Worst Ads Ever! (SkepticOverlord's Ad Hitlist)

Broken Advertisement for Superpages.com

Top line is a broken piccy,
Second line is a mis-sized box that says "Find it around here now." with a search button.

The piccy itself comes from
m1.2mdn.net...

I have a screenshot if you need it.

We've really got to get rid of that banner that says "congratulations, you have been selected..." Blah blah blah. Again, I'm in a cubicle and Carol notices every time it pops up. I usually have my computer on mute, but sometimes I don't, and I get busted. You know how Carol is.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
We've really got to get rid of that banner that says "congratulations, you have been selected..." Blah blah blah.

Agreed! I'm usually roaming around between my ears, minding my own business in the quiet when suddenly, "Congratulations..." and the first thing I think, well the second, is, "what a liar..."

Originally posted by Dr Love
This add is now number one on my most annoying list:

I FREAKIN' HATE CONDO errrrrrrr....................Olive Garden!

Peace

It's actually meant to say answer yes for a dinner at two at olive garden.

Talking Ad.

It's really annoying when you have music on loud, and this woman starts speaking about ipods.

Next time I see it, I'll get where it is coming from. I close the screen instantly when it pops up.

Sadly, due to the increase in false and annoying advertisements here on ATS I am being forced to resort to add blocker software. I thought that this thread was legit and that Skeptic Overlord did indeed care about the quality of life here on ATS. When false and misleading advertisements persist on a Website that has the motto of "Deny Ignorance" one has to wonder about sincerity.

Don't get me wrong. ATS is a great place and I fully understand the need for, and even support, having Advertisements on the site. What I have difficulty with are advertisements that are deliberately false and annoying. What is the point of this thread if nothing is ever done about adverts which numerous members have deemed to lower the quality of the ATS experience?

Alas, add blocker software is a last resort that I will reluctantly utilize in the near future.

I think what we need to understand is that ATS can not keep everybody happy. Just because you see an advert on the ATS pages, it does not necessarily mean that they endorse it. From what I have garnered over the time I've been with ATS, is that they only endorse one thing, neutrality.

Above Top Secret T&C

4b) Ad Blockers: As AboveTopSecret.com is provided as a free service, in part through the income of our advertising, you agree not to use "ad-blocking" software or similar built-in web browser options while using the website(s).

By registering, you have agreed not to use an adblocker. By openly admitting that you are going to use one, you are breaking the T&C.

This is not solely directed at your post Terapin, as it is a collection of posts along the same lines, but I really fail to see why some members can get so upset over a simple advertisement. We all gather here for one reason. To discuss the content of our community. The adverts pay the bills so we can continue to discuss here, at no charge. I don't care if the adverts show Richard Simmons in his birthday suit, doing the moonwalk across my screen. If they pay the bills, I'm all smiles. Ok well, that one might be a little much. But nonetheless, you catch my drift. The ads are just that, the ads.

As long as I am not hearing that dreaded, "Oh My God!" emoticon, I couldn't care less what is being flashed on my screen. I'm here to read the posts, not the advertisements.

As it appears to be a T&C violation I will refrain from using add blocker software, However my main point is still valid... What is the point of this thread? Why suggest that there is a hit list, and that the higher powers will remove offending adverts, if in fact there is no intent to do so?

Even Supermoderators have voiced dismay at some of the false advertising that appears on ATS.

Sure, ATS should be generating income and advertisements are a good way to do that. It just seems very contradictory to promote false advertising while telling people to deny ignorance.

From what I can see, you are talking about one ad and one scenario where the Admin did not act immediately. I can tell you on three different occasions where an Ad that I had mentioned, or watched other mentions, had it dealt with very swiftly.

I can honestly say that I have been overly satisfied with this thread, and it's purpose. The adverts that carry audio with it, or one's that had excessive flashing that could of put someone into an epileptic shock, were some that I had openly complained about. After making the complaints, as others had, they were quickly dealt with.

If the advert carries a message that you may not agree with, I do not necessarily believe that is reason enough to remove it. We are not going to agree with everything. If it is not inducing a seizure or waking the neighbours, let it be.

The type of advert that bothers me the most is the flashing advert which falsely states that you have won something. SuperModerator Byrd, on the very first page of this thread, specifically mentioned this advert, yet it persists. Seizure inducing adverts are bad enough but when this advert makes false and misleading statements in addition to its mind numbing flashing, it should be removed. When SuperModerators voice their concern over these adverts I thought that something might be done.

ATS holds it's members to a high standard of veracity in their posts. Deliberately posting false or misleading subjects is ground for banishment. Hoaxing is against the credo. The aforementioned advert would not stand up to this ideal. Falsely proclaiming that you have won a laptop is akin to knowingly posting a picture of a hubcap and claiming that it is a flying saucer. People get banned for such behavior. Why then, are adverts held to such a low standard?

Terapin

It must be realised that we are capable of disabling ads as they appear, but this doesn't stop the same or similar ads appearing again under different campaigns and across different ad networks.

We do make every effort to banish unsuitable ads, but we can't be refreshing the mega long list of campaigns for each network we work with every hour to stomp out every ad every member dislikes.

Thank you for responding Simon,

I guess I don't understand how advertising online works as I assumed that you could contact the agencies who place adverts on ATS and have them stop posting certain types of adverts. Apparently I am mistaken. I figured as much as the other Website I frequent, which also rely on advertising to support their site, do not ever have such annoying and misleading adverts. ATS is fifth on the list of Web pages that I visit regularly, yet it is the only one with disruptive ads.

It is good to know that ATS does try, even if it is difficult. Would it be a T&C violation if I prevented my browser from displaying any flashing material, not specifically adverts, but all flashing material? A colleague of mine at MIT assures me it can be done.

I can handle any type of advertising by ignoring it. But I can't ignore the damn ads when they are talking to me. The two free ipod nano's add has got to go!

Strange, but this is the only website which seems to be victimized by this ad program with cheap/low class ads such as the "youve won a laptop" and "youve won an ipod" ads. It's really not that hard to just come up with your own ad program and pick a selected type of ad to be run on the site, or at least join some respectable program as there probably isn't much demand to advertise on a site like this...but I can definitely say that the ads are one reason that I don't visit this site as frequently, and usually if a site has such obnoxious ads running, I just stop visiting altogether. Surely there are others who have come here and thought the same thing when they are bombarded with flashing and talking ads. Use the ad blockers to keep the garbage out, no one's going to click on those things anyway.

S.O can you please get rid of that talking ipod ad, that damn thing is pissing me off.:bnghd::bnghd::bnghd::bnghd:

honestly this iPod winner ad needs to go immediately. I have NEVER complained about an ad that is soundless and doesn't scroll down with the page. This ad is just obnoxious.

So for the love of all things living and visiting ATS, rid us of this evil ad.

I'm begging you...

No, I'm on my freakin' knees...

Please, please, please try to find out which ad network and advertisers these types of ads are running on... each time this comes up, I beg you guys to get that info for me.

We've always made an effort to remove ads like this, as long as we know who and where.

I spent some time on ValueClick Media that supplies this Nano ad, and removed the 14 versions of it... out of 478 ads current assigned to ATS... it takes considerable time if I don't know who the advertiser is, and which network it's on.

I'm begging you.

S.O. I got the ipod advertisement link for you.

media.liquidmedianetworks.com...



(I wonder if I'll get an applause)

[edit on 4-3-2007 by thehumbleone]

i61.photobucket.com...

That ad right there freezes up my computer every time it;s on. And it comes up every 3 minutes.

Heres the site. I don't know if it helps though.

[edit on 11/3/2007 by enjoies05]

Any luck taking that ad down?? Still freezing the page every time it pops up.