# The real problem with the Google ads (it ain't pretty) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182 "2005-10-14T04:46:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/41 "2005-10-15T04:18:28Z")
Aeschines, isn’t that basically the same thing that I said? You hiring? ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/42 "2005-10-15T15:17:11Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > I can’t tell… is this a joke? I can’t imagine any company whose management isn’t completely wacked out of its gourd paying that much for click-throughs. No, that was not a joke. I know of one company that was paying over $100 per click-thru. It was a law firm specializing in asbestos poisoning claims. All they have to do is win one big case and it offsets all their costs. Since the ads are only going to appear on sites related to asbestor poisoning, and since the only people who are going to click are those who might have a case, they don’t often have to pay. Real estate companies will also pay a lot, since (1) they’re competing against each other for the same keywords, and (2) one house sale will offset a lot of ad costs. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/43 "2005-10-15T15:58:51Z")
MAybe I’m stupid, I don’t know anything about corporate finances or how much income this board brings in but it occurs to me that maybe the point of PTP and the ads is to just bring in enough money so the decision makers at the newspaper don’t cancel the whole board. I can see everyone sitting down at the big finance meeting, discussing how they can come up with another 200 or 300 dollars each month for each employee’s health insurance and deciding that they just don’t need to pay anything for this board anymore. Just like in your own personal budgets a lot of little cuts can make a big difference. I can also see the employees, faced with having to pay a larger portion of their own health care premiums and finding out about the cost of running this board making a stink about it being not self supporting. Maybe they would like to make some money off the boards, so what, that’s business. Every dollar a business makes benefits the employees in some way. If you worked for a company that had an idea for making a little extra money you would be all for it. Maybe your health insurance would only go up 50 dollars instead of 75, maybe the company picnic would be twice as much fun. The attitude on the internet and in real life that everything has to be free is getting a little ridiculous. Other people have to make a living too, even people who work for big corporations. The ads are so unobtrusive and supply quite a bit of entertainment. The subsciption fee is small. I can’t believe I wrote all this about a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/44 "2005-10-15T17:56:09Z")
I am still here. _::: Longest continous poster other than a few ‘admin’. Had one name change. :::_ ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/45 "2005-10-15T18:30:27Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I am still here. _::: Longest continous poster other than a few ‘admin’. Had one name change. :::_ Sure about that? We might be tied, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/46 "2005-10-15T18:32:08Z")
Ok, I see you beat me by 9 days (I forgot we can look at exact join dates). ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/47 "2005-10-15T18:53:37Z")
I love how people expect their message boards to just run on thin air. No matter what revenue model one comes up with, there are always going to be jackasses complaining about it. The google ads don’t bother me at all. I think it’s kind of amusing to see what comes up on them in individual threads. We live in a capitalistic society, where half the time marketing IS the product. It’s what drives the world wide web, and people have to pay for their servers and bandwidth somehow. I am so fucking sick and tired of hearing people bitch about ads being applied. Goddamn, everyone wants to make money, but they hate it when other people do. Go fuck yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/48 "2005-10-15T19:05:47Z")
This is so silly. The ads are only at the bottom of the thread and easy to ignore. I have no idea whether this board is a “burden” to the Reader or not- I don’t care enough to find out. Please kids, it’s just a board. How can you get that insane about it? Who gives a shit? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/49 "2005-10-15T23:59:03Z")
Heck, I think this format for presentation of the ads is just about right – they sit politely in their own corner, causing me no damage whatever. I really can’t see how they could be “driving people away” in anything but the smallest fraction of what P2P did. (One thing I did notice when we went P2P was there was NOT a major influx of disaffected Dopers into the alt.fan.cecil-adams newsgroup – which would be an alternative for those who want their online discussion to stay anarchistic.) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/50 "2005-10-16T04:19:51Z")
Yeah, I’m # 33… My one claim to fame … ::: sigh :::: ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/51 "2005-10-16T07:30:44Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I am still here. _::: Longest continous poster other than a few ‘admin’. Had one name change. :::_ Well, I was curious about that and it looks like your correct that your the only non Admin or SDSAB who’s posted _continuosly_. But I did dig up one **Mike Lenehan** , an apparent Chicago Reader employee who broke a **5 year** silence in order to post [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6525434#post6525434). ---
**Author:** ![Andros\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Andros\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andros_X)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/52 "2005-10-17T05:56:11Z")
I guess my big concern is the negative feedback loop that seems to be happening with headcount. The first wave left with the implementation of subscriptions, which caused others to leave next year, saying the board wasn’t good anymore. Now with the Google ads, there will be people who look at this and the quality of the discussions and say it’s not worth paying for. I am not one of those people, but the place might implode because of it. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/53 "2005-10-17T09:01:34Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > - Sell to the people you’re already selling to - i.e., the only advertising that belongs on the SDMB is from the people already purchasing ads on the CR. But what proportion of SDMB members give a stuff about anything to do with Chicago? The advertisers on a local rag from the US are unlikely to be of any interest to members from another city, never mind other nationalities. Google can come up with ads that just possibly might be of interest to me, but I sincerely doubt the Reader can. It’s impossible to be definitive about this without seeing the breakdown on who’s hitting the site and who’s posting, but I think **Astro** has it right - too much diversity makes it hard to sell a website. If this place was totally fundie or gun-rights or GBLT-focused or whatever then you’d have a demographic you could pitch to advertisers, but if all you have is a ton of hits from people of every background and inclination then googleads are probably your best bet. I find them only mildly annoying, but I’m sure ads for stuff in Chicago would be very irritiating. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/54 "2005-10-17T09:28:03Z")
Isn’t it the case that the Google ads go hand-in-hand with the board content being indexed on Google - meaning that this place will turn up as a Google search result for some people? Doesn’t that translate to higher footfall and potentially more new paying members? Even if not, what’s the problem with taking a small income from advertising; it may be a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is made of drops. Meh. Can’t bring myself to get upset about it all; I love the SDMB, but if for some reason or other it doesn’t last, I daresay I’ll survive. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/55 "2005-10-17T09:53:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Isn’t it the case that the Google ads go hand-in-hand with the board content being indexed on Google - meaning that this place will turn up as a Google search result for some people? Doesn’t that translate to higher footfall and potentially more new paying members? No; the indexing for the ad servers is separate from the indexing for the search engine. The search bots were accidentally allowed to index the boards for a few days after the ads started, but that’s been nixed. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/56 "2005-10-17T11:50:49Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > .05 is a severe underestimate. An attorney with ads for Asbestos, for example, could very likely be paying out several dollars per click. It’s hard to put a number to it, but the SDMB will generate very decent income with these ads. I am not allowed to discuss specifics/statistics of the AdSense program because I am bound by their TOS, but I will say that with regard to what the program pays to the person running ads on their site, the .05/click estimate is fairly accurate as an average. I don’t doubt some asbestos lawyer may pay be paying a very high rate per click, somewhere, but this does not translate into an equivalent amount paid to the person running the ads. The payment for Google ads is calculated using a ratio of impressions and clicks and AFAIK is not influenced by specific keywords or actual ad content. Clicking on ads for cheese graters pays the same as a click for a law firm ad or real estate agency and so on. I believe AdWords (what advertisers join to _buy_ ads, not be paid for them) does charge different rates for more popular keywords, but that is between Google and the person buying the ads and is independent of the AdSense program. Google AdSense can certainly generate a decent income (depending on your idea of a decent income) but I would wager, based on my personal experience, that with the poor location of the ads (“under the fold”), the percentage of the userbase outright blocking them, and the lack of truly relevant ads, once the novelty wears off they may likely not be worth the trouble it caused to add them. And to the people bitching about the “Katrina” ads: When AdSense cannot find an ad to run based on the text of the page it appears on, they run charity/public service ads. If the SDMB administration wanted, they could easily replace these public service ads with appropriately-sized banners for, say, their T-shirt store. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/57 "2005-10-17T12:56:42Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Or, best of all, have the ads somehow or another be something in which Dopers will actually take interest and view as a positive. > [@Aeschines](#): > > It looks like you guys coaxed some gratis wisdom out of me. Enjoy it, because freebies like this are rare. So you’re suggesting . . . targeted advertising? Seems to me, that’s what we’ve got. Fucking brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/58 "2005-10-17T19:23:34Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > So you’re suggesting . . . targeted advertising? Seems to me, that’s what we’ve got. Fucking brilliant. You quoted me as saying, > [@Me](#): > > Or, best of all, have the ads somehow or another be something in which Dopers will actually take interest and view as a positive. So, the Google ads are something in which Dopers are taking interest and see as a positive? No. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/59 "2005-10-17T19:44:15Z")
> [@](#): > > So, the Google ads are something in which Dopers are taking interest and see as a positive? I’m sorry. Did you, or did you not, suggest a potential “solution” by hav[ing] advertisments somehow or another be something of interest to the Dopers? I’m pretty sure you did. You even repeated it in your post immediately above. In answer then, yes, you did say that. And further, in case you haven’t noticed, there are quite a number of members here who’ve said they both find the ads of interest and have also clicked thru to learn more. Are all your marketing recommendations as thorough and well-thought out as the supposedly valuable nugget you dropped in here? If so, I’m certainly glad the SDMB ain’t payin’ you for your vaunted consultations. 'Cuz I’m less than impressed. Not only are your tactics and strategies incredibly lame (at least I think they are since you’re proposing the same targeted advertising scheme you’re bitching about), your assumptions on the financial side seem to be questionable, too. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182/60 "2005-10-17T20:44:48Z")
> [@Andros\_X](#): > > I guess my big concern is the negative feedback loop that seems to be happening with headcount. The first wave left with the implementation of subscriptions, which caused others to leave next year, saying the board wasn’t good anymore. Now with the Google ads, there will be people who look at this and the quality of the discussions and say it’s not worth paying for. I am not one of those people, but the place might implode because of it. Maybe we’re just seperating some of the chaff. IMO if they are gonna leave for that reason, then either this board wasn’t important to them to begin with, or they lack cognitive ability and don’t realize that advertisements are what make this here intarweb possible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-problem-with-the-google-ads-it-aint-pretty/326182.md?page=4)