Political Ads Here

[marko]

Mods: Feel free to deal with this post as necessary/appropriate. Don't want to set off an issue.

One of the things I appreciate about this forum is a fairly strict ban on politics.

I'm not sure if everyone is seeing the same ads that I am but on the right side of the page...every page, is a political ad; same ad from the same group essentially suggesting how I should vote.

I've clicked on the X to close it 20 times and they say "ok, we won't show this ad again" but the very next page, there it is. Been going on for days now.

I'd like to find a way to get rid of it permanently.

My real question to the administrators is, is this an ad that has paid this site to advertise on or is it the result of my (highly unlikely) searching for such information triggering a pop-up? The ad says "paid for by DCCC".

If it's the former, I'd find it a bit odd--but not objectionable--for a site that (rightly) limits political discussion to be taking money from political sources. I'm fairly apolitical so I doubt it's the result of any other sites or searches I've made.

OR...Am I the only one seeing these political ads here, targeted for reasons unknown?

 

[davebarnes]

There are ads on this site?

I have never seen one.
Perhaps, Ghostery is why.

 

[marko]

There are ads on this site?

C'mon Dave. It's not about ads in general.

 

[audreyh1]

I’m not seeing any political ads on this site.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Here for the fun.

I see "Asian women in your neighborhood" ads.

Just kidding, but thought I could add some spice to the thread.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Do you have good ad blocking and pop up blocking software ? if not I can guarantee you will get pop up adds based on your web browser spying on you , and some " analytics " of trying to target you for ad revenue.

In another thread, I reported I was looking at yacht club stuff and vacation spots like Palm Springs, Tahoe, Aspen, and was watching aviation videos on Youtube. Next thing I am getting pop up ads with jet fuel prices and services, for the private jet I don't have. ( I don't use ad blockers).

I don't recall political ads on this site.

 

[audreyh1]

I’m seeing the ad for tracking gas prices even though I haven’t been on the gas price thread for a while.

Also ads encouraging me to go into a “caring” health care career.

 

[Jerry1]

Yes, add an ad blocker. I just did that about 6 months ago and it made a huge difference.

 

[aja8888]

I use Adblock Plus and have never seen an ad on this site.

 

[cathy63]

Ads at a site like this usually come from an ad network, not individual advertisers contracting directly with the site. If you don't want to install an ad blocker, there is a setting in User CP that you can try. Go to "Edit Options" and scroll down to find this:

Turn off Ad on top of the Right Column
- If you would like to turn off the Ad on top of the Right Column, please set this to off.

 

[VanWinkle]

I've got Overstock, Sams, and Thriftbooks adds. What a boring life........

 

[Dtail]

I use Adblock Plus and have never seen an ad on this site.

+1

 

[USGrant1962]

Using uBlock now, switched to it from Adblock because it tests better and has lighter operating system footprint.

I've never seen an ad on this site with either app. Shhh, don't tell Social Knowledge Network.

 

[easysurfer]

Hey! Stop bringing up politics!

Kidding aside, I use uBlock Origin as my ad blocker as on add on to Firefox. Blocker works great. Doesn't slow down pages from loading and no ads.

 

[TwoByFour]

Back to the OP's question....

I suspect that the ads you see are created by some AI algorithm that has targeted you but not the rest of us. Who knows why; the mystery of AI. I personally don't see any political ads here, although I tune ads out so readily that perhaps there is one or two but I am oblivious to them.

Off topic, but this is what the future is for us all. Computer algorithms that say what we want and no way to escape it.

 

[braumeister]

Ads at a site like this usually come from an ad network, not individual advertisers contracting directly with the site. If you don't want to install an ad blocker, there is a setting in User CP that you can try. Go to "Edit Options" and scroll down to find this:

Turn off Ad on top of the Right Column
- If you would like to turn off the Ad on top of the Right Column, please set this to off.

This is my understanding as well. The ads you may see are from Google, not E-R.org. That's why they are targeted to you based on what Google thinks you might be interested in. You should not be getting popup ads, unless you have inadvertently downloaded some kind of adware. Also, unlike some sites there is no restriction here on using an ad blocker in your browser.

 

[marko]

This is my understanding as well. The ads you may see are from Google, not E-R.org. That's why they are targeted to you based on what Google thinks you might be interested in. You should not be getting popup ads, unless you have inadvertently downloaded some kind of adware. Also, unlike some sites there is no restriction here on using an ad blocker in your browser.

OP here.
Thanks all. I do have a popup blocker which I"ve always found adequate.
My question was not so much about ads...I've seen them here for years. It was more about political ads on a site that tends to shy away from politics.

It does appear that this forum is not involved so, all good. Even more interesting however is that, after seeing this ad on every single page here for a few weeks, this morning I haven't seen one yet.

All good; not the biggest issue of my day today but thanks for the insights.

 

[braumeister]

I'm sure some of us are seeing more political ads at this time of year; it's just natural and it happens every year at this time. If you ever look up anything that has political text on it, then Google assumes you're interested and feeds you ads it thinks you might like to see.

Basically, the ads pay for running this site so they are a necessity. I doubt we would have anything like our current membership if there was a cost to use the site.

 

[Dawg52]

I use Adblock Plus and have never seen an ad on this site.

Same here.

 

[Tadpole]

If you are using a computer browser have you turned to "off" the option:

Turn off Ad on top of the Right Column
If you would like to turn off the Ad on top of the Right Column, please set this to off.
On
Off

under "User CP" and then on left menu "Edit Options" and then toward the bottom of the page.

 

[Janet H]

We have very little control over advertising content. It's served based on individual users browsing history, location or even key words on a page. We can try to block specific ads but need the url of the ad to do it and it takes a couple of days after the request is made to google to see results.

Currently I am seeing ads from QVC (where I have never shopped), Jeep Compass (which I would not buy - ever) and a very annoying one about pee proof underwear (which I thankfully, don't need). On the positive side however, ads keep the board online, covering costs. In my specific case, they contribute to my general feeling of personal pride because I have not shopped on TV, am not buying a car that's been recalled many times and ... well, you know

win/win ?

 

[MichaelB]

I doubt we would have anything like our current membership if there was a cost to use the site.

'cause we're all a bunch of cheapskates?

 

[marko]

We have very little control over advertising content. It's served based on individual users browsing history, location or even key words on a page. We can try to block specific ads but need the url of the ad to do it and it takes a couple of days after the request is made to google to see results.

Currently I am seeing ads from QVC (where I have never shopped), Jeep Compass (which I would not buy - ever) and a very annoying one about pee proof underwear (which I thankfully, don't need). On the positive side however, ads keep the board online, covering costs. In my specific case, they contribute to my general feeling of personal pride because I have not shopped on TV, am not buying a car that's been recalled many times and ... well, you know

win/win ?

OP here.
Win/win. To be clear, I wasn't offended or anything and I suspected that it was a 50/50 chance it was based upon my Google searches, even though as you note, there seems to be no connection to me.
Regardless, I was unaware of the ad blocker under "User CP" tools and have since applied the block.
Thanks.

 

[braumeister]

Maybe I should have mentioned one other little wrinkle in the system.

The system is set up so that when a member mentions ads on the site (even if in a disparaging way), that member's Google account is flagged for an ever increasing avalanche of online advertising, simply because they have proof the person is actually noticing the ads, so they might as well pile them on. They can also charge the advertisers more for those "this might actually work" ad placements.






No, just kidding.

 

[Tadpole]

Google's going to have to fight Amazon for possession of the ad area of my computer. I think Alexa is recording my thoughts and sending them up for ads.