 "2005-09-26T15:54:19Z")
They’re somewhere in this massive thread. The $100,000 was a number TubaDiva gave us which was meant to show how much the Reader lost operating the board so far. The $41,000 comes from the subscription numbers Ed Zotti gave us earlier. ---
**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, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/350 "2005-09-26T16:00:06Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Personally, I think he is. > > We’ve got confirmed numbers that over the last five years the Reader has spent $100,000 on the boards. That’s an average of $20,000 a year. > > We know from membership numbers that the Reader made $41,000 last year from subsriptions. > > $41,000 \> $20,000 the phrase was the board “lost 100,000 over the years”. You are assuming there was no income. My understanding has always been that purchase of Straight Dope mugs and books off the website went towards the board costs. So, if I’m correct, you cannot extrapolate from the $100 K figure that it cost the boards 20 K per year. In addition, hopefully you also understand that costs don’t necessarily remain the same from year to year. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/351 "2005-09-26T16:00:59Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > $41,000 \> $20,000 So they’re not allowed to make a profit? Yeah, the ads for “robust monetized end-to-end direct marketing solutions” or whatever suck, but: - They’re at the bottom of a thread page, where they’re inconspicuous. Those that want them the ads to be _more_ visible, at the top of the page or along the side --don’t bogart the chronic, dude, pass it on! - Who do people seem to tolerate the pop-up ads and crappy UBB system at Snopes, but here they cause a near-riot? Personally, I’d like to see a Something Awful-type revenue model here, with some paid extra services (private messages, avatars), and ads that can be purchased by the users. Ads for the products, services and Web sites of Dopers would reinforce the sense of community here, and possibly bring in more revenue than a Google ad to boot. What would you rather click on, an ad from a Doper, or an ad for a mailing list? ---
**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 26, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/352 "2005-09-26T16:03:35Z")
**Justin** , does losing $100,000 over 5 years mean that you’ve lost exactly $20,000 each year? Or could your pattern of loss looked like the following, as your messageboard expanded: 1. $2,500 2. 5,000 3. 10,000 4. 25,000 5. 57,500 Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/353 "2005-09-26T16:08:20Z")
Right - I’ve got my pop-ups blocked, and now I’ve got my ads blocked. Now, if I can just get my pop-unders blocked… I hate ads in movies that I’ve paid for, I hate them in cable tv that I’ve paid for, I hate them in sports venues that I’ve paid for, and I hate them here, too. Thanks, Straight Dope decision-makers, for finally getting me motivated to get Firefox working, and thanks, Dopers, for telling me how to get unwanted, intrusive ads off of the message board that I have paid for. I’ve never been one to threaten leaving the Dope because of policies I’ve disagreed with, but this is the closest I’ve come, when I saw ads on the bottom of the page. ---
**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 26, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/354 "2005-09-26T16:08:28Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > - Who do people seem to tolerate the pop-up ads and crappy UBB system at Snopes, but here they cause a near-riot? There was this time that the SDMB changed the fonts in the drop-down boxes. People called for revolution, howled at the destruction of community. The mods suppressed a riot with brutal, bloody violence, and in the end, almost a dozen people threatened to leave the boards. We still miss the one person that didn’t renew as a result. We don’t take trivialities sitting down around here. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/355 "2005-09-26T16:11:13Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > \ > We don’t take trivialities sitting down around here. > > Daniel Well, we kind of do, but we get very, very upset while we’re sitting down, typing furiously. 😃 ---
**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 26, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/356 "2005-09-26T16:12:41Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > **Justin** , does losing $100,000 over 5 years mean that you’ve lost exactly $20,000 each year? Or could your pattern of loss looked like the following, as your messageboard expanded: > > 1. $2,500 > 2. 5,000 > 3. 10,000 > 4. 25,000 > 5. 57,500 > > Daniel While that’s possible, I’m just working with the averages. The averages say that they’ve lost $20,000 a year. Assuming no income was probably wrong, but using both sets of numbers prove that this is not the money pit the admins make it sound like. And for the record, I don’t have a problem with ads (I actually like Google Ads because they’re just text). I just think the cries of “we are so poor” is a little unfair to the users of the board when the numbers don’t support it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/357 "2005-09-26T16:12:41Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > There was this time that the SDMB changed the fonts in the drop-down boxes. People called for revolution, howled at the destruction of community. The mods suppressed a riot with brutal, bloody violence, and in the end, almost a dozen people threatened to leave the boards. We still miss the one person that didn’t renew as a result. > > We don’t take trivialities sitting down around here. With this post, **LHod** returns to the heights… 🙂 Re: Snopes: I don’t tolerate it. I used to actually read over there. Now, if I have to go there for a legend, I get in, get what I need, and get out. The layout and ads have become intolerable for me. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/358 "2005-09-26T16:13:39Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > They’re somewhere in this massive thread. > > The $100,000 was a number TubaDiva gave us which was meant to show how much the Reader lost operating the board so far. > > The $41,000 comes from the subscription numbers Ed Zotti gave us earlier. Well from your Quote she said they lost $100,000, not cost $100,000 to run for 5 years. The quote came from another thread I presume. It is not in this one. This is Straight Dope, lets keep are facts straight. The boards cost yearly server fees, software fees and maintenance and at least some Tech time. $20,000 sounds low. The $41,000 does sound correct however. My own guestimates were $43,412.50 in this thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6507756&postcount=33](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6507756&postcount=33) The real yearly cost would be interesting. I think it is true that the reader must be trying to turn SDMB into a profit center instead of a cost center. I guess my breaking point would be Java applets and Pop-ups. I would only put up with that on a free cite. Static text ads just don’t bug me. ---
**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, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/359 "2005-09-26T17:50:24Z")
> [@furt](#): > > What, are feelings now exempt from rational thought now ? :dubious: > > Feelings are indeed subjective, but they can be _disproprtionate_. You’re angry. We get that. But not all of us approach the SDMB like its an encounter group where we’re supposed to sit around and validate one another’s feelings regardless of what they say. > > IMO, an uncritical attitude of “well, who am I to say she doesn’t have a reason to feel that way” runs contrary to the idea of a fight against ignorance. But YMMV… You obviously don’t understand what I have been trying to say for my past few posts. Snide asides about encounter groups do nothing to advance the eradication of ingnorance. There is no point in discussing this with you anymore. You have your POV and I have mine. Where, exactly, has your “welll, who am I to say she doesn’t have a reason to feel that way” attitude towards my posts? It is distinctly missing. As I said in a previous post–some here may think that the ads add to the whole ambience. To each his own–or words to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/360 "2005-09-26T18:20:12Z")
With regard to the ads themselves being described as unobtrusive, I must bring some evidence to the table that on at least one recent occasion, a poster was led to believe that the “Sponsored Links” were, in fact, someone’s signature, and a near-riot broke out: > **[Literature quiz question](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336579)** > > Hi there, Does anyone know the answer to this question from the Sunday Times quiz? -Who writes an unsatisfactory thank-you letter for a platinum and gold ring? The answer will be a fictional character and I’m guessing 20th century as platinum is a... > [@](#): > > CC. Is it kosher to advertise products and services in your sig? I should think not. > > If nothing else it is certainly in bad taste, and I wish you would remove them. > [@](#): > > I guess it’s possible that you think the sponsored links at the bottom of the page are my own personal advertisements. They are associated with the SDMB and appear at the bottom of any thread. Clearly something new, and obviously not connected to the last poster on the thread. Take a deep breath. Relax. And permit the mods to moderate the posts. Thank you. > [@](#): > > My error. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen these ads. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/361 "2005-09-26T18:27:53Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > With regard to the ads themselves being described as unobtrusive, I must bring some evidence to the table that on at least one recent occasion, a poster was led to believe that the “Sponsored Links” were, in fact, someone’s signature, and a near-riot broke out: > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336579](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336579) That is actually pretty funny. You gotta love the Emily Littella moments. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=19)