Dishonest ads on the forum

[Rodent]

I run an ad blocker on my home pc and laptop. Sorry. On my work pc, I have been getting Etsy ads with scantily clad women and classless t-shirts that I am afraid will offend the team member that can see them. I have blocked and reported at least 20 similar ads just this week. Google says that I won't see them again but I do. There are also other sexually suggestive ads that do not have the ability to block and report. 

Why does every other site I visit have targeted ads from Google for things I am interested in, like cars, model cars, car parts, clothes, various things from Amazon, etc., but this site only seems to offer offensive content in the ads? It's not like I am cruising women's underwear or things like that on my work pc that should trigger such things.

And no, I don't want to buy a new house in Arizona or Wyoming. I have done nothing to trigger that type of "targeted" advertising.

I changed a bunch of my Google ad and cookie settings. Let's see where that gets me.

[SpeedAndViolence]

8 hours ago, Rodent said:

Why does every other site I visit have targeted ads from Google for things I am interested in, like cars, model cars, car parts, clothes, various things from Amazon, etc., but this site only seems to offer offensive content in the ads? It's not like I am cruising women's underwear or things like that on my work pc that should trigger such things.

This... Right here. This is exactly what I take issue with. I do not get ads suggesting pornography so blatantly, or as often, anywhere else. 

[stitchdup]

36 minutes ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

This... Right here. This is exactly what I take issue with. I do not get ads suggesting pornography so blatantly, or as often, anywhere else. 

some of the most commonly used words on the site are models, toys and drag and guess what the common searches on adult sites are?

[SpeedAndViolence]

2 minutes ago, stitchdup said:

some of the most commonly used words on the site are models, toys and drag and guess what the common searches on adult sites are?

 I guess I somewhat understand that, but with all due respect Les, the thing I can't wrap my head around is, that the majority of the ads that I feel are so repulsive, are (typically) only here, yet ridiculously repetitive in nature.  That's all I'm saying. If we could get a Patreon funded ad-free system going for, oh I don't know...$3-5 bucks a month or less(?), I would be one of the first to sign up. And I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking that.

[stitchdup]

2 minutes ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

 I guess I somewhat understand that, but with all due respect Les, the thing I can't wrap my head around is, that the majority of the ads that I feel are so repulsive, are (typically) only here, yet ridiculously repetitive in nature.  That's all I'm saying. If we could get a Patreon funded ad-free system going for, oh I don't know...$3-5 bucks a month or less(?), I would be one of the first to sign up. And I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking that.

the ads choose where to go depending on the key words. we have no say in what ads they show but they do fund the site. Its just the nature of google now, money comes before all else, including self respect but when you have a pretty sizable monopoly who's going to stop them? 

[SpeedAndViolence]

1 minute ago, stitchdup said:

the ads choose where to go depending on the key words. we have no say in what ads they show but they do fund the site. Its just the nature of google now, money comes before all else, including self respect but when you have a pretty sizable monopoly who's going to stop them? 

Agreed. I very rarely here the word 'Integrity' anymore.

[Dave Ambrose]

1 hour ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

Agreed. I very rarely here the word 'Integrity' anymore.

Replaced by profit über alles a long time ago.

Our biggest problem here is that it's pathetically easy to game the Google ad system. The same ad will be posted from a bunch of different sources. It reduces the effectiveness of the reporting system. Ironically, Google has the capability to detect this, but doesn't routinely do that. I can get it to do that from the ad control page but I don't necessarily see the same ads that you're reporting. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 hours ago, stitchdup said:

the ads choose where to go depending on the key words. we have no say in what ads they show but they do fund the site. Its just the nature of google now, money comes before all else, including self respect but when you have a pretty sizable monopoly who's going to stop them? 

It's about time somebody does.

For a company that makes so much noise about "community standards" on YT and their other platforms, it's all so much empty hypocrisy when it comes down to how THEY behave.

A multi-billion dollar class-action suit might get their attention, or serious scrutiny by whatever toothless gubmint agency is supposedly overseeing big-tech on the web..

But I'm not holding my breath.