Is Anyone Else Seeing Political Ads Pushed to Them On These Forums?

[Wireless1]

Today in the advertising space above a page I saw a Trump Support ad. I was in the process of scrolling pages and when I briefly saw it I tried to hit the back button because on a non political website like this one I couldn’t believe what I saw. Going back through pages either I could not find it or another ad replaced it. Was this somehow a fluke?
Curious...

[JPA Cate]

Not a fluke. I had a Google advert come up yesterday, and my adblocker is never off. I closed the Google advert, and haven't seen another one....as yet.

I'm pretty sure Google doesn't pay attention to our Community Rules.

Ann

[StuM]

They are targeted ads based on what Google knows about you (and that's a lot)


CF has no control on what Google decides to show you.


Telling us what ads you are seeing tells us something about your interests and where else you go on the internet

[barnakiel]

This is a repeated thread. Look earlier last week on the same subject.


Basically, Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc, are watching you and sell your data to whoever finds it useful.


You must have visited some kind of Republican oriented content and so you have been targeted.



Read on Cambridge Analytica, etc.


Not much you can do. Use AddBlockers of most recent design and avoid frequent upgrades of your browser.


b.

[rbk]

At least no one has created a similar thread complaining about all the weird porn advertising they keep seeing on CF

I wonder how many husbands out there have currently blamed a forum for that exact thing...hmmmm

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Not a fluke. I had a Google advert come up yesterday, and my adblocker is never off. I closed the Google advert, and haven't seen another one....as yet.

I'm pretty sure Google doesn't pay attention to our Community Rules.

Ann

How odd Ann. I wonder how it got through.

I run Adblock, along with two snooper blockers (Ghostery & Privacy Badger). I never see any ads. I also do my best to avoid being tracked through these internets. My blockers have currently stopped three snoopers on this very page. CF is also in the game of selling user data. Almost every site is.

On this other thread Barn references someone, who claimed to be knowledgeable, posted that Google's clients (i.e. CF) can choose to limit certain types of ads delivered up through its ad services.


... So, a quick search confirmed that clients CAN block specific ads, or even groupings of ads. If the owners of this site are unclear how to do so, here's the Adsense Help page on the topic:

https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/164131?hl=en

I assume CF admin will (now?) do their best to ensure no political ads will be served up here, since that would be a clear violation of a policy that users must abide by.

[barnakiel]

It can be very difficult for admins to block this. As long as you are into any Ad deal with Google, you are pretty much helpless. You can report or complain but you are not blocking Google Ads as this is where your profits come from.


It is not easy once you have sold your soul to the devil.


b.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

It can be very difficult for admins to block this. As long as you are into any Ad deal with Google, you are pretty much helpless. You can report or complain but you are not blocking Google Ads as this is where your profits come from.

It is not easy once you have sold your soul to the devil.

b.

I used to believe that, but 10 minutes of searching on this subject has led me to change my mind on this. It seems pretty easy to block specific ads, or groups of ads from specific URLs.

I suppose it could become a whack-a-mole problem if sources for these ads keep changing, but it doesn't seem that hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFGYA78X8x8

Of course your second issue is the one that we should all be concerned about. This site has a clear policy on political content, and numerous threads have been shut down over its violation. It would be pretty hypocritical if the owners of CF do not follow their own policies.

[barnakiel]

As far as technology is concerned, you are right. But what I mean is you stop the ads you stop the cash flow. YOU GET PAID FOR THESE ADDS. You used to, before you blocked them. That is.



Website owners like the company that owns CF are profit-driven and when you block ads, you cut off the branch you are perched on. MONEY. Just like in 'the Cabaret'. Oh, how I love Liza and Joel for their timeless input.



So this is what I mean by difficult to administrators. They sure could, but frankly they cannot.



Stop the Ads, and you are unemployed tomorrow. (Again, stolen, from the Dragon).



The only proper way to sort this out is to have a website community owned and community funded.


It all quite complex in fact, as some members would not be willing to pay for the forum - just think of many frequent contributors that the facto provide free, quality content to CF. (E.g. sorting out engine, varnish, grp, destinations etc. questions of less experienced members). Call them writers, from the business point perspective. Alternate name 'regular contributors'.



b.

[Captn_Black]

With the current economic situation, it is not surprising that more ads than usual are political ones, as many companies are struggling.

[barnakiel]

Struggling should not justify playing dirty. Or should it.


I think that was called morality or something similar, back in the old pre-Google, pre-Facebook times.


I would also be far from claiming that companies that got dirtiest, like Facebook, are 'struggling'. apparently, they are doing very very well.


b.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

As far as technology is concerned, you are right. But what I mean is you stop the ads you stop the cash flow. YOU GET PAID FOR THESE ADDS. You used to, before you blocked them. That is.

I get it Barn. We are in agreement. But political content is strictly forbidden here. Threads are constantly closed down, members are chastised, and in some cases banned. You are suggesting a pretty high level of hypocrisy on the part of the owners. I hope this is not the case.

Given this enforced lack of political content, I doubt if this site actually attracts much in the way of political ad revenue. Maybe the admins already block this this stuff, and it is a case of whack-a-mole, but clearly some of it is getting through.

[slug]

Originally Posted by Wireless1

Today in the advertising space above a page I saw a Trump Support ad. I was in the process of scrolling pages and when I briefly saw it I tried to hit the back button because on a non political website like this one I couldn’t believe what I saw. Going back through pages either I could not find it or another ad replaced it. Was this somehow a fluke?
Curious...

I’ve never seen a political add on Cruisers forum

The adds I presently have are for copper cables , shoes , watches , hydraulic fittings

Google tracks your history

You are from California . Almost all the people I’ve ever met who are from the west coast ...California ..are highly politicized and angry

This must be why you receive these adds

[fatherchronica]

I know this sounds paranoid, but a few weeks ago I was perusing some things on an iPad and talking with my wife and I complained about how quick the elastic in Chinese manufactured underwear wears out. When I was young, long ago, my underwear fell apart long before the elastic quit working. From then on I get pop up ads on several sites for underwear. Coincidence, maybe.

[Captn_Black]

Originally Posted by fatherchronica

I know this sounds paranoid, but a few weeks ago I was perusing some things on an iPad and talking with my wife and I complained about how quick the elastic in Chinese manufactured underwear wears out. When I was young, long ago, my underwear fell apart long before the elastic quit working. From then on I get pop up ads on several sites for underwear. Coincidence, maybe.

Not paranoid at all, this happens to lots of people. Not only stuff that people write in emails, or on messenger apps appear the next day in ads, but stuff people say. Specific stuff, that is to specific to be random. I had a very blatant case a few months ago, but I forget exactly what it was now.