# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/141 "2005-09-24T04:33:04Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I’m not aware of comparable websites–which ones are you talking about? ANd what revenue streams do they depend on? Something Awful message board: $10 for a lifetime membership (unless you’re stupid and get banned or want a bunch of premium features). They also must use a LOT more bandwidth as the site is very image heavy with much of it being hosted locally. Also has banner ads (which you can pay to block out) but usually they’re part of the joke. Or Virtually every other message board on the web: Free, usually supported by ads. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/142 "2005-09-24T05:09:27Z")
I don’t mind the ads because they’re obtrusive (which they are), but because they’re fucking up my SDMB experience by making the pages load and scroll VERY slowly. Also, my mouse scrollwheel will no longer operate when viewing SDMB pages. INFURIATING. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/143 "2005-09-24T05:11:51Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > I don’t mind the ads because they’re obtrusive (which they are), but because they’re fucking up my SDMB experience by making the pages load and scroll VERY slowly. Also, my mouse scrollwheel will no longer operate when viewing SDMB pages. > > INFURIATING. I’ve not experienced any of these problems…especially this late, the pages seem to be loading rather quickly… ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/144 "2005-09-24T05:16:07Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > That doesn’t mean it isn’t unethical. You’re still screwing someone either way. If the advertisers don’t adjust for this, you’re screwing them, because they’re paying for the content you’re enjoying, but you’re not looking at the ads. If they do adjust for this, you’re screwing the content producer, because the advertisers are paying him less money for the same amount of traffic. We’re producing and paying for the content as it is. And if it’s content, I guess I better start copyrighting every post. © 2005 by Cricetus ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/145 "2005-09-24T05:18:12Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > We’re producing and paying for the content as it is. > > And if it’s content, I guess I better start copyrighting every post. > > © 2005 by Cricetus :rolleyes: A) You own the copyright to everything you create the second you set it to paper. B) > [@](#): > > By posting on this board you grant the Chicago Reader, Inc., and its successors and assigns a nonexclusive irrevocable right to re-use your posting in any manner it or they see fit without notice or compensation to you. No material contained in this site may be republished or reposted without express written consent of the Chicago Reader, Inc., except that message board users retain the right to republish or repost their own work. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/146 "2005-09-24T05:23:29Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > \ > Besides, it’s unethical. In any media that includes advertising, the implicit agreement between you and the publisher is that you get the media at a reduced rate in exchange for dealing with the ads. You don’t have to click them on websites, or buy the products advertised in print media - you just have to look at them, however briefly. > > Blocking ads is violating that agreement - you’re taking the content without providing what’s expected to the publisher in return. **You could consider it stealing, I guess.** You’re taking up their bandwidth and putting load on their servers without paying your fair share. > \ If you’re not yanking our chain, then boy, do we do not see eye to eye. If any “agreement” was made between me and the SDMB then it was that I would pay to read and contribute to the dialogue here. Advertising sucks. These google ads suck. They are most likely the first step on a slippery slope towards a whole world of suck on the SDMB. What pisses me off is that I paid here is not what I got. I guess when they start putting advertising on billboards in space or projecting it on the moon, you’ll be okay with that too. ---
**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 24, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/147 "2005-09-24T05:24:23Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Yeah, Something Awful, which probably gets about ten times the number of traffic we do, is a lot more graphic and content heavy, is about ten dollars for LIFETIME membership. True. It’s also extra to search, extra for private messages, extra to see messages more than a month old, extra for avatars, and so on. Members are “banned” for minor rule violations that wouldn’t even warrant a warning here. When they’re “banned,” they can rejoin, after paying another $10 lifetime membership. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > I wonder if they’d let DOPERS buy ad space? Think about it-all the fuss over **Opal** ’s teeshirts, and anyone selling anything. If they’re going to do ads, why not allow someone like **Opal** ad space here? They do it at SA, and it’s wildly successful. Ads are cheaper if they point to other threads in the message board. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Why can’t they put the ads at the top of the page, under the logo, like EVERY OTHER SITE does? You would rather the ads be placed in a more conspicuous location? Ads suck, but at least here they’re at the bottom of a thread page. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/148 "2005-09-24T05:31:19Z")
I’d like to thank TPTB for the ads. I’ve been on the internet since the days of AOL 2.0. A long, long time. I’m an internet geek. Yet, for some reason, I’ve never gotten around to installing any kind of popup or ad blocker. For years, I’ve been enduring all kinds of obnoxious ads and manually closing popups. Now, finally, I’ve been motivated to get off my ass (metaphorically) and go install some software to block this stupid bullshit. So thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/149 "2005-09-24T05:37:46Z")
When we went pay, I was cool with that - I figured I was paying for the previous years of free posting. I felt for the Reader. Pay to post, Modblinders when it comes to the reasons behind Liberal’s namechange and silly warnings to people who protest, TubaGate and her subsequent half-assed apology, whatever. Though I disagreed with it all, I think you’ll find that I never even said one word. Empathy and all that. All that goodwill down the drain. I cannot justify continuing to pay for a site that makes me deal with ad links, and encourages me to click on them and buy stuff. The ONLY site on the web I pay for that expects me to stomach these bullshit ads on every freakin’ page, I might add. “Any less obtrusive they’d be subliminal” my foot. And anyone who thinks this will be the end of it is kidding themselves. It will turn into a Geocities page soon enough. And they still don’t get it. Will it improve server speed? “As always, no promises.” :rolleyes: Then **SkipMagic** says we’re “getting huffy.” Incredible. “Take your medicine, silly child. Who’s a _cranky_ customer? **You** are! **Yes you are!** ” Nice way to treat your, you know, CUSTOMERS. Why should I continue to be a customer? I don’t tolerate this kind of customer service anywhere else, why should I tolerate it here? You know what? I shouldn’t. Enough is enough. For me. Discontinue my posting privileges please. See ya. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/150 "2005-09-24T05:38:10Z")
Interesting. [ol] [li]I use Firefox.[/li][li]I do **NOT** have Adblock installed (at least, it’s not in my extensions’ list).[/li][li]I’m not seeing any ads.[/li][/ol] I wonder where I went right? That said, my recollection is that the board went to subscription because TPTB had decided that ads wouldn’t work as a revenue generator; I don’t recall them giving a reason why they thought that way. So if ads are going to be a revenue generator now, does that mean we’re not going to have to pay subscription fees? ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/151 "2005-09-24T05:44:26Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > What would be unethical is designing a machine to cut all the ads out of the paper before you read it (or perhaps print over them). Which is essentially what online ad-blocking software does. Unethical? Are you _kidding_ me? It’s my newspaper. I paid for it. I can do whatever the hell I want with it. I could even record cable TV shows onto my hard drive and edit out the commercials before watching them (which I often do.) As a paying recipient of the content, it’s my Og-given right to alter it in any way once it comes into my possession, as long as it doesn’t involve redistribution. Of course, the cable company (and/or the Reader) might just put more advertisements in to make up for it. It’s a free country and they have the right to do that as well, just as I can choose not to pay for the service. As for the Google ads, frankly, I didn’t even notice they were there until I opened up this thread. Apparently my Firefox is already configured to block them somehow, and all I see is a bar that says “Sponsored Links.” So I’ll probably be sticking around. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/152 "2005-09-24T05:47:32Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > See ya. Watch that swinging door. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/153 "2005-09-24T05:47:47Z")
I just read the post in which one of the major mods made the “Any less obtrusive and they’d be subliminal” comment about the ads. What a pompous, ridiculous statement to make. Someone should punch that smug asshole in his fucking jaw. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/154 "2005-09-24T05:48:57Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > What a pompous, ridiculous statement to make. Someone should punch that smug asshole in his fucking jaw. I think you should go futher and threaten him personally. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/155 "2005-09-24T05:51:36Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > No, not actively. But I think they do have an ethical obligation not to actively block them using anything but their brain. Uh, you’re full of shit. I used my brain in logging on, seeing horseshit, and reading ways of how to avoid the ads. I then use that brain to download and install a browser and update to avoid such ads. Seems the brain is functioning properly to avoid the ads we were all told wouldn’t be foisted on us when the boards went pay. Enjoy your spam. You seem just the type to click on random ads selling spam lists. Fuck you for even attempting to win an argument in telling me what I have to put up with when I have a way to avoid it. Fucking douche. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/156 "2005-09-24T05:52:39Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > You have the right to say: “Your [publication/website/tv show/whatever] runs such annoying ads, I am not going to [watch/read] it anymore.” You do not have the right to alter the content the publisher produced to remove the ads. > > (Actually, you obviously have the right, but I think it’s unethical to do so. But let’s not get hung up on terminology) From another point of view, It’s unethical for advertisers to intrude into people’s screen _when people don’t want it and didn’t ask for it_. Granted, some sites are doing it better, for example, Gamespot. There are ways of serving ads which are annoying. > [@](#): > > That doesn’t mean it isn’t unethical. You’re still screwing someone either way. If the advertisers don’t adjust for this, you’re screwing them, because they’re paying for the content you’re enjoying, but you’re not looking at the ads. If they do adjust for this, you’re screwing the content producer, because the advertisers are paying him less money for the same amount of traffic. For the SDMB case, people are _already_ paying for the content. What they want is a justification, and perhaps more transparency. As for whether blocking ads is _ethical_, that’s a tough call. Everyone go by different standards of ethnics. As said, I have no problem with Google adsense. Ads which are relevant (such as the rpg-related ads at [www.rpg.net](http://www.rpg.net)) are welcomed and useful, and I do click on them Pop-ups and aural ads related to scams and dubious work-at-home schemes? Ads that are defintely misleading? Don’t adverters have any ethnics anymore? That’s _the_ problem. I just don’t like the idea that you have to be at mercy of the advertisers. The site may be served from some remote server, but now I am viewing it on _my_ screen and therefore, I shall be able to do something about it. And if we don’t use ad-blockers, then what if when advertisers dump garbage onto our screen? Are advertisers free from any responsbility because _gasp_ they are paying for our content? > [@](#): > > The analog to ad-blocking software in the case of television would be a device that replaced all ads on TV with a black screen. Changing the channel on a TV is not the equivalent of blocking ads, it’s the equivalent of switching browser windows or turning the page in a newspaper. Yet both have the same effects. ---
**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 24, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/157 "2005-09-24T05:53:23Z")
> [@Domokun](#): > > Virtually every other message board on the web: Free, usually supported by ads. Let’s look at the other Doper-operated message boards. [Fabulous Forums of Fathom](http://fff.fathom.org/) - Google text ads. [UnaBoard](http://unaboard.coalgoddess.net/index.php) - no ads. [G’Dope](http://p090.ezboard.com/bgdope) - no ads. [Cyburbia](http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/) - no ads. [Bad Astronomy / Universe Today](http://www.bautforum.com/) - no ads. [NADS](http://s11.invisionfree.com/NADS) - no ads. [Skips’ Magic Board](http://www.skipmagic.net/magicboard/) - no ads. Granted, they have less traffic, and a $20-$40 web hosting package is enough for 'em, but still … ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/158 "2005-09-24T05:58:04Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Uh, you’re full of shit. I used my brain in logging on, seeing horseshit, and reading ways of how to avoid the ads. I then use that brain to download and install a browser and update to avoid such ads. Seems the brain is functioning properly to avoid the ads we were all told wouldn’t be foisted on us when the boards went pay. > > Enjoy your spam. You seem just the type to click on random ads selling spam lists. Fuck you for even attempting to win an argument in telling me what I have to put up with when I have a way to avoid it. Fucking douche. I agree one hundred percent. With **duffer**. Wow, this whole ad thing is helping folks who are usually at each others throats come together for one purpose - telling **Absolute** that he’s a complete fucking idiot who must be using his skull to store paper clips. Seriously, **Absolute** - at what point did we agree to view ads on the SDMB? Because I don’t remember ads being part of the deal when I, you know, _paid my money_. So even if what you said made any sort of sense in any other context, it sure as fuck doesn’t in this one. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/159 "2005-09-24T06:04:18Z")
With the unfathomable base of knowledge among Dopers, surely there are a few that can come up with some way to charge the current rate without the ads? Hell, I’ll bet it can be done without the fee. Now I’m beginning to see the point in rants about corporations on this board. It’s an end-around by the Reader to goad us Conservatives! :wink(not really): ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137/160 "2005-09-24T06:05:08Z")
They needed to generate income, so subscriptions. Ads bring in a little additional income. It’s called business for profit. Big. Fucking. Deal. You don’t even notice those ads unless you’re looking for them. Anybody bitching about this doesn’t have enough real problems in their life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-google-ads/323137.md?page=9)