Why Are There Strange Ads on This Science Website?

[infidel]

Why does a site dedicated to science have ads for crap like this??

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

We can ban ads, please let us know when you find a poor one and we can take care of it.

 

[anti_crank]

I have an entire list somewhere of questionable sites I've seen linked through Google ads, though I think some of the worst offenders have already been removed. It is simply not possible to remove all of them since every new post has the potential to contain keywords that will home in on a crackpottery site, of which the Web has a seemingly infinite supply.

 

[infidel]

OK, I guess you're saying the ads are chosen programmatically. I get it. I'm sure you need the income to run the site, but it'd be nice if there was some other way...

Hehe...another ad from the same site talks about 'holographic time'.

 

[Evo]

OK, I guess you're saying the ads are chosen programmatically. I get it. I'm sure you need the income to run the site, but it'd be nice if there was some other way...

There is another way! You can become a contributing member and you won't see advertisements anymore.

For the price of a large order of fries a month, you get no ads, plus a few other nice perks.

To become a PF contributor, go here.

https://www.physicsforums.com/subscriptions.php

 

[infidel]

That's cool, and I will consider it after I spend a bit more time here. My problem isn't so much seeing the ads myself, but that they're here at all. But I understand the money is needed. When I said I wish there was a better way, I meant a better way to get ad income while filtering out the crapola.

 

[anti_crank]

When I said I wish there was a better way, I meant a better way to get ad income while filtering out the crapola

Alas, it's all wishful thinking, unless you can program a web crawler to distinguish between a valid and a crackpot science site. It has been suggested that this can be done by counting the number of times the page changes font color and/or size from paragraph to paragraph...

 

[infidel]

he he ... good one ...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Alas, it's all wishful thinking, unless you can program a web crawler to distinguish between a valid and a crackpot science site. It has been suggested that this can be done by counting the number of times the page changes font color and/or size from paragraph to paragraph...

Well the adsense program doesn't select sites based on the complete google index. The site's are matched from within the adwords advertising database. So these crackpots are actively advertising. I don't think it's a huge problem because not many crackpots are actively using adwords to advertise. As long as you guys keep reporting a bad ad I can immediately ban it.

 

[anti_crank]

Well the adsense program doesn't select sites based on the complete google index. The site's are matched from within the adwords advertising database. So these crackpots are actively advertising. I don't think it's a huge problem because not many crackpots are actively using adwords to advertise. As long as you guys keep reporting a bad ad I can immediately ban it.

Fine by me; where do I send the list? (I do not have it on me though since I am currently away on a visit, but I will have it next week.)

Also, I wonder if Google adsense has any provisions that prohibits false advertising.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Fine by me; where do I send the list? (I do not have it on me though since I am currently away on a visit, but I will have it next week.)

Also, I wonder if Google adsense has any provisions that prohibits false advertising.

You can PM me, thanks!