Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Those Pesky Ads

Barry Arrington
May 7, 2012
Intelligent Design
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Some of you have written privately to complain about some of the ads that show up on this site.  Believe me, we are not always thrilled with them ourselves.  However, we have a contract with an online ad company and the revenue we receive from these ads is a major factor in helping us keep this site operating.  Please be assured that we do not select the ads.  In fact, the ads showing up on your computer are probably not the same ads that show up on mine.  Web marketing is so sophisticated now that highly specific targeting is possible.  For example, a few weeks ago I inquired about purchasing a particular product.  Now, every time I go on the web some banner ad is hawking that product at me.

UD does not necessarily endorse the products advertised in the banner, and we appreciate your bearing with a little inconvenience so that we can continue to bring this site to you.  Thank you.

UD Management

 

Comments
Eric, yeah it's incriminating I know! But seriously, beyond news, ID, and Netflix, my browsing habits would put a twenty-something to sleep. My browsing history is an open book. Seriously! I even tried clearing my cache and all that, to see if it would change anything -- nope. I'll post a link to a screenshot the next time Ms. DNA comes calling. material.infantacy
material.infancy: How come I don't get to see any ads with attractive ladies in tight clothing? :) I keep getting ads for computer servers, wireless service and the like . . . Eric Anderson
Adblock Plus udat
Most of the ads I get now are about Puritan books. It must be something I said. Jon Garvey
Youch. Can something be done about such ads at all? (And yes cheapie, assumed low bandwidth hosting is problematic when one has a high bandwidth site.) kairosfocus
The Asian chicks look cute but are they creationists?? Robert Byers
I recognize that the ads fund the content, and I think that's a fine, fine system. I benefit from this same relationship between programming and advertising when I watch television. I wouldn't imagine that this site is cheap to operate. The bandwidth usage is probably significant; and cheap web hosting tends to be a huge detriment to high-traffic sites -- as in, entirely unreliable. If one must benefit from the content while rejecting the revenue stream, there are ad blockers available which will make them invisible. I will confess to some personal frustration at seeing pretty young ladies in tight clothing with their jeans unzipped, and a clever DNA strand logo on the t-shirt that says "Unzip your genes" but that is only because I usually go to some lengths to avoid being inappropriate with regard young ladies. I am a man after all, but one with a conscience. However if ads keep the content coming, then bring them on. I'd hate to lose free programming just because I don't like the commercials. As for the pretty young red head with her jeans unzipped, I think she'd look good in a sun dress also. material.infantacy
The ads are only pesky if you allow them to be. Joe
Barry, two comments. 1. The cost of hosting a website like UD is almost nil. I know this because I host several WP websites, and pay for them. Perhaps you are getting ripped? If you are paying more that about $10 per month for a single website, then you are almost certainly being ripped. 2. You will not make any $$$ from the advertising, at least from me, as I will never click on any of the ads. Therefore they are a waste of time, space, and generally offensive (or at best annoying). Yeah, I'm married, and get tired of being offered dating services. The best answer for UD viewers may be to forget using this website, and use an RSS reader instead. That way you can get all the posts minus the ads, but you cannot comment. This is what I now do. Christian-apologetics.org
F/N: H'mm, maybe that tracking stuff knows what I like! (No ads for cashews, though?) kairosfocus
Folks: I have Ghostery as a Firefox add-on. Maybe that would help the truly annoyed? (NB: I did like the gemology equipment ad.) KF kairosfocus

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