So I notice the ad banner in the top right goois some woo kak every now and again - degree in metaphysical sciences and ufo’s 'n shit.
This leads to a bit of an ethical paradox for this site, don’t you agree? If we pretty much agree unanimously that people shouldn’t be advertising woo shit, does it become okay if we get some of the advertising dollah?
Discuss.
Interesting point gogtjop. Maybe Bluegray can enlighten us?
As I understand it, the Google ads are automatically selected by Google based on the type and frequency of particular keywords. Because such are the topics of interest to sceptics, that is why so many of them are woo-woo related. The webpage merely provides the space for the ads. If a site admin wishes to exercise control over the advertised content, it would involve some complications and perhaps additional costs.
Also, if you click on any of those ads, it means that the advertiser is paying towards the cost of running of this site even though the contribution is small. In other words, the woo-woos are helping to pay for this site if we view their ads.
'Luthon64
Clickety click.
I should write a bot and borg that shit.
Hmmm… Will go clickety-click just for that then… >:D
See for previous discussion: http://forum.skeptic.za.org/junk-science-and-alternative-medicine/high-blood-pressure/0/
Things have changed a bit. There is some control for the type of ads shown. You can block specific ads and you can block certain categories. I can block the ‘religion’ category for example.
But I allow all ads and let google decide. The ads shown is targeted at the user viewing the page as well as keywords on the page itself. That means more relevant ads and more clicks, which is why they are there. According to the stats, most clicks come from religious ads. Although that category is probably very broad, I assume skepticism also falls under that category… :
As for it being ethical, the advertisers will spend the money whether it’s displayed on this site or not. I’d rather it be here, where the reader might benefit from discussions, and the forum benefit from some revenue.
PS. Please don’t click excessively, Google can recognise click fraud, just use it naturaly.
Hmf. No borging then. I guess resistance IS futile!