Bad Ad Reporting Thread

[evkl]

Hey guys,

We've put up a new ad scheme throughout the site since the server move. Before I dive in any further, I'd like to note that ads should go away if you log in--if they don't for you, let an Admin know via PM. Also, remember that the accounts on the forums and the 'pedia are not linked, you have to log in to each separately.

Anyway, while for the most part the ad changes have been going fine, there have been a few reports of inappropriate or otherwise disruptive ads on the pages. This isn't really a new thing--we had a bunch of pretty inappropriate Google text ads served to the 'pedia for a while--but, like last time, we're actively seeking to combat it. We can't filter the ads that come through before we see them, but if there are ads you consider egregious on your screen, you can post screenshots of them in this thread. If we agree that they're over the top, we can actively blacklist that from our list of used ads.

If you can't get a screenshot for some reason, post as much information about the ad as you can--the site name, the overall appearance of the ad, its size, colors, anything you can think of that would help us identify it.

Thanks for bearing with us on this. We'll get the bugs sorted out, it just takes a little time to put a blacklist together.

-evkl

 

[Gligar13]

Sometimes, i see those dsruptive ads on bulbawiki where they say "Please Wait, Your Page Is Loading," display a ad and then later say "Skip ad". Photo:

Spoiler

 

[Calvin]

I actually think that's how it's supposed to be.

 

[Transfinite]

I actually think that's how it's supposed to be.

That is how those particular ads are set up, but I think you missed the purpose of this post. It's to report ads that are disruptive, obtrusive, or offensive so we can figure out which ads to keep and which to get rid of.

 

[Misty]

yuck, interstitials - maybe the only thing worse than a pop-up ad

 

[Doctor Oak]

Those stupid smilie ads seem to appear very often for me. Aside from the fact they're flash and garish and totally detract from the page itself they also have a tendency to talk to you. Extremely irritating.

 

[evkl]

The forum seems to have eaten my post, but again, we need screenshots to evaluate ads. Simply describing them doesn't help us.

In reference to the first ad, that shouldn't happen, and it's being looked into--we're working on scrubbing it.

 

[Calvin]

Those stupid smilie ads seem to appear very often for me. Aside from the fact they're flash and garish and totally detract from the page itself they also have a tendency to talk to you. Extremely irritating.

Whenever that happens to me, and it still talks to me when I close the window, it still talks to me.

And I'm like "OMG SOMEONE'S STALKING ME", then I shut down the computer. ;_;

 

[Gligar13]

ContentLink ads are also annoying because they create fake links that pop up bubbles when moused over:

Spoiler

and here is a screenshot of a free smiley ad (it also installs spyware according to Spybot):

Spoiler

 

[evkl]

The first ad isn't sufficiently disruptive to look into further--if it renders poorly, covering the link you intend to click, that's a different issue, but for now I don't see the problem with an in-window popup.

The second ad I'll look into more closely.

 

[StarBP]

Sometimes, i see those dsruptive ads on bulbawiki where they say "Please Wait, Your Page Is Loading," display a ad and then later say "Skip ad". Photo:

Spoiler

Those pages are disruptive to the site and should be removed. They are not just annoying; if they appear before a page that has an "é" in it, the page does not load correctly as the é is replaced with an accented capital A and the copyright sign.

 

[evkl]

Those pages are disruptive to the site and should be removed. They are not just annoying; if they appear before a page that has an "é" in it, the page does not load correctly as the é is replaced with an accented capital A and the copyright sign.

As I said, we're actively working to correct that problem.

 

[Martonimos]

ContentLink ads are also annoying because they create fake links that pop up bubbles when moused over.

The first ad isn't sufficiently disruptive to look into further--if it renders poorly, covering the link you intend to click, that's a different issue, but for now I don't see the problem with an in-window popup.

I have to agree that the link ads are fairly disruptive. Someone who's reading an article who runs across one of these links is bound to be distracted by it, even more so than a regular banner ad since it's directly in the way, instead of off to the side or on top.

 

[Nekusagi]

Whenever I'm on, these creepy dating service ads come up:

Spoiler

That's one of the milder ones. Some of them are a LOT worse.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Yeah, I got one of those on BMG when I couldn't log in. Only it was smaller. Still...a bit overly alluring for a Pokemon-related site, though.

 

[Nando]

I've gotten the creepy dating ads too. Apologies that I don't have pictures, but one of them depicted a cartoon of a woman preparing to strip while saying "I've got a birthday surprise for you."

 

[CrystalGlacia]

While I was browsing the Fun, Clubs, and games forum, I got this.

Spoiler

 

[Gligar13]

I've gotten the creepy dating ads too. Apologies that I don't have pictures, but one of them depicted a cartoon of a woman preparing to strip while saying "I've got a birthday surprise for you."

Yeah, the one of the person stripping was for free cards and it would install MyWay Speedbar, a form of spyware:

Spoiler

 

[Archaic]

While I was browsing the Fun, Clubs, and games forum, I got this.

Spoiler

You got that ad while you were logged in on the forums? Given that our system is set up to not display any ads when you're logged in, if you get an ad like that while browsing, you should immediately check your system for spyware, since it's likely something's trying a form of man-in-the-middle attack on you.

 

[ferrari-kun187]

Yeah, the one of the person stripping was for free cards and it would install MyWay Speedbar, a form of spyware:

Spoiler

I got that too. (sorry, no pic) I just got onto bulbapedia and on the left-hand ad, it showed the exact ad you showed us.

I've also got a zwinky ad. it conatins spyware "MyWeb Searchbar" (according to Wikipedia) and might lure some children to play it.