# Politically Offensive Banner Ads



## TheAuldGrump

I just wanted to make note that the current crop of banner ads supporting this site include a series of ads that I consider to be in very poor taste. Specifically the ones calling for a vote coming up in the State of Maine to overturn a law that promotes gay rights.

Given that this site has a 'No Political Discussion' policy I find the existence of these ads on this site to be especially annoying.

The Auld Grump


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## Morrus

We don't have any control over the Google ads - and each ad is served selectively to specific people based on a number of targeting factors (for example, I've never seen that ad and I doubt I ever will).

When subscriptions hit a viable level, I intend to drop Google ads completely. I find them annoying, too.


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## TheAuldGrump

Then be aware that it makes your no politics stance pretty darned hypocritical 'no politics unless we make money off of it'.

I do know that Google used to have a way for websites to send in complaints about offensive banner ads - and if you don't see the banner ad that I am writing of, do you want me to post a link so that you and others know just what you are being used to promote? 

I suspect that I will not be the only one offended. I am not conservative, and in no way support the stance against gay rights that Google is now promoting via your site.

The Auld Grump


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## Mark

Might need a screen shot.


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## Morrus

TheAuldGrump said:


> Then be aware that it makes your no politics stance pretty darned hypocritical 'no politics unless we make money off of it'.




Please keep personal insults out of it.  Thanks.



> I do know that Google used to have a way for websites to send in complaints about offensive banner ads - and if you don't see the banner ad that I am writing of, do you want me to post a link so that you and others know just what you are being used to promote?




That might help; I think we'd need to identify the ad more specifically to ask Google to block it.  I think there's a way, because people managed to get the Evony ads cut down.


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## TheAuldGrump

Morrus said:


> Please keep personal insults out of it.  Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> That might help; I think we'd need to identify the ad more specifically to ask Google to block it.  I think there's a way, because people managed to get the Evony ads cut down.




It is not a personal insult, or at least was not intended as such - it is an observation, that you have an on site policy, and your advertisers are breaking it. It is not you breaching it, but allowing it to stand would be hypocrisy, pretty much by dictionary definition.







There is actually a series of the advertisements - this is one of the more middle of the road ones. One is more offensive, at least to me. All are trying to influence a vote on civil liberties. Specifically Question 1 on the Maine Ballots

The Auld Grump
*EDIT* It is worth noting that there is no provision for teaching about Gay Marriage in the law that they are seeking to overturn, the law simply allows for Gay Marriage to take place. The advertisement is using scare tactics to influence the vote. It is also worth noting that these are the _only_ banner ads that have been showing up when I visit the site - Ivony would be an improvement.

*EDIT 2* Feel free to delete the image, and this thread, if you can manage to deal with the problem. I find the ad distasteful in the extreme, three of my players are gay, so my annoyance is, perhaps, understandable.


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## Aus_Snow

Agreed. That really is in extremely bad taste. To say the least. Also yes, re: the 'apolitical' stance, etc.

Oh AdBlock Plus, how I love thee.  (Hey, there's always a bright side, right?)


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## TheAuldGrump

Aus_Snow said:


> Agreed. That really is in extremely bad taste. To say the least. Also yes, re: the 'apolitical' stance, etc.
> 
> Oh AdBlock Plus, how I love thee.  (Hey, there's always a bright side, right?)



I actually use Adblock for just about every site _except_ for EN World - which was a good thing when the advertising was nearly entirely for gaming companies. (Another exception is The Miniatures Page - I swear, I have clicked more than half of their banner ads. On topic advertising _rocks._)

The Auld Grump


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## Mustrum_Ridcully

TheAuldGrump said:


> Then be aware that it makes your no politics stance pretty darned hypocritical 'no politics unless we make money off of it'.



Ads are not posts.

Though I would prefer on-topic advertising, too. Heck, it doesn't even have to just be Pen & Paper / Table Top roleplaying games stuff. Videogames would also be fine to me. And genre shows/DVDs/movies or computer-stuff.


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## Morrus

I may have some good news for you.  I'm going to be replacing the Google ads (well all EN World advertising, actually) with gaming ads from an ad network run by Ed Healy.  So this problem should solve itself pretty soon!


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## Holy Bovine

Morrus said:


> I may have some good news for you.  I'm going to be replacing the Google ads (well all EN World advertising, actually) with gaming ads from an ad network run by Ed Healy.  So this problem should solve itself pretty soon!




That's really cool!  How is the SUpporter Drive going anyways?  You used to have a little 'barometer' showing how many subscriptions you had on your way to the goal of 1000.  How close are you?


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## darjr

Morrus said:


> I may have some good news for you.  I'm going to be replacing the Google ads (well all EN World advertising, actually) with gaming ads from an ad network run by Ed Healy.  So this problem should solve itself pretty soon!




That rocks!


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## Desdichado

Just out of curiosity; do you also get offended and upset and call people to complain when you get political ads during your favorite non-political TV show?  Ads are ads.  Most people recognize that an ad is merely that and don't mistake it for actual content.

The calls of hypocracy sound pretty shrill (at best) to me.


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## RangerWickett

Hobo, I love the (probably unintentional) typo of "hypocracy." Rule by drug addicts?


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## jaerdaph

I'm glad to hear the ads (which I leave on with in community supporter account to support the site) will be switching from Google ads to something more targeted at gamers. Thanks again, Morrus, for always looking out for ways to improve the site. 

I started to see ad mentioned in the original post. Since today is Angelboi's birthday, I think I'll turn the ads off for the rest of the day in his memory.


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## diaglo

RangerWickett said:


> Hobo, I love the (probably unintentional) typo of "hypocracy." Rule by drug addicts?




nah. it translates into (cracy) *rule* by (hypo)* under*achievers


where is antisean when you need him?


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## Umbran

diaglo said:


> nah. it translates into (cracy) *rule* by (hypo)* under*achievers




Well, rule from under.  The achievers is a questionable addition - could also be by the Mole Men.

Or, if we use it as an actual prefix, what it is is "under-ruled" - the condition of having too much anarchy.

Or...


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## pawsplay

Not to be confused with hippocracy, a much under-utilized form of government.


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## jaerdaph

pawsplay said:


> Not to be confused with hippocracy, a much under-utilized form of government.




In a hippocracy, there are four branches of government:


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## Umbran

pawsplay said:


> Not to be confused with hippocracy, a much under-utilized form of government.




Though, honestly, this is all an ironic mistake.  He meant to talk about how the internet is really ruled by misunderstandings - a typocracy.


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## ephealy

Morrus said:


> I may have some good news for you.  I'm going to be replacing the Google ads (well all EN World advertising, actually) with gaming ads from an ad network run by Ed Healy.  So this problem should solve itself pretty soon!




If anyone sees an offensive advertisement, all they have to do is email me with the URL and I'll block it.

ephealy (at) ephealy (dot) com


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## Mistwell

Morrus said:


> I may have some good news for you.  I'm going to be replacing the Google ads (well all EN World advertising, actually) with gaming ads from an ad network run by Ed Healy.  So this problem should solve itself pretty soon!




That's good news!

We should start a "A click a day saves EnWorld" campaign


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## Pbartender

pawsplay said:


> Not to be confused with hippocracy, a much under-utilized form of government.




I believe Caligula experimented with it to great effect during his tenure as Emperor of Rome.


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## TheAuldGrump

Morrus said:


> I may have some good news for you.  I'm going to be replacing the Google ads (well all EN World advertising, actually) with gaming ads from an ad network run by Ed Healy.  So this problem should solve itself pretty soon!



That is good news - I very much hope that it works out for you.

It is also 'voting with your feet' in regards to Google's ad policies. In a way it saddens me - until these ads came up I had vaguely good feelings towards Google, even their banner ads. I realize that it is much like a networks selling commercial time, but, well, I was offended. Why I should feel this more keenly than I might if it were an advertisement on, say, ABC, I cannot really say, but nonetheless....

As for just how much ad space the group running the ads was willing to spend.... (And by far the largest chunk of change involved does not even come from Maine pockets, but rather from Virginia of all places....) They bought _every single banner that I have seen on your site for three days!_ That must represent a hefty amount of cash.

 Right now the placeholder for the banner is completely empty, I don't know if it is because you cut the Google ads already (and if so thank you very much) or that they finally ran through all the imprints that they had purchased, 

The Auld Grump


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## Morrus

TheAuldGrump said:


> That is good news - I very much hope that it works out for you.
> 
> It is also 'voting with your feet' in regards to Google's ad policies. In a way it saddens me - until these ads came up I had vaguely good feelings towards Google, even their banner ads. I realize that it is much like a networks selling commercial time, but, well, I was offended. Why I should feel this more keenly than I might if it were an advertisement on, say, ABC, I cannot really say, but nonetheless....




OK, but in line with the theme of the thread, lets not allude to your own political opinions, either. The aim is to cut out all political discussion, not to only cut out political discussion we don't like.  So please feel feel to report (but not discuss!) any political or religious ads.



> As for just how much ad space the group running the ads was willing to spend.... (And by far the largest chunk of change involved does not even come from Maine pockets, but rather from Virginia of all places....) They bought _every single banner that I have seen on your site for three days!_ That must represent a hefty amount of cash.




Remarkably little, I imagine. The *total* isn't very much, let alone the minority subset in that particular geographic region.



> Right now the placeholder for the banner is completely empty, I don't know if it is because you cut the Google ads already (and if so thank you very much) or that they finally ran through all the imprints that they had purchased,




It's switched to Ed Healy's ad network, but apparently it takes a month or so to fully swing into gear as the system attempts to calulate the ad inventory of the site. Or something.


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## Umbran

TheAuldGrump said:


> They bought _every single banner that I have seen on your site for three days!_ That must represent a hefty amount of cash.




With the switch to the new service, this is perhaps moot.  But as I understand it, what Google presents is in part based on the site upon which the ad appears, and in part upon the _viewer_.  So, you dont' necessarily see what I see.  So one person's experience doesn't speak to the bulk.  Only when a bunch of people note the occurrence (like with the Evony ads recently) can we start to speak about the overall effect.

I imagine that these days, it would be a common nasty trick to send ads from one side of the political fence to people who have been browsing topics on the other side of the fence.


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## Holy Bovine

Morrus said:


> It's switched to Ed Healy's ad network, but apparently it takes a month or so to fully swing into gear as the system attempts to calulate the ad inventory of the site. Or something.




They seem to have switched over already for me.  And I have found what looks to be an excellent Canadian-based online game retailer!  Starlit Citadel.  Really good to see stuff like that!


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## pawsplay

I imagine the new network is potentially better revnues. It may not be as high traffic, but I am a hundred times more likely to click on something that is not Evony.


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## ephealy

Holy Bovine said:


> They seem to have switched over already for me.  And I have found what looks to be an excellent Canadian-based online game retailer!  Starlit Citadel.  Really good to see stuff like that!




If you have a Twitter account, you can also follow Starlit Citadel there: scitadel (scitadel) on Twitter


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## scitadel

ephealy said:


> If you have a Twitter account, you can also follow Starlit Citadel there: scitadel (scitadel) on Twitter




 *Pokes head out of the sand* I'm also on here as an account, though I've been quiet on the board games boards for a while.  It's busy season so my time on boards drops.


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## Blackrat

ephealy said:


> If anyone sees an offensive advertisement, all they have to do is email me with the URL and I'll block it.
> 
> ephealy (at) ephealy (dot) com




Just wanted to ask, are the ads that come through your network generally safe for work material? Google claims that, but evony and such have proved that that's an empty claim.

I'd love to make ENW exception for the adblocker even at work, but so far it's been impossible...


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## ephealy

Blackrat said:


> Just wanted to ask, are the ads that come through your network generally safe for work material? Google claims that, but evony and such have proved that that's an empty claim.




Yes. Safe for work.

RE EVONY: I was able to block these ads for some time, but it looks like they're moving servers. If you see one, let me know the target domain and I'll add it to 'the list'.


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## Blackrat

That's cool. I've kinda felt bad that I've had to block the ads on ENW at work since I'm mostly online only at work. Can fix that now


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## TheAuldGrump

Umbran said:


> With the switch to the new service, this is perhaps moot.  But as I understand it, what Google presents is in part based on the site upon which the ad appears, and in part upon the _viewer_.  So, you dont' necessarily see what I see.  So one person's experience doesn't speak to the bulk.  Only when a bunch of people note the occurrence (like with the Evony ads recently) can we start to speak about the overall effect.
> 
> I imagine that these days, it would be a common nasty trick to send ads from one side of the political fence to people who have been browsing topics on the other side of the fence.



Or just shuffle it under 'Poiltics, General'

I _do_ visit political sites, but until those banners started popping up on EN World I pretty much left my political opinions at the door. (I don't think that I have ever mentioned politics on this site, except in an historic perspective. I don't think that 17th century politics really counts.)



Morrus said:


> OK, but in line with the theme of the thread, lets not allude to your own political opinions, either. The aim is to cut out all political discussion, not to only cut out political discussion we don't like.  So please feel feel to report (but not discuss!) any political or religious ads.




The 'voting with your feet' comment as in reference to having political ads from Google in general. I would probably have mentioned it even if I had agreed with the message, although almost certainly not in as cranky a fashion.  I actually agree that political discussion should be left out of this site.

*EDIT* Well, except for edition discussion - that is almost like politics and religion rolled into one. 

And, for whatever it is worth, I have rarely seen Google Ads with a political tinge, certainly not three days worth of ads from the opposite end of the political spectrum. Then again - I put EN World as an exception to my ad blocker, so I probably miss most of them. They just don't show up on my screen.

I hope that you did not lose too much in regards to revenue, part of the reason that I had made an exception on my blocker was to support this site.

The Auld Grump, and now back to rolling dice.

*EDIT 2* Banner ads are back, and the only thing offensive is that there is no way that I can make it to the con advertised.  Thank you very much.


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## Mathew_Freeman

Given this news about a new ad site, I've put the top banner back on again. I'll try and make sure I click through whenever I see something interesting, as even if it's only pennies it'll all count.


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## TheAuldGrump

Spoke too soon. It's back, and once again the only series of ads I am getting.







The Auld Grump, makes me want to burn barns and become a pagan worshiper of Cthulhu.... Not to mention smack that one kid in the picture right in the face.... Grrrr....


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## Morrus

Well, I'll drop Ed a line and ask him to block it specifically.


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## ephealy

TheAuldGrump said:


> Spoke too soon. It's back, and once again the only series of ads I am getting.




Because I may not see a post like this in the forums, please feel free to email me the URLs for these ads. Yes, you'll probably need to click on it if the URL isn't obvious, but I can't block the ads without a domain.

You can email these to me at ephealy (at) ephealy (dot) com


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## PaulofCthulhu

Here's the upshot:

Google Ads can be blocked, but you have to know what they are to block them. So it only happens after the fact and with the relevant information to hand to know exactly what to block.

From experience I can say that Ed offers a great service with his advertising network, while it is run through Google Ads he is very responsive to requests including removing anything that may cause issues.

We had an issue on our site that involved this very matter of political ads appearing and Ed solved it permanently inside an hour IIRC.


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## Kafen

This is a politically active time. Google uses region to help place the ads under AdSense. So, you _will_ see ads that go against your point of view if you active in politics at all. 


- link of ad
- company/group
- screenshot

It's not easy to go through the ad manager on Google and hit every offensive ad. So, some time is often required to nail down the full range of ads from the entire group/company as the "same" ad may in fact be multiple ads with slightly different traits.


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## TheAuldGrump

Sending in two of the URLs, I could not get the other two ads that I have seen to show their ugly faces.

The first thing you see when clicking the ads is a 'give us money' page.

The weird thing is that I do not remember getting nearly as many political ads during the 2008 election....

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* And having sent in the URLs I suddenly start getting ads for Gaming Paper. I think I will order a roll, simply because it is not those Stand For Marriage ads.


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## TheAuldGrump

Mr. Healey responded with amazing speed. And has blocked the URL.

I would like to publicly thank him for the speed of his actions.

The Auld Grump


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## Holy Bovine

TheAuldGrump said:


> Mr. Healey responded with amazing speed. And has blocked the URL.
> 
> I would like to publicly thank him for the speed of his actions.
> 
> The Auld Grump




*golfclap*

Glad to hear it Grumpy!


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## Deset Gled

I have one very minor ad glitch.  The ads for Bright Shadow (brightshadow.gamespotusa.com) do not pop into a new window/frame when clicked on like all the other ads do.  It's not a big deal, but it's a little annoying to lose the page you're viewing when you click on the ad.


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## ephealy

Deset Gled said:


> I have one very minor ad glitch.  The ads for Bright Shadow (brightshadow.gamespotusa.com) do not pop into a new window/frame when clicked on like all the other ads do.  It's not a big deal, but it's a little annoying to lose the page you're viewing when you click on the ad.



I'm not sure I follow you. Can you be a little more specific? Are you saying that, when you go to http://brightshadow.gamepotusa.com/ you end up in the same window, as opposed to a pop-up or another tab?


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## TheAuldGrump

I spotted one ad from the opposite side of the Question 1 debate this morning, but have not been able to duplicate it since getting home. While this time I agree with the stance, it still does not belong here.

In any event it seems to be gone now.

The Auld Grump


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## ephealy

I thought I'd write and let you all know that we have a number of new advertisers on EN World:

Gator Games: An American Retailer

Starlit Citadel: A Canadian Retailer

GUBS: A kid-friendly card game

Castle Games: Makers of The Portable Galactic Empire

Mind Storm Labs: Publishers of the Alpha Omega RPG

Miniature Market: eTailer with a wide selection of minis

Feel free to visit them and check out their products (if they interest you).


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## jaerdaph

TheAuldGrump said:


> In any event it seems to be gone now.




And so is election Tuesday, so hopefully we won't see anymore political ads until next October.


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## Holy Bovine

ephealy said:


> I thought I'd write and let you all know that we have a number of new advertisers on EN World:
> 
> Gator Games: An American Retailer
> 
> Starlit Citadel: A Canadian Retailer
> 
> GUBS: A kid-friendly card game
> 
> Castle Games: Makers of The Portable Galactic Empire
> 
> Mind Storm Labs: Publishers of the Alpha Omega RPG
> 
> Miniature Market: eTailer with a wide selection of minis
> 
> Feel free to visit them and check out their products (if they interest you).




I've had some outstanding experiences with Miniature Market.
If the others are half as reputable and outright awesome as Miniature Market you have attracted a fine lot of excellent retailers to ENWorld.


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## StreamOfTheSky

jaerdaph said:


> And so is election Tuesday, so hopefully we won't see anymore political ads until next October. ...Ever.




One can dream, right?


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## jaerdaph

*The Only Campaign Ad You Will Ever Need*


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## Darkness

jaerdaph said:


> [Cthulhu for president]



Here's some more information about jaerdaph's candidate:

YouTube - The Adventures of Lil Cthulhu


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## jaerdaph

Darkness said:


> Here's some more information about jaerdaph's candidate:
> 
> YouTube - The Adventures of Lil Cthulhu




With the help of his running mate Hastur, Cthulhu promises a byakhee in every garage!


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## Umbran

Cthulhu for President is all fun and games, sure.  But the next person to bring up real-world politics in here can expect a vacation from EN World.


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