Some of the Adsense material served up has been the subject of email and online complaints to board management and the Reader.
However, this is the wrong place to complain.
The Reader has no editorial control over what Google displays as ads. We can all complain about the ads, but going to the Reader will not fix the problem.
To complain about a Google ad you feel violates Google’s own Adsense rules, please see here:
How do I report a (Google Adsense ad) policy violation?
TubaDiva
Most of us do not have an AdSense account. It seems to me that this procedure is meant to be used by webmasters of AdSense sites, not by humble users such as ourselves.
It’s what I could find. It’s an abuse address for AdSense, and it’s better than nothing.
If enough people complain, they’ll take action.
This is also to point out that complaining to us or to the Reader is less effective, for sure you won’t get a fix that way.
TubaDiva
Why not? Doesn’t the Reader in general, and the SDMB in particular, have any interest in not displaying inappropriate ads?
Clarification:
I misspoke earlier, and I need to fix this.
The Reader does have some control over Adsense ads (in a limited way); however, they are choosing not to do so as closely as some of you would like.
An ad might be blocked if, say, it was pornographic, or an attempt to manipulate the SDMB, or an ad by a direct competitor (to give just a few examples), but it would take something of that magnitude to get action.
I note that most examples of this type would be in violation of Adsense policies in any event and so it would be meaningful for individuals to complain to Adsense about the situation.
And of course we care when we see an inappropriate ad, you can’t work here at the Dope and not want everyone to have the very best experience possible. I have seen ads that detract from our purpose, yes indeed, and I’m not happy about it.
I complained to Google then and I’ll complain if I see it again. I ask that you do the same.
TubaDiva
Hm… I’ve reported a few ads for sites selling academically-dishonest services (they’ll do your homework for you for a fee, or the like). I’ve seen at least one other site which specifically asked users to report such ads if they see them, so the webmaster can nuke them. Is this not an option here?
Or is it a matter of we can only nuke so many sites, and Jerry / Ed / the SDMB / the Reader just haven’t set academic fraud sites as a priority?
I imagine that it’s too big of a PITA to deal with it. Bad Astronomer would nuke the astrology, etc., ads when his board first started running ads, but he eventually had to give up as there were just too many of them.
I have google ads on my site, I block ads for out of area competitors and such since I would prefer that if a potential customer is going to shop elsewhere I prefer its somewhere local and that I will get the click payment for it (up to $1-$2 a pop in my department), someplace advertising from orlando fl has little business advertising local service in central CA.
You can block by domain or by specific page. I could see where it could be cumbersome after a while but since I only have 20-50 hits a day at my site I prefer that they were relevant for my customers so I take a little time.
Not sure how they’re running this at the Reader but I would imagine they’re keeping some sort of eye on it.