Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Google Ads

Google Ads select ads based on the content on your page. In general, you could rationalise that into being a good thing - you're actually helping your readers find the products that they want (though, of course, if you really believe in that then you probably should go for one of those 'pay per post' services...you're getting paid to post about products you actually believe in, or something like that). Regardless of how you think about it, sometimes it can go very wrong. Last time I looked (over there, in the corner...No! No! Don't look!) there was an ad for a creationist website called Y-Origins Connection: Intelligent Design for Everyone. (Just take my word for it, don't look because I told you, only look if you would have looked anyway - you aren't supposed to draw the attention of people to your ads who would otherwise not be interested.) So, alongside my criticism of Dembski, I am advertising for creationists. Lovely.

4 comments:

James F. McGrath said...

I'm glad someone finally mentioned those ads!!! I can't tell you how many times I've visited sites promoting mainstream science or arguing against some form of pseudoscience, but the ads were advertising what the web page was trying to argue against!

Now we need a plan - no, we need a movement. How about "Group Of Intellectuals Negating Google Ads + General Assininity"?

Ian said...

Sounds like a great idea. But if I launch a movement against them, they might cancel my membership, and I'd stop earning the 10 cents a month I earn from Google Ads.

Carol said...

so what? you ignore my comment?

Carol said...

well, I never see you on MSN so I told you with a comment here that you could filter your Google Ads and put certain ads and (I think) keywords in the filter so you don't get unpleasant ads. It told me that the comment would have to be screened so I figured you were screening comments, but then my complaint comment went straight through without any screening. And it would appear from what you said that you didn't actually get my comment at all.