Holy Crap, the IT advertising is spot-on!

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

It's kinda scary, to be honest. I first noticed it, maybe a month back, when I was spending some time looking into the best ways to edit a trailer.

Low and behold, the IT banners promoted an Amazon-sponsored trailer-editing contest. Kinda weird, but I can accept it as coincidence.

But then, just a few minutes ago, I bought a plane-ticket to Seattle. And now the IT banners are advertising hotel rooms in Seattle. WTF?!

I've noticed this a couple other times, but can't recall the specifics. Man, I need to disable my cookies, or something. :)
 
It's a Google AdSense thing. If you click on the little blue triangle in the corner of the ad, it explains it. But basically, they track what you're doing, upload the information to the alien mothership, and then the aliens find relevant ads for you and beam them directly into your brain (you just perceive it on your computer screen so it doesn't freak you out to have ads floating around in your vision all day). :yes:
 
I get lot's of film school ads, though a few days ago for an entire day all my ads were for household cleaners, and in spanish hahaha.

On a more important note, the new Google policy that takes effect tomorrow let's them use your history and previous searches to even more (privacy invading) efficiency. If you don't like it, here's how to halt it for your accounts:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/320137
 
By the way, the privacy policy change happens tomorrow. So it's your last chance (until your government makes it illegal, that is. but better safe than sorry)
 
Thanks for the heads up, dready! Good info!

I do *like* google products (some of the best free webmail out there, and I LOVE google docs), and targeted advertising isn't necessarily a bad thing (I'd rather see an ad for a new comic book than a sale on drapes), but it's the other implications that bother me. Not that anything bad IS happening, but it COULD, and the google policy of "do no evil" has gone from "try not to do evil" to "don't get caught doing evil".

More and more I'm drifiting to alternatives, like http://duckduckgo.com/ for searching (and, hey, DUCKS!)
 
I have a much different experience... since the ads are all flash, they bring my computer to its knees and fundamentally prevent me from being able to actually use the site... so I have a plugin that disables flash, I never see them -- and I'm able to use the site.

Flash has been the bane of my web experience since its introduction in the 90's. It's always been a horrible technology, and continues to be so. Adobe's and Apple's unwillingness to get along has made Flash and Shockwave a horrible technology. I don't participate by simply turning off every .swf file. My browser no longer crashes and I don't see my "thinking" wheel anymore.
 
There are some browser plugins out there which you can use to block a lot of the ads from the internet.

I think adblock is the big one.
 
Yes, you can use adblock. Personally, I think it's rather rude to the owners of websites. You want your service for free but you rob them of the ad revenue to run their servers? That just doesn't seem right to me.
 
Dreadylocks said:
Yes, you can use adblock. Personally, I think it's rather rude to the owners of websites. You want your service for free but you rob them of the ad revenue to run their servers? That just doesn't seem right to me.
Click to expand...

Haha, I'm the same way. I actually don't get too many flash ads either. IT's ads aren't that bad, same with the rest of the sites I visit. If they are super intrusive, then I just don't use the site.
 
Dreadylocks said:
Yes, you can use adblock. Personally, I think it's rather rude to the owners of websites. You want your service for free but you rob them of the ad revenue to run their servers? That just doesn't seem right to me.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with this statement, and even make a point of clicking on ads to support the sites I visit and use often (paid per click through)... if the ads weren't flash, I'd be clicking on them every time I went, but as they are, they are detrimental to my ability to do anything on my computer as the flash spins the processors up to 80-90% load as soon as there's any flash content.

I fully support ads and targeting ads as they allow people to put out more free content (gotta get paid somehow for the work and time you put in -- not to mention hosting and DNS registry and troubleshooting and marketing and...)
 
Dreadylocks said:
Yes, you can use adblock. Personally, I think it's rather rude to the owners of websites. You want your service for free but you rob them of the ad revenue to run their servers? That just doesn't seem right to me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I definitely agree with you on that. Especially since I run some websites myself.

However, most people who install something like adblock are the kind of people who will never press an ad in the first place.
 
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