OT- What the $%#@&

[lik2hunt]

What is the crap that keeps showing up in the sponsor windows above this forum?  What's up with that?
Are we a gun related site or some kind of "Love Connection" site? 

[~Ace~]

Google Targets it's adds to Content... Sometimes it gets confused when there are people saying the LOVE a gun or people discussing their relationships in the forum. ...

[Scibaer]

I love my guns, love to talk about gun, love to shoot guns.
I love to buy guns and trade or sell guns..
Married White Male, 39 yrs old, salt and pepper hair, 320 lbs. heavily tattooed, own and ride Harley Davidson motorcycles, and love NEF firearms.
current occupation: Anthropology student, hobbies include: motorcycles, guns and tattoos.
Please respond to no. 123-456-7890
p.s. did i mention how i love my NEF's ?
Waaa Haaa 

[Graybeard]

Yup that's the only thing I can think of too. With Google adsense which is the program we're on with Google companies bid for "key words" and I assume words like "love" are bought by some companies such as dating services and such. But we tend to use them here and I think that confuses those outfits big time.

Most of them seem innocent enough but some I don't look on as innocent and those I have Matt block as soon as I see them. I do usually try to click on them just to make sure if they do or don't need blocking. I wish we could just tell them this or that type is totally unacceptable and don't ever stick one here but we really can't and have to block by advertiser not by category. More trouble to us and some times one slips in that really makes my blood boil but in spite of it at this point in time we really cannot operate the site without the Google income. They are not only the single largest source of income for the site but are larger than the next several combined.

GBO has become a bit of a high maintenance site as large as we've grown and it takes a fair bit of income to cover actual expenses and since we've been at this so long and put in so much work on it we're trying to actually clear a small profit annually which we've not always done for sure. Last year Matt tried branching out with some new concepts and websites totally different from what we do here and all it did was eat up the small profit we turned last year. Now this year with the new servers costs have gone up a lot which is why I finally agreed for the first time to allow donations that I've so long refused.

If you see one that offends your sensibilities which I have seen a couple that did mine then by all means let me or Matt know so he can cancel them. He noticed one for Obama that really got his blood boiling and was about to take it off. He may have ended up doing so dunno. I told him what the heck I didn't figure anyone at GBO would contribute to his campaign and if he spent his money here he was in effect contributing to a pro gun cause and getting nothing in return so it had the long term effect of reducing his advertising in areas that might help so it seemed kinda funny to me. I'm not sure Matt ever saw the humor of it so he may have cancelled those too.

We're closing in fast on the holiday period and last year during the holidays folks bid up the cost of the ads to the point where we had one check for December paid to us in January that was larger than the previous four months checks all combined. I'm sure hoping they do that again this time.

[Chilachuck]

I just figure it's the cost of free membership. There's enough weird stuff around that sort of thing just fades into the back ground, so long as it's not those blasted "house cat" popovers, or floaters, or whatever they are called, that stay in the center of the screen no matter what you do.

[Graybeard]

I'm not exactly certain what the type ad is you are talking about but here all ads have a defined space in which they must stay. They are not allowed to intruded into the forums text area. We're not in complete control of what ads show as folks buy key words and some times I have to wonder what key work prompted some of them but they do pay well and provide well over 60% of the total income of the site and maybe as much as 70%.

When we see one we consider offensive Matt bans the ad by URL and within 24 hours that one cannot show again. Any with gay or lesbian appeal is immediately banned when we see it and yeah I've seen a few that definitely gave me that impression as to what they were appealing to. Those go away quickly. But Matt has made an executive decision I don't exactly full agree with but which does make logical sense that those which are for legitimate dating services can stay. Since he actually is the one who has to do the things to make them go away as I don't know how he just bowed his back up and says he sees no harm to them as they are on TV constantly and that is true they sure are. And I guess I can see nothing in the TOS they are in violation of so long as it's handled in a discreet manner and is normal dating server not for gay or lesbian dating which I absolutely refuse to allow. I really don't like them but Matt says they are paying far more money to have them displayed than any other ad right now. I think if they don't get shown much interest here which I suspect they won't they will soon enough go away rather than continuing to spend their money where there is no pay back. And if they do get a pay back that would clearly indicate the members actually are approving of them by voting with their clicks.

[choctaw]

I use Firefox for my browser with Adblocker.  What ads?