I try not to see many ads online. Generally they irritate me, and it's been extremely rare that the ads on non-search results have been selling something I'm interested in. (Those few times it's been because the ads were advertising a competitor to the site and product I was already looking at!)
I don't object to site owners using ads. I fully understand that many site owners provide services (such as this blog site) for free even though they incur costs such as hosting and machine maintenance. I just don't like to see them.
Regardless of the ethics in this debate, I was shocked to find out that not only does use.perl.org have ads, but that my last journal entry had a very inappropriate ad showing. My entry was about the challenges of getting more women into Perl and IT in general; not about picking up women from a dating site. I hear this is a common problem with Google Ads and feminist websites/blogs/content; as if the terms "female" and "women" can only be associated with dating. :( This is of course not the site-owner's fault, it's a failure with Google Ad-word's attempts to be relevant. It's just rather disappointing.
I've complained about the ad being inappropriate (which you can do by following the "Ads by Google" link and choosing to give feedback about that ad).
This, more than any other thing is prompting me to get around to installing some blogging software on our server and moving my primary blog there. I expect to still cross-post here, as pjf does, but probably only my Perl specific writings.
I use Firefox with Adblock Plus, so I never see ads. I wouldn't mind a website using ads too much, as long as they aren't invasive and demeaning. However, that ad was very demeaning. I'm happy you complained about it.
Re:That really is inappropriate
daxim on 2009-05-04T23:24:30
I disagree, and so does my girlfriend FWIW. How is this advertising demeaning? Have you (plural) talked with the women on the picture¹? Do they really think that they are in a position that does not give them the respect they deserve², or are you just making a presumption on their behalf?
Too bad Google only provides a mechanism for complaining (http://www.pic-upload.de/05.05.09/3o42l1.png), but not for cancelling or counter-balancing a complaint. I cannot just as simply file a notice with them, »jarich from Australia complained about an ad you're showing, and I think you should disregard that because in my opinion the ad is alright«, so this post here has to suffice.
¹ More likely than not, the ads show just made-up profiles with stock photos, as is custom for luring to dating sites, so the indignation is moot anyway.
² definition of demeaning by Oxford AL Dictionary
Re:That really is inappropriate
jarich on 2009-05-05T00:11:55
I didn't claim that the advertising was demeaning. I complained that the advertising was inappropriate for my blog post. That the ad-sense had got it wrong. That's feedback Google wants to know, because there are supposed to be mechanisms in place to prevent this kind of thing. Just because the ad-owner buys the words "women" and "female" (for example) doesn't mean that their ad should necessarily be a candidate for every page with those words on it.
Turns out that the ad is for a "marriage consultancy" or whatever weasel phrase they use these days. So not dating, but mail-order brides. Still not appropriate for my page. Do you and your girlfriend really disagree with me here?
Any issues I have with the ad itself are a completely different matter. For its purpose, it's a lot better than many others I've seen.
Re:That really is inappropriate
educated_foo on 2009-05-05T04:38:28
I complained that the advertising was inappropriate for my blog post. That the ad-sense had got it wrong. That's feedback Google wants to know,
Right, and they're getting feedback from millions of other clicks and all of their non-human data mining algorithms. You're basically taking some kind of offense that their ad-placement algorithm isn't good enough. Just move on, and let whomever pay for a few wasted impressions.
Re:That really is inappropriate
xsawyerx on 2009-05-05T08:29:34
I'm going to try to take it one by one:
If you noted your girlfriend's disapproval as just another person, that's fine. I'm assuming a lot of people agree with me and a lot of people agree with you. If you noted her because she's a female, my answer would be the same. My girlfriend (who, happens to be a woman as well), disagrees with you. Does that mean anything? No. My dad would always say that children in China are not poor, because they have jobs. Whether the children think they "have it going on" because the have jobs, is irrelevant to them being forced (by economic situation) into child slave labor. A good example is that Ned Flanders is always being exploited by Homer Simpson whether he agrees with it (happy-diddly-whatever) or doesn't. His sentiments don't change whether he's being exploited or not. Same for these women.
Are you with your girlfriend because she has the right measurements, or do you care at all about her personality? I'm not saying I would date sasquach, but I would definitely say that measurements are not the way to choose a person you would like to be with. Trying to minimize an entire world by the physical measurements is demeaning. Princton definition: "demean - take down: reduce in worth or character,". The entire worth of a person is not in the body he/she has, it's not in their technical or conversational capabilities. Even when you hire someone at work for a specific task you care not only about their capabilities. Even if it's their job.
Regarding Google's mechanism for complaining. I think you have a strong point there, and it's tricky. I would want to vote against someone who says that there is nothing offensive with a commercial for black slaves, with people's pictures and price tags on them. I think the issue is allowing the people whose content is attached to have at least some part of the process. For example, jarich should be able to say "I don't want that content on my blog" - this would leave out any objections, unless you want to step up and say "no, I want you to have this content here, on your blog, even though it offends you".
Re:That really is inappropriate
jdavidb on 2009-05-07T15:41:03
Are you with your girlfriend because she has the right measurements, or do you care at all about her personality? I'm not saying I would date sasquach, but I would definitely say that measurements are not the way to choose a person you would like to be with.
This question is entirely demeaning to daxim. From his post, you have no reason to suspect daxim of this or any similar character flaw. You might as well accuse him of wife-beating and date rape. You have just as much evidence for those charges as for this.
How in the world did you get from daxim's post to "Trying to minimize an entire world by the physical measurements is demeaning.
... The entire worth of a person is not in the body he/she has, it's not in their technical or conversational capabilities"? I guess I can see why daxim didn't even dignify you with a response, but in case you didn't see, I thought you might like to know.
What.. the hell.. are you talking about?
xsawyerx on 2009-05-07T15:57:21
My question to daxim was rhetorical, completely rhetorical. I'm sorry you failed to notice it. I hope he did not.
A person is an entire world. These ads for a bride specify nothing by size measurements. That's how I got to "trying to minimize an entire world by the physical measurements is demeaning." I was trying to explain why I think it's demeaning, since he asked.
He asked a question, I tried to answer.
If daxim found my response offending (which it wasn't, it was a sincere explanation and started with a rhetorical question), I think it would be best to say it, instead of resorting to taking offense and not responding at all.
However, I do honestly hope that he didn't misunderstand everything and took offense, as it seems you did.
Re:What.. the hell.. are you talking about?
jdavidb on 2009-05-08T19:52:27
It seriously looks to me like you accused him of having a girlfriend solely for her physical attributes.
