Every day, I get a few dozen emails telling me that there are inappropriate ads splattered on the site: people love to send me screencaps of that “Christian singles” ad.
I know.
You can stop telling me now.
They’re bad ads, we all know. Setting up this network wasn’t cheap: it took investment in a server, and most of all, paying out money to people who knew what they were doing in order to set it up. We’re currently in a small financial hole and Ed Brayton is scrambling to get us out of it as quickly as possible, so we can be at least a little bit profitable. We got what we could to bring us some return, while Ed is off shopping the network as a platform for more appropriate advertising. We’ve only been live for a bit more than a month! Be patient. Tolerate (or better yet, ignore) the noise on the sidebar as we try to grow.
But you can stop telling me what I already know, OK?
I view the inappropriate advertisements the way I view prayer: a waste of the time and resources of believers. At least the ads for Liberty University are less likely to lead some poor suckers astray from Freethoughtblogs than they would if distributed in more mainstream venues. I just smile and hope they paid top dollar for it.
But also, doesn’t it tickle anyone how uselessly the ad is placed? I think we should keep the Christian Singles ad forever. It won’t do much good for any Christian Singles, sitting here on this blog.
Adblock plus, how are you?
The sidebar ads aren’t so annoying, I just don’t like the ones embedded in the posts.
Anyway, someone once asked if you get revenue for clicks or do you get it just by having the ads there.
I didn’t see an answer.
I’m sure we wouldn’t mind clicking on some Christian Singles if you’ll get some cash.
If the “inappropriate” ads bring in the dough regardless of whether or not they are clicked, I say keep ’em coming. I really like the idea of moving money from “them” to “us”. Atheists profiting at the expense of Scientology or Glenn Beck. Sweet!
The only ads I really hate are animated ads on the sides (those at the top of the page are OK, since I can scroll them to oblivion). I have enough unwanted animated bits inside one of my eyes to annoy me constantly. I don’t need extras.
The ads I can ignore – the window that comes up once I click a link on the site, evading Chrome’s popup blocker, is slightly more annoying.
I agree with the Michelle. Take the ads, unless they are really obnoxious. Each ad they place is a small victory for PZ. They are making a contribution to his site!
Why????? Why get rid of something so hopelessly accidentally funny??? I love these ads, they give me a chuckle each time I discover a new one!
I think you should keep taking money from those who we disagree with. To use a line from the polygamist FLDS people who take government assistance “Bleed the beast to death!”
The girl in the christian singles ad is making fish lips. Too bad she’s probably too hung up on jebus too do anything more interesting with them.
I don’t actually read the ads.
Note:
The contract in an advertising situation usually states that the blogger cannot tell people they get paid for clicks or otherwise encourage clicks.
So.
I guess it’s up to us to find out and act independently, which is not against the contract… anybody got ahold of the contract these companies usually use? Maybe we can click their treasury dry and support freethought blogs in one go.
prospect151
… and Firefox Portable, for those that use workplace computers or don’t have admin accounts for other reasons.
As to the cash problems, why don’t set up paypal button or something? It could be more reliable source of financing servers than ads. I don’t even see ads now, never mind clicking them, but I wouldn’t mind consciously sparing a couple of bucks every now and then if that means freethoughtblogs running without unnecessary distractions.
I wish people would stop posting comments about ads in various threads, too. It’s annoying.
I always thought the christian singles banner was a challenge. to see how many i can turn into sinners
I don’t see any ads. Firefox + Adblock = Win.
@kennypo65 somthing tells me the christian singles girl is neither christian nor single…
I really like the ad for evolvefish.com it’s clever and on topic.
Click ’em, let the Xtians pay PZ’s running costs.
I second that.
I’m currently unemployed, but when I get a job I won’t mind contributing a little something every now and then.
@puppygod I like the paypal idea… maybe a “premium” membership to FTB.
A donation button sounds like a good idea. I’d gladly slip FTB a few bucks.
Actually, that orange-skinned, duck-face christian dating girl is the funniest thing I’ve seen all day.
Ha! I looked at the site with another browser, and I finally saw the Christian singles ad. That heavily made up nightclub chick with the duck-face is hilarious!
The ads are great. I enjoy seeing religious clowns wasting their money here.
Flattr (www.flattr.com) seems to work pretty nice for a number of sites.
I don’t see ads either (FF+AB too), but if you do click on them like crazy: it costs the xtians money and it also is good for FT blogs!
Somebody must know that christian girls wouldn’t interest Spanish machos. I get;
“Asian girls for dating.”
“Beautiful Chinese ladies seek men for love and marriage.”
asiamatchonline.com for anyone interested.
There’s also one for a perfect golf swing. Can’t say I have much use for either.
I just noticed that I get an ad for Kristelig Fagbevægelse, that’s the Danish Christian Trades Union.
The comments about ads are almost as annoying as the “There’s three dislikes on this video? thumbs me up if you think they’re morons!” comments on Youtube.
PZ never lets us have any fun! :-(
Everyone click those ads… It cost them every time you do… usually, ALSO if this site gets paid according to how many clicks on the listed ads then you will be generating money for our Atheist cause… now get this benefit… FROM the Xian dullards that have to pay every time their ad is clicked on…. sigh… it is a wonderful thing…. who knows, some of you single people might meet a nice xian and free them from their life of shame and servitude… or at least a good fuck…
~ My fellow Atheist, please remember, that you are NOT wasting your time when you tell believers that they have no evidence, for their belief, in their imaginary nonexistent “God”. Each time you tell them something, that causes them to think, contemplate, research or question their faith, even for just a moment, plants seeds that may sprout and flourish, the next time it is watered. After all their head’s are already full of shit, so the fertilizer is there. Plant the seeds and just add water. ~ Allen J Cavin
Christian singles? For some reason I get an add with muslimas..
You’ll be telling us to stop calling you poopyhead next. Fascist.
While I understand the desperation for ads for easy money, putting a Christian singles ad in an ardent atheist blog will not get you many hits…
I think a Paypal or whatever is a good idea. I think you’d be surprised at how much we would help support this.
I normally can ignore ads – but the Christiaan one just creeps me out.
Some of the targetted ads that appear are obviously meant for the area where corporate headquaraters are, not my remote site in another state.
I find the inappropriate ads amusing, FWIW.
FF + AB here…but I have freethoughtblogs.com whitelisted on AdBlock.
I still don’t see the ads. I don’t know why.
Perhaps Firefox is trying (in vain) to save my sanity.
A point which has already been mentioned (but not answered) is interesting:
does freethoughtblogs get revenue for displaying the ads or only when clicked?
As long as the ads are pay-per-view, and not pay-per-clickthrough (or whatever the proper terminology is), I’m actually in favor of hilariously out-of-place ads. They’re footing the bill for a place that directly opposes their message. It’s not like the advertisers are able to influence what PZ et al say; so what’s the problem with them?
Rather than complaining, we should click on every inappropriate ad we see, to increase the chances that they will pay FTB for ads that won’t generate any sales at all.
Sheeze, what are people complaining about? Are they OFFENDED?
And offended so much that they have to spend the time to write an email and waste the time of someone else who has to read it?
And do these whiners submit a list of approved advertisers that they would prefer to be exposed to?
I can’t see any ads :-)
I’m browsing via Firefox 6.0.2 with its NoScript add-on enabled.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/
Could that be the cause?
Just click through the ads. You might find the site on the other end entertaining, and it’ll be funny to have “Ron Paul’s Constitution Day Money Bomb” or “Meet Christian Girls” help pay for freethoughtblogs.
STFU would’ve worked.
No need to get all prescriptive.
I find the ads amusing, but I disagree with those who have said that they utterly miss their target audience. Just as I occasionally visit the sites of believers to see what they’re up to, I’m sure some believers visit atheist/freethought sites for much the same reason. As for the harm these ads might do, I don’t see it. Anyone who would click an image of a tarted-up and pouting twenty-something in the hope of dating a devout believer is not the kind of person who is (currently) approachable through reason.
“Deconversion through dating”
I can see why constantly harping on the ads that don’t really seem to work here could be annoying.
As much as I don’t like advertising in general, I think it’s a small price to pay for keeping this site going. I also support the idea of a donation system. I have no problem with the idea of directly supporting the places I frequent.
I poked around FTB until it served me the Christian Singles porn girl ad and clicked through for lolz. Here’s a line from the second paragraph on that page:
“It is known that compitability play a key part in every relationship…”
Speak English much?
PZ, please, please, take their money and keep these ads coming!
Actually, I am rather amused by the xtian singles ad. The woman featured in the ad seems rather sleazy looking to me. Seems counter to the wholesome image most xtians have been trying to portray…
Let me second the idea of a Paypal (or other form of payment) based subscription system. Another one of the popular blogs I frequent recently implemented a membership system and for $10 a month (or $100 a year, I think) you could be a “premium” member of the site, and browse it entirely without ads.
I don’t know what the +/- is there, but I have to imagine that $10 per month for 1 visitor is a lot more revenue than showing ads to that visitor would be. As much as I enjoy reading the site here, I for one would certainly sign up and pay to view it ad-free if the option existed and the fee reasonable.
The only ads I see are from some local politicos vying for election. Take their money and laugh, you get the $ and they don’t get my vote. I gotta stop read the posts and comments and start paying attention to the details.
Is it just me or has that girl in the add being using Homer’s make up gun?
I don’t see the ads, because I block them. But I would gladly give you some money! Consider this one more vote for a donate button. I might even consider taking out a subscription, for this many excellent blogs in one place.
I kinda like the ads. There’s some fun knowing that these ads won’t work on almost everyone that comes to these blogs, and that these ads represent people who might actually hate the site but still help pay for it.
Besides, it might be a good thing for the nuts that come here to get all worked up to date a single Christian lady that looks… well oddly suggestive.
Ironically enough,the ad on the RSS feed was appropriate, gibco. Those ads seem tobe appropriate more often than ones on the site. Different ad provider or just sampling bias?
Three words:
AD-BLOCKER-PLUS
I don’t see any ads on any site. It’s awesome.
Chrome + AdBlock extension = no ads.
Before I installed the AB, the xtian singles ad was a bit hilarious.
Wow. I’m always surprised at this shadow internet, where there are graffitied banners layered on posted bills, and all of it competing for attention. Normally, I usually prefer to experience all of a phenomenon; I’ll gladly take the mosquitoes with the stunning hike, or risked a corked wine to learn more about what I like or what I don’t. For internet-surfing, though, Ad-Block Plus is the way to go. I don’t see any of these ads people are complaining about, and I don’t want to!
1. Scan website.
2. See ‘religion’
3. ???
4. Targeted ads.
For everyone here championing ad-block –
Just realize you’re depriving the site owners (PZ in this case) of the ad revenue generated by impressions on those ads. If you don’t care then whatever I guess, just something to keep in mind.
Would still love a way to subscribe and pay for the site without ads.
I kinda appreciate them also as a strangely entertaining window into a world I’m not entirely sure I’d have guessed existed, otherwise.
Up now: some weird, distinctly kitschy* ‘Portrait of Our Lord’…
It’s nice ‘n all, but think I’m gonna save my allowance ’til they come out with one on black velvet.
(*/I’m not sure it’s even necessary, really, to mention the kitsch factor, when you’ve already stated it’s religious paraphernalia. Now and then there’s been these back and forths about what constitutes a religion, exactly. I hereby offer as my definition: ‘a multilevel marketing scheme and independent, parallel economy in which gilt-painted plastic baubles serve as currency’.)
We are the Mighty Pharyngula Horde. We can bring those inappropriate sponsors to their knees. Click on teh crazy links, get their money for PZ & Ed, then come back here and mock them mercilessly. It’s fun & profitable.
How come on the Christian Singles ad, the only options are: “I’m a man looking for a woman”, and “I’m a woman looking for a man”? Boooor-ing!
I don’t want to deprive the site of ad revenue. Which scripts should be enabled to let the ads through? On this page NoScript is blocking:
doubleclick.net
statcounter.com
wordpress.com
twitter.com
quantserve.com
zedo.com
The first time I saw the xian singles ad on my screen I laughed out loud (greatly disturbing one of my coworkers). Why, pray tell, would they have such a slutty looking model in a jeebus lovers ad?
Oh, and I click these ads whenever I see them on the odd chance that they’re run on a pay per click basis.
Echoing everybody else’s statements:
The problem is the ads embedded in the posts. The other day there was one that actually seemed like it was part of the post directly below it and thus a link to illustrate the post, so I clicked on it.
Sorry, guilty as charged.
I think the Christian ads are funny, but they do really make sense here.
1. I’m sure a lot of Christians that don’t like what you have to say come here daily to read and confront the blasphemy.
2. Most of the types mentioned above are probably single.
3. I generalize a lot.
Good point. You’d think at least they’d have as a category “I’m a sheep looking for a shepherd.”
I think Ed commented on his thread regarding the “new look” that FTB gets paid for clickthroughs not just for page impressions. That means that in order to make these ads pay, then we have to actually click them.
I’m (mostly) using Opera and normally have “send referer data” off by default, but I have turned it on for FTB just to make sure that when I click an ad like “Date Christian Girls” the advertiser’s site gets told that I am coming from FTB.
That said, I will note that I would also far rather pay a membership fee directly to FTB than go through clicking idiot’s ads to gain FTB some minuscule ad fee like $0.0001 per click. I don’t pay very many sites directly, but I would be happy to make FTB one of the few that I do pay.
Paul
I may change my opinion of the ads. I was reading the “Portrait of our Lord” ad when I saw the claim that the product contained an actual photo of jebus. I snorted out some coffee just as one of students handed in his quiz. The poor kid thought I was looking at his answer to question 1. His answer was slightly less fictional than the ad.
i vote for the it’s completely fucking hilarious block.
The only ad that truly strikes me as inappropriate is the pop-up window for MacKeeper, which is notoriously shady software bordering on malware that is heavily advertised via questionable affiliate marketing practices, and lots and lots of spam around the web.
Yeah, I just saw an ad for some Lamb of God art work. I don’t think they meant for Black Dahlia to start running through my head when I read that, but hey, it worked for me.
Did I forget the link?
Black Dahlia
May not be safe for work.
Is it just me, or does anyone else sorta wonder if Christian Singles (Kristian Singles?) come individually wrapped in sandwich-sized squares?
“Mmm… Sixty-four slices of American cheese.”
</Homer Simpson>
I barely notice any ads on the web, so it means little enough to me.
Still, why was it a problem when Seed had inappropriate ads, and not when freethoughtblogs is doing it? Sure, I didn’t care much when Seed did it, or now, I’m just saying that those who complained about Seed doing it have no excuse for ignoring the present ones.
Oh well, I guess I don’t have to care much about that either, so I’ll stop now.
Glen Davidson
I think the Christian single ads are hilarious.
Who are these people complaining about ads? Have you ever heard of Ad Block? Or are you still using IE?
I am currently allowing the trailer for the “thrivemovement” movie to play silently in a covered window. No way I gonna listen to that, let alone watch. But a click costs me nothing.
I too vote ‘yay’ for the adds. If they are paying the bills…woohoo. And otherwise, honestly, I would never see a christian singles add, or the Ron Paul one, the fish decals, it was all I could do NOT to order. I say bring on the silly adds and I’ll even click on them if that would help.
I know you have all heard that college professors make the big bucks from the talking points from faux news but even though PZ is now kidless, should we really expect him to entertain us for free?
Except for the pop-unders. Can’t vote for that.
I would go for a donate button at the top. Can’t donate a lot atm, but “every little bit helps.” And according to the research, adding that phrase will increase revenue. No charge for that tip.
Chill out
Just realize you’re depriving the site owners (PZ in this case) of the ad revenue generated by impressions on those ads. If you don’t care then whatever I guess, just something to keep in mind.
Just realize that some of us can get headaches, blurriness of vision and dizziness from a lot of these hyperactive ads.
Sorry, but when I can be assured of having no ads that are flashing or doing other weird crap, then I’m keeping adblocker plus. You can pay for my Tylenol or Aleve and my dizziness meds if you think it’s so important for me to turn off my adblocker and turn it on again then turn it off again just to put .00001 into someone’s pocket.
Would still love a way to subscribe and pay for the site without ads.
How nice to have all the money in the world to do that with.
Not everybody does.
Like I said earlier, we are people who actually care about the sites we like getting ad revenue from our traffic since we have no other way to help cover the sites costs currently.
Weird.. So what if the christians want to pay to advertise on your site? so long as they pay you. I don’t get these emails either….
2 Things:
1) If you have enough energy to throw a fit over ads you don’t like to the point that you screen scrape and email to the blogger, you’re trying too hard.
2) Discover the Firefox plugin Readability It takes any web page, strips all the ads, clutter, etc. leaving only the text, links and pictures.
And seriously, people, if you don’t like what you see, then point your eyes somewhere else.
@84 Aquaria
Christ but aren’t you a little sensitive. Sorry my post didn’t include a caveat for your edge-case scenario there. I don’t think most people using ad block are doing it for medical reasons, but if I’m wrong there, please accept my humblest apologies.
I also didn’t intend to insult people’s economic status by suggesting the idea for a completely optional revenue generation possibility for the site that some users would likely use and appreciate while not detracting from those who can’t or would rather not.
Then why are you complaining about the type of ads if they’re helping fund the site? If you don’t want to use ad block, then just ignore them. I’ve seen them (on computers at school) and they’re not that bad.
No ads here IE9 no plugin required – just use tracking protection.
What IS the definition of “selling out”?
Er, what? I never said anything about the actual ads themselves, and just fyi he’s not referring to me in the OP, I’ve never emailed PZ.
I was just saying to everyone on the “just ad block it, duh” side that that could actually be significantly damaging to the network’s revenues (and ability to stay online) if everyone just blocked all the ads.
I’ve never posted here before (or on Science Blogs,for that matter). I just wanted to echo the sentiment of earlier posters – I’d be willing to chip in money just to help out, for some sort of premium membership, or even for Kindle/Nook/Sony eReader subscriptions to the blogs.
I find the ads hilarious, actually. The ad in this post, which I clicked on, is for A Google A Day – not too far off, audience-wise. Sometimes I click the Christian ones just to see what is on the other side.
Kinda sad to think that you couldn’t do this without the Christians.
Take the money for the ads. The more inappropriate the more hilarious.
Also add a PayPal “donate” button and I’ll send a few dollars your way occasionally.
Besides, who better to date than the gullible?
one of my favorite things to watch is the bootleg of the star wars holiday special.
not because of the show itself but because of those trippy 1970’s ads.
The irony of the kinds of ads I see on this site are equally amusing
Just a thought for all you geniuses that want PZ to set up a paypal or subscription link.
What the hell are you going to have to say to the next asshole that needs to be sent to the dungeon, and the asshole starts pissing and moaning about how much he has contributed?
For cripes sake, just click on the ads, “open in a new tab”, and ignore them, close them after the session.
I find it hilarious that we can pick the pockets of these various religious operations.
I actually enjoy that conservative political or Christian ads appear here because they’re highly inefficient marketing for the advertisers who are putting revenue into the pockets of dreaded atheists and liberals.
But while I see the two types mentioned above, I’ve been getting lots of ASPCA ads. And while I support the ASPCA, it’s sort of depressing to have all these sad looking puppies in cages looking at you.
I feel cheated for not having seen the offending ads.
So, you include both possible subscription (I think only one person wanted that, others were for donations- including me) and a paypal donation here?
Since I’m pretty sure that PZ would choose the second option over subscription, I’d tell them to look up the definition of donation and fuck off.
After reading the comments I’m thinking of turning AdBlocker off just so I can see the duck-face christian dating girl with make up applied with Homer Simpson’s make up gun.
(Being the “one” in that sentence above) I don’t think the two have to be mutually exclusive, personally.
And in both cases you can tell the person the exact same thing: it was their choice to give money and then act like a supreme asshat (if we’re talking about needing a perma-ban, they would have had to right?) so too bad. The rules of the site don’t change just because you’ve thrown some money into the bucket. There’s plenty of pay services that will cancel your subscription and ban you if you abuse their systems or break their rules. Why on earth would this need to be any different?
PZ,
Earlier today you had the “recent comments” sidebar showing 15 comments. Now it’s back to 5. Could you turn on 15 comments again? Pretty please. I promise not to call you a poopyhead for at least 15 minutes if you do.
You’ve got a point.
As a Christian, I really appreciate the ads. I come here to learn atheists’ best arguments. I appreciate them. They fire the engine of my faith. And the ads are relevant to me.
keddaw #96
Oh it’s hard to say “holi ma kitti lucu chi chi chi”,
But in Tonga that means “No.”
If I ever have the money,
‘Tis to Tonga I shall go.
For each lovely Tongan maiden there,
Will gladly make a date
And by the time that she’s said “holi ma kitti lucu chi chi chi”,
It is usually too late!
-Michael Flanders & Donald Swan
I couldn’t give two shits about the banner ads. They’re easy to ignore. What I can’t abide, however, is that fucking Zedo popunder that causes my browser to lose focus from the site. Banish it!
I love the Christian singles ad. I bet the bleached-blonde probably IS Christian, and I’m glad to see they hold her up as proper a proper date. It’s not like they all follow their religious mandates, after all.
I was frankly a bit disappointed on clicking through to their site to see the rest of their models were rather more prosaic.
Really, who cares about the ads on the sidebar? Just ignore the one you don’t like.
Seriously, the more egregious the better. They’re paying good money for the privilege of being ignored here. Money that they could have otherwise paid doing damage elsewhere in other ways.
It’s a win-win situation.
People read those?
As for banishing paid-in-full asshats to the dungeon: as mentioned paid does not mean immune but even more fun could be a fine system. Depending on the offense, offenders could be given the option to pay a fine $5 for first minor offense, $100 or more for repeat offenders to get out of the dungeon. And bam sent right back again. It could be a sport.
AND while I type this there is an ad for “portrait of our lord confirm your faith in the Eucharist with this truly unique Catholic work of art.” I think it is made of crackers but I’m kinda afraid to click on it.
K E Decilon, #98, same as happens on every other site I support through a donation. I.E. I am donating to keep a site I value running not to be able to dictate to the site’s owner. So if I break the rules, and you have to go some to do that here, then I just have to STFU and take my knocks. If I don’t like a site’s rules in the first place I don’t donate, it’s not exactly rocket science.
+1 for a donate button.
Not particularly bothered by the ads myself (except the pop-ups) but wanted to chime in with a suggestion – have you investigated Project Wonderful at all? I run a site with moderate traffic and found it was more profitable than Google ads, and the ads delivered didn’t make me want to tear my own eyes out, which was a plus. It’s a product of the webcomics community (I think the guy who does “Daily Dinosaur Comics” started it) so the ads you get are pretty heavily biased in that direction. Probably not a complete solution but might be worth adding to the mix.
Another vote for a PayPal button.
I’m a Brit living in France and I get ads for single Muslim girls.
I wonder what that’s all about? – France is largely atheisitic.
Maybe it’s to do with the 10% Maghrebi in France?
I’m with most folks on this:
I can deal with the ‘fixed’ ads, they don’t bother me at all.
But those in-your-face popup-windows that I need to actively close, that’s an annoyance I could do without.
Shin @88:
Thank you so much for once again defining disability issues as an “edge case” and addressing people who are trying to protect their health as “Christ, aren’t you sensitive?”
Yes, they’re sensitive. Literally. This is already a problem, without people like you telling them to just tough it out, because there aren’t that many of them.
Or maybe you just don’t see that many of them: chronic migraine can be disabling, and anything milder is likely to be dismissed as “just a headache” if the person even mentions it. The person whose seizure disorder is triggered by such things may well have given up driving, because there is no way to prevent or predict being stuck behind flashing lights while driving. In most cases, that’s going to mean almost every activity, including both work and socializing, takes longer and/or costs more (if the person pays for cabs instead of taking a bus or subway).
Can we think of any other ways to diminish our credibility but increase our profits?
My “aren’t you sensitive” was directed at the fact that you apparently felt the need to criticize me for not adding a “(unless you use ad block for legitimate health-related reasons, in that case, disregard)” caveat to my original post, when you could have just assumed I didn’t mean to single out disabled peoples as an enemy. You apparently assumed the opposite, which isn’t true.
Never did I say that they should “tough it out”, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped accusing me of such hostility towards the disabled about this. My suggestion was never meant to marginalize them in any way, only to make those “normal use” cases of ad block users aware that they aren’t helping the site by using it.
And sorry if the term “edge case” is offensive to you, but that’s what it is. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter, just that it doesn’t apply to the majority. In said “edge case” I have zero problem with ad block use and I doubt the site owners do either. It was never my intention to attack people using it for such reasons.
All I suggested was a subscription option along with the donate button people are suggesting so those of us that are willing and able to chip in could also get a small benefit from it (faster load times and a cleaner site layout). No other functionality needs to be changed, nothing needs to be taken away from anyone else to make that happen. People who would prefer to not pay and see ads can, and those who can’t risk it for whatever legitimate reason can go on using ad block.
Oh, god! Worse than the Christian Singles ads are campaign ads for the next Alberta premier!
An Alberta Progressive-Conservative (yeah, they actually refer to themselves as that) leadership race is like choosing between vertical or horizontal grills for the vents in the room in which you are to receive a lethal injection.
I actually don’t know how to turn my Firefox adblock off selectively. I would like to (so I can turn it off on the sites that I like and want to support), but I only know how to get rid of it completely or have it on all the time
Would anyone like to advice me?
I have no idea what I might have done to have this most salutary effect, but I don’t see any ads at all. Not one. At least not here at home. I wish I could tell all of you how I did this, but I cannot.
On another computer — at “work” — I see all the junk that people complain about. I just hate ads with moving parts. They have a jarring, and thoroughly objectionable effect on the cerebral cortex.
Install FireFox. Install NoScripts. Allow only the minimum of scripts needed to see post and comments. Don’t see any ads at all.
But damn sure see a lot of people commenting about the damn ads in all threads. How do I make *them* stop?
Lyra:
There is the capability to white-list sites within ad block: This is the only page on it I could find with a quick google search
That page is pretty old so I’m not sure if the methodology has changed within the extension since that was written, but the option should be there somewhere.
If you click on the icon, you should see a “Disable on {site}” entry.
I think the single Christian girl should hook up with the single Muslim girl. They’d make a lovely couple.
I mostly get ads for a bariatric surgery/protein-shake company that I’ve purchased stuff from as part of my great non-surgery Weight Loss Campaign. And I thought the halo-thing on the lamb of god ad looked suspiciously like the circular tree of life diagram.
I’m sure we wouldn’t mind clicking on some Christian Singles
sounds like a euphemism?
@Shin & Rob
Thanks! With your combined wisdom, I managed to turn it off for this site. ^_^
Personally, it warms my black little heart to see the the “Christian singles” and Ron Paul adds here. I don’t know how add selection works, but I’m pretty sure the fact that I see adds for idiot sites on Pharyngula ultimately means that idiots are wasting their money. Why would I have a problem with that?
Anyway if some of our trolls click those banners and momentarily find something better to do with their time, I can’t complain. Trolls need lovin’ too.
I looked into enabling ads for this site. But I ran into a slight problem: to see any ads at all, I have to allow executable content from doubleclick.net.
And I’m just not willing to do that.
Gee. I was clicking on each and every one, for one simple reason: when you click on an ad that disagrees with the article, you’re basically funneling money from an asshole to a nice guy.
I actually signed up for a “christian dating” profile. I basically just wanted to see how terrible the site was. It is one of those dating sites that allows you to sign up for free but requires you to pay to send messages. Pretty hilariously useless. But if it pays the bills I see no problem with it.
I work in online marketing. For a site this big, there is probably no one way that Freethoughtblogs is getting paid. They are likely getting a mix of pay-per-click, pay-per-impression, and maybe even pay-per-action. And for the most part my guess is that Freethoughtblogs generally will only know this after the fact for any given advertiser. So even asking them ‘how they get paid’ is not something they can give a single answer for.
I think the basic misunderstanding is that publisher sites do not manage their own ad inventory. This means that each advertiser does not contract directly with Freethoughtblogs, but rather will go through a large online exchange and target keywords or users through a complex bidding system. The ad exchange will determine based on a variety of factors which ads get placed where. Do not expect anyone to divulge exactly how ad placement is determined. Online advertising is worth billions of dollars and these algorithms are each ad network’s ‘secret sauce’.
For more information on how users are targeted online see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_targeting
For more information on the various business models for buying ads online see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensation_methods
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