# Talking ad **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 2, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726 "2009-07-02T18:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/1 "2009-07-02T18:57:22Z")
I’ve run into a couple of talking ads saying “Congratulations, you’ve just been selected for a free iPhone.” WTF? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/2 "2009-07-02T19:43:53Z")
Did I ever mention that members don’t see ads? They don’t hear them either. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/3 "2009-07-02T19:50:55Z")
I don’t mind the ads, but the talking ads are a bit much, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/4 "2009-07-02T20:11:01Z")
Well, you gotta admit, though, that no matter how annoying the ad is or how NSFW it’s made by the audio, it’s still pretty cool that you were selected for a free iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/5 "2009-07-02T20:54:16Z")
[QUOTE=TubaDiva] Did I ever mention that members don’t see ads? They don’t hear them either. [/QUOTE] Now if you can just figure out a way to give guests random electric shocks to the testicles, we’ll be on the road to riches! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/6 "2009-07-02T22:35:27Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Now if you can just figure out a way to give guests random electric shocks to the testicles, we’ll be on the road to riches! > > 😃 Would that be because they would want to avoid them, or because they’d want to get them?? :eek: Maybe it’s a win/win proposition. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/7 "2009-07-02T22:36:40Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Did I ever mention that members don’t see ads? > > They don’t hear them either. But do members get selected for free iPhones? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/8 "2009-07-03T05:49:20Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Did I ever mention that members don’t see ads? > > They don’t hear them either. So your strategy is to piss off potential customers in the hopes that they will become actual customers? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/9 "2009-07-03T06:56:32Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > So your strategy is to piss off potential customers in the hopes that they will become actual customers? No. The strategy is to try and make a go of the Board through advertising so that no one will HAVE to pay to make it work. That means accepting what advertising they can, probably including some that have sound files that go along with them. IF you don’t like seeing/hearing ads, you are still allowed to opt out through payment of an annual fee. But really, if advertising on the web bothers you, then either you get bothered aLOT on the web, or you use a sophisticated ad-blocker. I’ve never understood why people think this place should be immune to the economic forces that are shaping the web. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/10 "2009-07-03T08:08:41Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > … or you use a sophisticated ad-blocker. [Flashblock](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433) works as well, if you’re a Firefox user. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/11 "2009-07-03T08:30:26Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Now if you can just figure out a way to give guests random electric shocks to the testicles, we’ll be on the road to riches! That’ll only work for guests with members. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/12 "2009-07-03T08:36:32Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > That’ll only work for guests with members. There are always the nipples. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/13 "2009-07-03T08:39:07Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > [Flashblock](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433) works as well, if you’re a Firefox user. I was going to suggest an adblocker but, nervous nellie that I am, I suddenly wondered what the board policy on this was. Is it OK to suggest ways to circumvent the ads for guests? This, after all, would presumably be one of the main reasons a guest would subscribe, to avoid those pestilent ads. If they can do that without subscribing then they may well not bother. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/14 "2009-07-03T09:39:52Z")
If talking ads really piss the OP off, maybe he could invest in a mute button on his computer. They’re all the rage, or so I hear. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/15 "2009-07-03T10:27:41Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > If talking ads really piss the OP off, maybe he could invest in a mute button on his computer. They’re all the rage, or so I hear. If so you heard, then you were not using one. Anyways, like most guests, I presume, I don’t mind seeing the ads. My mind is trained after years of visiting all websites to not see them. Talking ads or disruptive pop ups are different. Paying to not hear them is not the only alternative. You may want to reconsider those lest you lose all ad income by forcing people to block them. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/16 "2009-07-03T15:31:35Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I was going to suggest an adblocker but, nervous nellie that I am, I suddenly wondered what the board policy on this was. Is it OK to suggest ways to circumvent the ads for guests? This, after all, would presumably be one of the main reasons a guest would subscribe, to avoid those pestilent ads. If they can do that without subscribing then they may well not bother. We neither encourage nor prohibit mention of ad blockers. It’s not like you couldn’t google up in the info in two seconds anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/17 "2009-07-03T17:12:44Z")
It’s the NSFW ads that bother me. The ad for chichou dot com is nice to look at (I’m no prude), but it’s pretty NSFW – especially the animated graphic that has her near-naked butt twitching all over the place! And especially when it’s the full-size ad in the center of the screen!! I know, I know – subscribe. But for a board that goes crazy when an NSFW link is posted, I thought it was pretty odd. Plus, it seems somehow anti-Internet to pay up _not_ to see skin. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/18 "2009-07-03T17:24:30Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > No. The strategy is to try and make a go of the Board through advertising so that no one will HAVE to pay to make it work. That means accepting what advertising they can, probably including some that have sound files that go along with them. > > IF you don’t like seeing/hearing ads, you are still allowed to opt out through payment of an annual fee. But really, if advertising on the web bothers you, then either you get bothered aLOT on the web, or you use a sophisticated ad-blocker. I’ve never understood why people think this place should be immune to the economic forces that are shaping the web. Geez, have you decided that your Kzinti name is “Speaker-to-Posters” or something? But hey, thanks for that illuminating response, because until now I was _completely ignorant_ of both the SDMB pay-to-post/let’s-show-ads brouhaha and the existence of adblocking software. Of course, I also had this weird delusion that it was a good thing for site owners to maintain a clear authorial voice. If the Straight Dope claims that its users are thousands of the smartest hippest people on the planet, and then decides to display audio ads–which are intrusive, annoying, and basically a violation of any netiquette guidelines you’ll find–that’s decidedly a mixed message. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/19 "2009-07-03T21:21:08Z")
I use AdBlock (but I have the SDMB as an exception) AND Flashblock. I hadn’t gotten any talking ads at all, but I just got one at [www.bartleby.com](http://www.bartleby.com) which I do NOT have as an exception! ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726/20 "2009-07-03T21:49:32Z")
You forced me to take countermeasures, SDMB. Now I won’t be accidentally clicking on any ads. Hmph. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-ad/501726.md?page=2)