Annoying ads

[The Mutant]

I suspect we all get "customized" ads and I don't mind the ads, since I know they're needed to run Orchid Board. The thing that really disturbs me though, is those ads that at least I get, for dating Russian and Thai women... I have no idea why I keep getting those ads, but they're very annoying.

How does the ad system work on OB and is there some way to get rid of those "dating" ads? As I said, I don't mind the others, but if I see any more Thai/Russian women, waiting for me to chat with them, I might get impolite...

[Orchid Whisperer]

I have made the same observation & comment to the mods here. Disturbing, or annoying, is an understatement. A better term is exploitative.

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

I have made the same observation & comment to the mods here. Disturbing, or annoying, is an understatement. A better term is exploitative.

That's what I feel too. They have no place on this forum in my opinion. Oh, and let's not forget about the Chinese ladies too (just spotted what ad was above the reply to thread window...).

[Marty]

LOL, I never seen those. I see pampers advertising some diapers right now LOL. PM me the site URLs that are advertising and I will see if I can prevent them manually from advertising.

Usually those ads are popping up because someone on the computer you are using may have gone to some sites that are similar in nature..say you have a teenager that is looking for game hacks or something like that. Those shady sites usually pull all kinds of nasty ads behind it so that's why you may be seeing those. Could be a million different things that cause the ads, clear your cookies, your ads may stop

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Marty

LOL, I never seen those. I see pampers advertising some diapers right now LOL. PM me the site URLs that are advertising and I will see if I can prevent them manually from advertising.

Usually those ads are popping up because someone on the computer you are using may have gone to some sites that are similar in nature..say you have a teenager that is looking for game hacks or something like that. Those shady sites usually pull all kinds of nasty ads behind it so that's why you may be seeing those. Could be a million different things that cause the ads, clear your cookies, your ads may stop

I seriously doubt that our friend in Sweden has a teenage boy visiting sites to "chat" with Russian or Thai girls. The computer I use is only used by me. If I have visited any sites dealing with Asian countries, they have been orchid related.

Could the ad-generating program be seeing "Thailand" and assume I am looking for something unsavory? Maybe. But it hardly seems reasonable to blame such ads on the forum members.

[RandomGemini]

It's not just a "maybe." I guarantee that your searches for orchids in Thailand are why you're seeing ads for chatting with Thai girls.

It's not that there's any "blame" to be laid and there is NOTHING shameful in your search history. That's just how targeted advertising works. The advertiser gets to pick who sees their ads, not the other way around. The advertiser probably flagged all Asian flowers, which is completely inappropriate, but gets the ad served up to a wider audience.

[Leafmite]

A good way to avoid targeted ads is to fix your security. I set all mine to the highest level. If you have Windows, it is quite easy. Just go under 'settings' search for 'cookie', then, under 'internet properties', 'privacy', set your levels so that it doesn't allow cookies. If a site you use requires cookies, you can specify those sites as exceptions. Then, for Firefox, go under options and set it to never remember history. Delete all your current cookies. Poof! Targeted ads disappear!

---------- Post added at 12:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 PM ----------

I have no idea what it is that they use. I see them when I use my Apple device. I am careful with my security, I don't search for anything that would obviously prompt them, and yet, now and then, I see these offensive ads. Odd.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

It's not just a "maybe." I guarantee that your searches for orchids in Thailand are why you're seeing ads for chatting with Thai girls.

[snip by OW]

If that is so, that is sad indeed. I regularly visit such resources as dokmaidogma <dot> wordpress <dot> com because it is a great resource for orchid gardening and other tropical plant information.

---------- Post added at 12:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 PM ----------

Thanks Leafmite. I use Google Chrome, but I will see if it has similar search preferences.

[The Mutant]

Sighs... And I usually google for orchid pictures on the web, and end up on Japanese, Chinese, and yes... Ukrainian etc. orchid forums from time to time.

Originally Posted by Leafmite

A good way to avoid targeted ads is to fix your security. I set all mine to the highest level. If you have Windows, it is quite easy. Just go under 'settings' search for 'cookie', then, under 'internet properties', 'privacy', set your levels so that it doesn't allow cookies. If a site you use requires cookies, you can specify those sites as exceptions. Then, for Firefox, go under options and set it to never remember history. Delete all your current cookies. Poof! Targeted ads disappear!

---------- Post added at 12:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 PM ----------

I have no idea what it is that they use. I see them when I use my Apple device. I am careful with my security, I don't search for anything that would obviously prompt them, and yet, now and then, I see these offensive ads. Odd.

I have Firefox and I'm going to do that now! Go away girls! Avant!

Thanks.

[Marty]

Makes sense with the Thai sites. They are a large chunk of our visitors and everyone knows they export tons of orchids so they may be targetting people that have interest in orchid sites or key words that intersect with your interests. Just like on facebook you can target 22 year olds that wear glasses LOL