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"Free mini" spammers vs. "Free mini" google ads
- Thread starter atari1356
- Start date
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we have no control over the google ads, and this has been brought up many times before, do a search or look through some of the other posts and you will see
the google ads are automatically generated, and thus there is no way to determine what will pop up in a thread
Edit: daveL also has a very valid and strong point as well
the google ads are automatically generated, and thus there is no way to determine what will pop up in a thread
Edit: daveL also has a very valid and strong point as well
daveL said:
Well, I thought part of the reason the spammer posts get reported and edited/deleted was to protect the users of this forum from scams.
I guess it's okay if a MacRumors user who doesn't know any better comes along and clicks one of those Google ads and gets scammed, since it's generating some income for the site... ?
I get your point about the spammers just filling the forum with bs though - and agree that it's a bigger problem than the google ads.
Although...
Perhaps the spammers have seen the figures; realised that macrumors.com is a great source of click-thru revenue, and figure in addition to macrumors recieving their ads through google, they'll go spam the forums too.
Who knows
For the record, I can see the arguements and can see the adverts are justified; I don't really mind etiher way, since they're unobtrusive.
andy.
Perhaps the spammers have seen the figures; realised that macrumors.com is a great source of click-thru revenue, and figure in addition to macrumors recieving their ads through google, they'll go spam the forums too.
Who knows
For the record, I can see the arguements and can see the adverts are justified; I don't really mind etiher way, since they're unobtrusive.
andy.
I must admit the google ads can get a tad annoying, but Arn probably needs the $$ to keep this site going, thus I ignore them and consider contributing to the site (if and when that becomes availible again).
Spammers on the forum are another matter, while the mods do a good job cleaning them up. E's response time today was 6 minutes after posting (damn good IMHO), but I think they might want to limit newbie postings somehow. For example we'd really stick it to them if they couldn't post until they reached 'regular' status... (but they could spam their way upto regular status, which would be counter productive). How about preventing them from using the words 'free', 'nothing', '$0', or even 'sale' in the subject line of newbie posts?
Just an idea. I have no idea how one would implement such a policy...but it would give the mods a bit of a break.
Spammers on the forum are another matter, while the mods do a good job cleaning them up. E's response time today was 6 minutes after posting (damn good IMHO), but I think they might want to limit newbie postings somehow. For example we'd really stick it to them if they couldn't post until they reached 'regular' status... (but they could spam their way upto regular status, which would be counter productive). How about preventing them from using the words 'free', 'nothing', '$0', or even 'sale' in the subject line of newbie posts?
Just an idea. I have no idea how one would implement such a policy...but it would give the mods a bit of a break.
Raid said:I must admit the google ads can get a tad annoying, but Arn probably needs the $$ to keep this site going, thus I ignore them and consider contributing to the site (if and when that becomes availible again).
Spammers on the forum are another matter, while the mods do a good job cleaning them up. E's response time today was 6 minutes after posting (damn good IMHO), but I think they might want to limit newbie postings somehow. For example we'd really stick it to them if they couldn't post until they reached 'regular' status... (but they could spam their way upto regular status, which would be counter productive). How about preventing them from using the words 'free', 'nothing', '$0', or even 'sale' in the subject line of newbie posts?
Just an idea. I have no idea how one would implement such a policy...but it would give the mods a bit of a break.
This has been discussed at great length in other threads in this section, go read them before continuing this discussion. Automatic censorship is pretty unnecessary considering how well the mods deal with spam.
But I do agree that it sends a misleading message to have the google ads. Life's not perfect, and hopefully Google will tweak it's Adwords service to allow people to phase certain ads out. A church website may not want planned parenthood ads, for instance, or someone like me might want to keep church ads out. It only makes sense that they let you customize it.
Is it really a "scam"? Are these people duping others out of money, or do they have a "legitimate", if dubious business opportunity? Basically, they are asking you to do some sales work for them, and in return, you'll get compensated. The reason the mods remove spam from the forums is because eventually the forums would be clogged with more and more spam, and we wouldn't be able to use them for discussion. The ads stay in the same place all the time, and it's easy to ignore them if need be.
Actually a local news guy (ABC Channel 10 in Tampa) researched the free iPod deal. It is the real thing! Based on the good reportI have done it aleady and should be getting a free Mac Mini here soon. Yeah you have to sign up for offers such as columbia house or something and get 5 others to do the same for an iPod and more (10 I think) for the Mac Mini. Some offers are better than others, there are some that wont cost you anything.... just remember to cancel after the free trial so they dont bill your credit card for the service.
I bet the deal is that they get your personal info for spam or junk mail... I just used an alias e-mail setup to forward... I can then just turn it off later...LOL I didnt go as far as to use another address of a family member or a PO Box or anything... but you get my drift.
My Disclaimer: This applies only to the offers put forth by Gratis Internet... that was the one that was verified by our news station.
I bet the deal is that they get your personal info for spam or junk mail... I just used an alias e-mail setup to forward... I can then just turn it off later...LOL I didnt go as far as to use another address of a family member or a PO Box or anything... but you get my drift.
My Disclaimer: This applies only to the offers put forth by Gratis Internet... that was the one that was verified by our news station.
MIADolFan said:
Well, hope you enjoy your new Mac mini. Get back to us when it arrives so we know how long the turnaround time is.
Basically Gratis lost their TRUSTe seal, due to their rampant privacy violations.MIADolFan said:
Yet it is amazing that the news guy declared it legit "before" he got his Mac Mini.
Seems Gratis is in the habit of not sending out the product (according to the agreement they don't have to), seems they are even worse than the rebate companies -- yet they send out enough to keep people interested in their scheme.
PlaceofDis said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can actually eliminate ads you dislike.
This function is used, for example, if you have a website on product X, and you don't want to serve Google ads for your competitor also selling product X.
It *is* a hassle, but it is possible.
If this issue means enough that enforcement is used on forums, it's probably a small additional step for the person who manages the googleads account for MR to eliminate these advertisers.
I see both points. The Google ads are easy to ignore, but the same would be true for a link to "Free" site.
Constant posts, littered with free referral links is something I would hate to see on a forum like this. A link in a sig would be more acceptable and achieves the same function as the Google ads. You click it if you want, ingore it if you want.
Constant posts, littered with free referral links is something I would hate to see on a forum like this. A link in a sig would be more acceptable and achieves the same function as the Google ads. You click it if you want, ingore it if you want.