Worst Ads Ever! (SkepticOverlord's Ad Hitlist)

This thread is for reporting obnoxious ads you would like to see vanquished from our servers.

While the ads do serve a vital purpose by providing the necessary funds to keep ATS running, some ads are more tolerable than others, and some ads are simply too over the top to be tolerated.

In particular, abusive and disruptive ads make it difficult for members to avoid the temptation to use ad blockers on ATS, which is why they must be eliminated.

As a classic example of the kind of ad I don't ever, ever want to see again, I offer the “Zap the Mosquito” ad. Aside from the annoying graphic, its mortal sin is the loud buzzing sound which can induce cardiac arrest if you're listening to loud music while browsing -- as is my custom.

Whoever came up with this ad should be slathered with pig's blood and tied to a stake in a New Jersey swamp.

URL For the most obnoxious flash ad yet: the Mosquito Ad

SkepticOverlord, please zap this awful ad!

And fellow members, if you wish to see an ad removed, please post its URL in this thread -- using URL tags to keep it from sporking the page formatting.

How to capture the ad URLs varies from browser to browser, and I encourage members to post tips here.

SO, thanks in advance for blocking these!

This is nothing that damm simily ad just blows.Even if the mouse pointer touches the ad border wham you hear things like "OMG,NO WAY".I know ads are imp for ats but damm having sound ads just blows.The U.S mil ones are the worst(thankfully i haven't seen them here)they take the entire page and are full of flash animations.You have no choice but to reload the page.
ps:thanks for starting this thread.I was waiting to make a one


[edit on 18-7-2006 by warthog911]

I could do without any of those flashing banner ads, including slap the baby, shoot the duck or whatever they are. Also, the mortgage banners should go. Online mortgage companies are some of the worst spammers. They aren't even offering mortgages, they simply gather your information and then sell it to as many real mortgage brokers as they can and then you get inundated with phone calls along with all the spam.

Can We Tawk?

What scares me is that I'm actually used to the talking smiley ad now.

"Ohmygosh! No way!"

Cute little scamp, in't he?

No... wait... it's brainswashing! NOOO!

Get... out... of my... MIIIIIIND!

GAHHHHHHH!



(SO, is there a way we can tell our ad-providing guys to leave off with the audio?)

Oh my god, I just logged onto ats to hear that damn little buzzing bug. I hit refresh hoping to load another ad but nope , there it is again, I was about to start a thread about these horrible ads(just the noisy ones and the ones that block the page)

Sure the mosquito is annoying, but no advert can ever match the horrah of the football referee from hell blowing his whistle non-stop and waiving his arms to and fro. That freakin' add caused me such severe trauma that to this day I still crawl into a corner and lay in a fetal position sucking my thumb while watching Monday Night Football!

DAMN PENALTIES ALL TO HELL!!!!!!

Peace

The mosquito ad scared me to death. I thought it was my hard drive failing and then I thought it was some alarm I'd set and forgotten about, knowing damn well, I'd never heard an alarm like that.

When I realized it was my speakers and located the ad, I just went ahead and shot the damn thing and closed the resulting pop up, because no matter what anyone says, I don't believe that anyone is going to give me a free laptop for such an easy task.

Flashing ads are bad enough. Noisy ads are too much. The talking smileys had me thinking I was hearing voices until I figured it out. In my book, that's mental cruelty.


[edit on 2006/7/18 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
The mosquito ad scared me to death. I thought it was my hard drive failing and then I thought it was some alarm I'd set and forgotten about, knowing damn well, I'd never heard an alarm like that.

LOL, I did the same thing, except I did not realize it was speakers until after I had killed the power (not knowing what was happening, I do mean flip the power supply switch in this case - NOT good on HDD's).

In my case, however, I thoroughly went over my PC, first all the connections in the case, then booting to BIOS, and then to Safe Mode. Only when I came back to ATS did I realize the correlation.

ATS - my HDD's do not appreciate a hard shut-down, this is why I have UPS. Hearing noises resembling that of a short circuit is NOT what a PC user needs to hear.

NN

[edit on 18-7-2006 by NoNik]

Majic how loud is your music? I listen to music when I’m online too and I could barley hear the buzzing noise over it. BTW none of these ads are as bad as the death clown, man that dude still gives me the creeps.

wait a sec. the voices that talk to me are actually from the smiley icons? I, um, I thought, well, oh man, I need to release someone and offer up a really big apology.

Originally posted by Majic
Can We Tawk?

What scares me is that I'm actually used to the talking smiley ad now.

"Ohmygosh! No way!"

Cute little scamp, in't he?

No... wait... it's brainswashing! NOOO!

Get... out... of my... MIIIIIIND!

GAHHHHHHH!

(SO, is there a way we can tell our ad-providing guys to leave off with the audio?)

That is sooooo true, im at work usually when on ATS, and sometimes there's loads of people there, and i forget to put my speakers on mute, then out of no where comes.

NOOOO WAYYYY

Yeah i hate that.

[edit on 18-7-2006 by Denied]

the "push the fart button" annoys me. I never want to push it, I just want it off my screen, but it always seems to appear.

And Denied, that is the worst "Ohmygosh! No way!" It at the top of the screen for maximum annoyance, and the robot "Bite me".

I've heard tales of the fart button but never seen it.

oddly enough, in this thread I get a big blank white box where the offending items should appear.

The Fart Button, there was a thread about that, was funny.
Very unsatisfying as no fart! when pressed.

Here you go.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

PLEASE!! for the love of all thats good and holy .....

GET RID OF THIS ADD!!!

[edit on 18-7-2006 by Marto_Bagg]

That's funny. I was just about to complain about the zap the mosquito ad. I never complain, you know. Whatever floats your boat. But having that god forsaken buzzing sound follow me around the forum all day is liable to make one do -crazy- things...

agreed, the buzzin mosquitos gotta go. i can handle all the others but that one makes me wanna drive an icepick in my ear. lolol

Oh yeah, the emoticons. Please kill the emoticons. I have the same problem as a previous poster, surfing ATS while at work. Nothing more embarrassing than those going off. And the fact is that after rolling the scroll bar to the top of the screen, the ad is between the new posts button and the top right of the screen. Very frustrating.

Actually, while we're on the subject, has anyone actually ever clicked on an ad? Either here or elsewhere? How effective is internet advertising here? I would have thought such a large group of CTers would have a healthy scepticism in clicking such links!

[edit on 18-7-2006 by Willard856]

I hate the one that's up there just now... the flashing "you are a winner" banner.

Oh yes, and my favorite to loathe are the "dating service" ads that look like your dates are all strippers.