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TR targeted marketing

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by oz_media

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While in another forum, discussing today's Hummer garbage trucks and how they guzzle gas, are crap knock offs of the originals etc. I noticed the SPONSORED LINKS were all for Hummers "H2 only $34,000" "Free price quote for Hummer" etc.

So obviously the ad bot just seeks out popular keyword to show us the TR Sponsored Links. (Blue ad bar on the right, for people not too scared to view ads online).

So what if we started all topics and changed keywords, aka: When talking about sex, use the terms banana and muffin to describe the naughty bits, or when talking about politics use Pez Dispenser instead of the president elects real name. I wonder what Sponsored links would turn up and how ineffective their ads would become?

34 replies

by ---tk---

I never see any of the ad's... Well I shouldn't say all of them... every now and then one will slip by.

by jck

I think we should all start typing in Pig Latin, and see if the things start oinking! lol ;) ]:)

I hate ads too. But, I guess corp america has to make a buck on things somehow.

by older mycroft

Mind you, occasionally it throws up something interesting.

Never actually prompting me to 'impulse buy' but interesting nevertheless. (Maybe it does lead to impulse buying!)

Bad Bad Bad!

by tig2

TR has no control over that ad feed in terms of the content.
If you look at any of the 3 Day threads, the ad content is
generally about breast health.

Pez Dispenser = Obama? That could be a fun game!

by the scummy one

this time, I got to TR this morning and the first post I opened, was a Winner.
However, I hadnt had the volume turned down on this fresh built system.
Instead it blasts out "You have won a Nintendo Wii.
yes there was yet another sh!t ad at the bottom telling me to click to claim my prize.

WTF is going on recently -- between periodic flashing You Are A Winner ads, and now larger banners for You Won. Did TR become a friggin Game Show???
Normal ads are fine, I dont pay too much attention -- but now they are playing routines/video/audio, eating bandwidth, and for what -- to click to be a winner?

~rant over~

by dadspad

was driving me nuts. TR should realize a lot of us are at work, interacting online in breaks between work. Usually have sound turned on for Voice Mail. So voice advertising is not something wise to do.

I don't mind the advertisement, even look at some, at least sometimes. I also want TR to make a profit a stay around for a long while.

Ok, my rant is over too. :)

by the scummy one

but video ads are bad if you have low bandwidth as well.
Ok, on the Wii one, just came into work, scanning email, hit the second system and clicked on a post to read. Suddenly I have quite a few people looking at me while I am trying to turn it down...
yup, the audio NEEDS to go!

by boxfiddler

Gucci bags and watches, anti-wrinkle treatment, patent/sell your invention/s here, and a few other things I can't remember at the moment.
Sheesh.

by tig2

And more targeted to the community that makes up TR.
In my opinion, that is a good thing.

Consider that CBS Interactive owns the joint now. My
guess is that they took the diversity of the community
into consideration and opened up the stream of ads a bit.
That means that they actually are watching us and
understand that IT professionals are really no different
from any other professionals. At the core of it, we're
people.

by tig2

Do me a favor and email that feedback directly to Sonja.
She'll get in front of the right people. Don't count on her
reading this thread.

Perhaps the sound ads can be set to run on weekends or
after business hours.

by nicknielsen

After business hours for who? Me and Palmetto? OTR? You? Max? The Scummy one? Jack? Col? Neil? Mycroft? Did I miss a time zone?

24 years with the USAF taught me that "after business hours" is determined by the person you are trying to reach, not by your location.

Edit: clarify

by tig2

You're right. I would guess what ever business hours are
where ever the server is?

by tony hopkinson

links when I was posting about fat cats...

A link for 2008 Diet of the year came up while I was typing this. Big Brother was a media specialist.

Needs a bit of work though as I'm at a bit of a loss with the Football agents needed link....

by boxfiddler

I have noted the recent low-grade advertising. Thank you CBS, so much, for a lovely load of cr@p in just the place I come to escape advertising cr@p.

by rob miners

to win a Wii. I could do with one of those. We had a ball at a mates place playing 10 pin bowls. The only popups that I get are surveys and they still popup when you do them only to tell you that they have finished.

by boxfiddler

I just love the way that one scrolls down the page with me, staying quite in the way of reading what's behind it. So cute!

by rob miners

I would get rid of it but it kept coming back. There are a few sites that have them these days and you can't see anything.

I think that the funniest experience that I have had lately was when I opened the Top 100 and clicked on BFilmFan and it asks for Logon ID and password. :^0 :^0

by rob miners

all that I have noticed is a bear with a muzzle and a forlorn looking dog. Probably your equivelent to our RSPCA. I was going to send the dog into TROLOV to torment Sonja but I wimped out. :p

by captbilly1eye

... for adding ads with sound!

Because of them, I am now much more productive at my job.
That's because as soon as you started including them in the forum pages, I no longer visit TR during business hours unless I'm working out of my home office. All it took was one time when I inadvertently left the speakers on and checked the forums.

But I guess we all have to make some sacrifices when the economy goes sour and the need for added income weighs heaviest.

by jdclyde

is the stupid popup to take some dumb surveys.

I do NOT click on popups, ever.

I think it is funny that the ad chosen for me is:

[b]"# Look Good Naked"

From the errors I keep getting, I can see I am going to have to turn flash off because someone doesn't seem to know how to program the scripts properly.

by tig2

But the harsh reality is that no matter what I do short of a
total body transplant, it isn't gonna happen. So I ignored it.

by dadspad

I haven't look good naked in years. :D

No improvement is expected soon either. :0

by jdclyde

turn off the lights..... :D

You can pretend you are being romantic by having a single candle going in the corner.... If it gets you extra points that translates to more mommy parts, bonus! B-)

by tink!

I rarely note what ads are showing - except for the video ones. I keep seeing the one where they sit on top of the servers. It looks interesting, but I have yet to turn my sound up so I can actually hear it. Maybe someday...

I tune out the text ads here on TR about as well as I turn on my "Mommy ears". Or maybe it's "anti-Mommy ears" as I have the ability to not hear my child saying "Mommy, mommy" repeatedly while he/she is standing next to me. (This irks my SO terribly - as he is unable to perform the same feat.)

Now to come up with a name for Ad-blindness. :D

by jdclyde

I figure if I could ignore my ex for as long as I have, I can ignore the ads on TR as well.

Someone needs to tell them that techs DO get offended when someone scripts a command to open a new window without our permission.

Popups are a no-no in a technical community.

by jdclyde

"On The Insider: Heidi Klum's Secrets to Romance"

While opening up the ads to more than just tech as Tig pointed out is a good thing, but turning the ads into the Jerry Springer show is taking them to far, and ensuring that most of us will never click them.

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