A New Idea, For People Who Want To See More Banner Ads

Jacob53 writes "Scott Kurnit is a very bright guy. He founded About.com, and has raised over $8,000,000 for his new business AdKeeper. So, who am I to judge? But his new start-up sounds more like a Saturday Night Live skit than an emerging marketplace." As someone who actually enjoys a lot of advertising, it sounds only mildly weird to me — the basic idea is to let people easily archive ads they think might be interesting for perusing later.

Comments

Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Improv]

The submitter "actually enjoys a lot of advertising"? What's wrong with them?

I suppose this might mean that submitter finds adverts funny, but we have to wonder - doesn't (s)he find them distracting? Doesn't the underlying message "you have to buy stuff to be worthwhile" get old after awhile?

Most of the people I know took deliberate steps to cut advertising entirely out of their lives, and that's been essential to feeling more peace/quiet/sanity. The technologies are there. Why wouldn't someone want to use them?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[theNAM666]

>doesn't (s)he find them distracting? Doesn't the underlying message "you have to buy stuff to be worthwhile" get old after awhile?

I dunno. I've got NoScript installed, I paintball ads on bus stops, and I saw down billboards. Haven't had time to experiment with the above.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Being that you are likely a fan of scifi, why are you being judgemental of what other people enjoy?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it is more about how helpful ads are in finding things you like.

I absolutely don't mind ads at all, unless they are abusive.
And by abusive, i don't mean what the average adblocker is told to believe, i mean:
Animated too much, more than 0.25fps is bad.
Flash anything. (for that matter, plugin-anything. I even saw a Java ad once)
Auto-audio on
HUGE
pop up/under/over
redirecters

I've found many great things from ads. There are decent advertisers out there.
Tracking? Why would i care about that? Maybe i want to have an image of my personality created since i don't care for golf, i don't want to buy Shitney Spears new album, nor do i care much for the latest and greatest sports cars.
I actually want ads to be tailored for me. Any sites where i sign up to, i instantly check settings for things that the site will show me based on my interests.
If advertisers just let people choose the things they'd want to see, instead of all these shady stalking practices, it would be much better for them, for us and for the companies advertising.

If it wasn't for advertising in some form, most people probably wouldn't even be on this website as it is, never mind half the websites out there.
Even Search itself is a form of advertising ("word-of-mouth"[Google, Microsoft, etc.]) since most sites have meta-tags on them that search engines use to categorize things with, as well as content on pages combined with simple heuristics applied. (Search Engine Optimization and all that fun stuff)

Not everyone hates advertising, as strange as it may seem. I like being informed of new stuff, i like signing up to mailing lists.
I have too much to do in a day to be going out there searching for things on my own. Non-obtrusive, annoying ads are a godsend.
Of course, non-obtrusive and annoying are in the eyes of the beholder to define, so to each their own i guess.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not the submitter - they think the idea is weird. The guy who "enjoys a lot of advertising" is our very own Slashdot editor, Timothy. Demonstrating once again how representative our wonderful editors are!

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[causality]

Being that you are likely a fan of scifi, why are you being judgemental of what other people enjoy?

Some people are masochists and really enjoy physical pain. There's nothing "judgmental" or otherwise faulty about saying that this is pathological. Something is wrong with those people. I don't care if pointing that out offends you because it's the truth, not merely a matter of taste or opinion.

One can only be "judgmental" (a thoroughly overused word) when there is a prejudice against one of two equally viable options. You're not being "judgmental" when you say that having $1000 is better than having $10, merely realistic. Thus, to claim that GP is being "judgmental" is equivalent to claiming that banner ads have as much literary and artistic value as a well-written sci-fi novel. If you think you can prove that claim, I'm willing to entertain your evidence, but until then I remain fully skeptical.

Some guy is free to enjoy ads if that's really what he wants to do. Others are free to think that's pretty damned strange. I don't see anyone advocating that either freedom should be taken away, so really what's the problem here?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

Geico Insurance

15 minutes or less

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[RichardJenkins]

I think your quoting Timothy, not the submitter.

Still....Ads are unquestionably distracting, but as a consumer, wanting to be exposed to them to find out about new products you find interesting seems perfectly reasonable. Personally I get my fill from billboards and tube trains, so am more than happy to entirely cut them out of the websites I browse using AdBlock. I don't think it's particularly weird to enjoy them though. Also, I've never thought the underlying message was about self worth (except in ads about cosmetic products, or 'lifetsyle brands') but rather trying to make you think a particular product was a better investment than a competitor, or how a new product could enhance your life.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Chaos Incarnate]

I find this hard to condemn without knowing more about the commercial. Was it straightforward shots of Apple products, or were there scantily-clad females like in most commercials?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[bigstrat2003]

I don't care if pointing that out offends you because it's the truth, not merely a matter of taste or opinion.

No, it's a matter of taste/opinion. Just because you feel very strongly on the matter does not make your position correct. I don't agree with it either, but who are you to dictate what others should and should not enjoy?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Andy_R]

This dumb-seeming idea is potentially a great way of getting those people who are still susceptible to advertising to stick their hands up and shout 'hey, advertisers, over here'. That's it's actual value, it potentially allows targetting of ad spending on people who don't adblock.

Scott 'dilbert' Adams pointed out a while ago that the holy grail for advertisers is an accurate list of people who are gullible, rich and not resistant to ads. He uses the example of a absurdly expensive house-cozy (like a tea cozy, but for your house). It's so stupid and over-priced that only a handful of people in the whole would be rich and dumb enough to buy one, so it's an awful idea for a business... unless you know exactly who those handful people are. If you do then then you have a workable business model.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

If someone says having $10 is better than having $1,000, and you think they are masochistic, you are being judgemental of them until the moment you ask them 'why'. 'Equally viable' is not a part of it for reasons way too obvious to list.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[ThePromenader]

Nah, the guy probably has a black turtleneck fetish. And Steve Jobs likes 'em tight.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[causality]

I don't care if pointing that out offends you because it's the truth, not merely a matter of taste or opinion.

No, it's a matter of taste/opinion. Just because you feel very strongly on the matter does not make your position correct. I don't agree with it either, but who are you to dictate what others should and should not enjoy?

You said it right there in your last sentence but didn't realize it.

You see, I am not dictating anything. As I explicitly said in my previous post, you're free to enjoy advertisements if you want to do that. I am free to think that's quite strange if I want to do that. Both are OK because in neither case is anyone using force or fraud to coerce anyone into doing what they don't wish to do.

If you want to have some very strange hobbies, like enjoying ads or enjoying physical pain, you have that right. You are entitled to it. What you are not entitled to is to force me to like that or agree with it or support it. At this point you are trying to tell me what I should or should not like. If you are so insecure that you cannot do what you believe is right unless everyone agrees and approves, that is a personal problem and not a problem with people who might disagree. Have some guts, be who you are, make no apologies for it. Most of all, have the strength to understand and appreciate that not everyone feels the same way.

That's why the whole "must not ever offend anybody at all costs" bullshit doesn't hold water. I recognize your freedom to have strange tastes if you want to have them. You do not recognize my freedom to call them strange. That's why you have the inferior position. Yes, that's a judgment call, and I'm making it. I'm making it for a reason. The reason is simple: my respect for freedom includes those things with which I might disagree. Yours apparently does not. That's why any disagreement I voice hits your insecurity and you think I am "dictating" anything by merely speaking my mind.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[bigstrat2003]

No, I recognize your right to call this behavior strange. What I do not recognize is a right to call it "pathological" (which, to me, carries an implication that something is wrong and needs to be fixed), nor to claim that your position is objective truth, rather than simply your preference.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Proudrooster]

I don't care if pointing that out offends you because it's the truth, not merely a matter of taste or opinion.

Quid est veritas?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Gonoff]

Agreed. Someone who reads intelligent and interesting thing such as SciFi is likely to be open minded enough to not be critical of too many bizzarre ideas/people.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Gonoff]

Just because something is pathalogical does not mean that society intends to fix it. Look at the number of rich and powerful pathalogical liars...
I can call someone a pathalogical sports fan - they would call me a pathalogical couch potato - if they knew the word. Beither of us would feel we could change the other.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Proudrooster]

Like you I enjoy some ads as well. Here are a few examples:

Watch This Space.
"The Walk"

To me, advertising is an art, and if done well it can become a piece of culture, like the old Coca Cola commercials. The problem is that there are too many low quality LOUD adverts. I guess advertisers feel shouting at the American public is the best way to get them to buy something. In any case, some advertising is masterful. Being able to economize and tell a story in 30-60 seconds is not an easy thing to do. If you don't believe me, give it a try and for an added level of difficulty, don't use words.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[causality]

No, I recognize your right to call this behavior strange. What I do not recognize is a right to call it "pathological" (which, to me, carries an implication that something is wrong and needs to be fixed), nor to claim that your position is objective truth, rather than simply your preference.

I'm not advocating that government or anyone else use force or threat of force to coerce anyone into fixing anything. So if I call something pathological, you may agree or disagree with that assessment. But how is it anything other than my exercise of my free speech? Incidentally, that's something I am going to exercise anyway with no regard to how you feel about whether I should. Where are the courageous, noble men like Voltaire who feel that "while I may disagree with what you say, I will defend with my life your ability to say it?" All I see are a bunch of cowards who can't stand that somebody might not like what they do.

The whole relativism thing doesn't even work, and yes that's what this is about. If you say there is no absolute truth, I can easily defeat that by asking "are you absolutely sure?" If there is no absolute truth, then on what basis would you answer that question? So why even bother?

I note that no one has truly answered my earlier challenge. Not one person is prepared to demonstrate why advertisements carry the same literary and artistic value as something like a well-written sci-fi novel. They can't, and that is why. The best they can do is try a dismissal tactic and claim that the value of a thing has nothing to do with whether someone should enjoy it, and that's a cop-out, the refuge of the weak who want something to be so, yet cannot truly defend their position.

Again, if you are so thoroughly convinced that something is worthy of your time then do it. Do it even though there are guys like me who won't agree with you that it is a worthy use of your limited time as a mortal being on Earth. I don't see anywhere near that level of courage or strength of character or conviction from the "how dare you disagree with me, I'm offended!" crowd. That much was predictable from any crowd that derives their legitimacy from the agreement and approval of others. Tell me, if you are so thoroughly convinced of the legitimacy and inherent value of a thing, why do you care what anyone else thinks? Answer: because you're not so convinced and need the security of being part of the bandwagon. It's really that simple.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Digicrat]

It depends on the context.

Online ads can be beneficial when related to your search terms.

Commercials on broadcast television can occasionally be informative (ie: finding out what new shows are coming out). To be fair though, I've got MythTV and have been routinely skipping commercials for years. Every now and then though, I do let the commercials play, or on occasion even repeat them. That's not to say I'm watching the commercials, just that repeating a commercial break can be productive background sound while working on something else, before getting back to the show (assuming the show itself isn't pure background noise in its own right).

So, while I can see some scenarios where watching/repeating/flagging commercials might make sense, I can't think of any possible use for this service (as described in the summary).

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[bigstrat2003]

This is laughable. Not only is your position stupid, because I can just as easily challenge you to prove that advertisements do not carry literary and artistic value (hint: you can't prove this about anything, because those are subjective concepts), but you don't even remember what I said originally. I don't personally find any value in advertisements, and I have no desire to watch them. This has nothing to do with me trying to boost my ego by convincing someone else that my activities are OK; it is about me saying that you don't have the right to take a subjective thing you think, and declare that it is true for everyone.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[causality]

This is laughable. Not only is your position stupid, because I can just as easily challenge you to prove that advertisements do not carry literary and artistic value (hint: you can't prove this about anything, because those are subjective concepts), but you don't even remember what I said originally. I don't personally find any value in advertisements, and I have no desire to watch them. This has nothing to do with me trying to boost my ego by convincing someone else that my activities are OK; it is about me saying that you don't have the right to take a subjective thing you think, and declare that it is true for everyone.

It's really simple. Your premise is self-defeating. That's why you are not committed to your own premise.

If you were committed to your own premise, then when I say something is "pathological" then you would regard that as "my opinion, to which I am entitled" or "my equally valid perspective" or "my particular viewpoint". But no, there are opinions and perspectives and viewpoints you regard as valid and invalid. So you do adhere to an absolute reference. The problem is, that totally contradicts the position of relativism you advocate for those who do anything I would call "pathological."

Like I said, you are not prepared to apply your own premise to someone with whom you disagree. That's why it is not valid; it's merely a tool you use to paint with the same "right and wrong" brush you accuse me of using. Pot -> Kettle -> Black.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[dogsbreath]

The submitter "actually enjoys a lot of advertising"? What's wrong with them?

The only ads that bug me are:
1. oversize ads that temporarily obliterate what I am trying to interact with or otherwise annoy with obtrusive sounds or attention grabbing optical effects.
2. ads that load first and prevent the rest of the page loading in parallel.

Other than that, who cares? I have a highly developed ability to ignore the stuff I don't care about.

OTOH, there have been many times that I have seen an ad that I was interested in and I wish I could have bookmarked it quickly for later examination. umm, mostly technology items but also mundane stuff like local services (plumbers!). I want to continue on with whatever I'm doing at the time and not be distracted but if I come back to the page later the ad servers often put up a different ad. Usually I open the ad in another tab and that's normally OK. Mobile on a BB or iPhone there is no satisfactory way to do this. Ur, this is a very low grade issue but still...

The best advertising helps the consumer; it doesn't just trigger a "buy" reaction. In the tech area, advertising is part of staying current with products and changes in trends/standards. I always save vendor product emails, especially when they link to hard information such as white papers with succinct information about functionality, performance and cost. It's amazing how often it is useful to go back to these files.

Advertising can also be more than just annoying; it can be downright disruptive and interfere with productivity.

I would support and use an adkeeper that provided the ability to quickly tag/bookmark an ad for later use and which provided a feedback channel to indicate what was useful / not useful about an ad.

I doubt if this would help improve laundry detergent ads but it could help in many sectors.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[bigstrat2003]

No. You are applying the same reasoning to two entirely different concepts. My premise is that there is no objective truth for how someone should enjoy themselves. You are applying that reasoning to the area in which I am calling you out, which is different. What I'm calling you out for is how you treat others, not what you choose to find enjoyable.

Different facets of people interacting with each other can, and should, be judged by different standards. Some can (and should) be judged with a position that all is relative; some should be judged from the position that there is an absolute right and wrong. To do otherwise leads to two equally bad extremes: if one is always permissive of others' views, then one will turn a blind eye to all kinds of situations caused by a tyranny of the majority because, well, it's their right to run their affairs how they see fit. If one is always absolutist, then there is no tolerance for anyone who has a differing point of view. Neither is a just perspective.

In that spirit, I am judging people's preferences for enjoyment as something that should be viewed permissively, where there is no right answer. I am also judging the way one chooses to react to those preferences as something where there is a right answer, and expressing my belief that you are on the wrong side of that line. You may disagree with my judgement of how these two situations should be regarded (and, I would say you almost certainly do). Fine, I take no issue with that. However, the mere fact that I don't have one single way to approach all situations doesn't invalidate my position on its face.

I most certainly do apply my premise to someone with whom I disagree. In fact, I have already applied it to the people who are masochists or who enjoy advertisements. I don't understand it, nor will I ever understand (or agree) with it. However, I am content to live and let live, even though we disagree.

I also, to return to something you said earlier, find it highly ironic that you lament that people are not willing to adopt Voltaire's attitude of being willing to defend the right of someone to say things they disagree with. I have done so already, in your case. I could have simply done what so many moderators do here, and used my mod points to try to drag your comment down. I didn't, because I don't believe anyone has the right to try to censor you (despite the fact that I disagree with what you are saying). My attempting to change your mind through discussion does not constitute an unwillingness to defend your right to say what you wish. No one is using force here, even if I am expressing the opinion that your handling of a given situation should not be considered acceptable.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[metrix007]

That's a flawed analogy. You should know better.

Pain is meant to be an indication of harm or danger, so if people enjoy it is isn't generally working as it should. Even then when people enjoy it in small does or in limited contexts, i.e. sex, that doesn't count as objectively 'wrong'.

Ads are quite a different thing, and many are funny or entertaining or memorable. Given that such shows exist such as worlds funniest commercials, I think it is fair to say that many people enjoy ads. You can certainly think it strange, but you would probably be in the minority, and the evidence would indicate you're not enjoyings ads is closer to an objective abnormality.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[bigstrat2003]

I don't know that I agree with your assessment of the connotations the word has, but I will concede that definitions are what we make of them. It is my experience that when someone says something is "pathological", they mean that it should be fixed, even if it cannot be (or perhaps if we do not have the right to attempt it). Not all, since apparently that is not how you use the word... but it is my experience that most people use it in the way I interpret it.

However, since we can ultimately define the word however we wish, that doesn't invalidate what you're saying. I do understand where you're coming from.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[causality]

No. You are applying the same reasoning to two entirely different concepts. My premise is that there is no objective truth for how someone should enjoy themselves. You are applying that reasoning to the area in which I am calling you out, which is different. What I'm calling you out for is how you treat others, not what you choose to find enjoyable.

Different facets of people interacting with each other can, and should, be judged by different standards. Some can (and should) be judged with a position that all is relative; some should be judged from the position that there is an absolute right and wrong. To do otherwise leads to two equally bad extremes: if one is always permissive of others' views, then one will turn a blind eye to all kinds of situations caused by a tyranny of the majority because, well, it's their right to run their affairs how they see fit. If one is always absolutist, then there is no tolerance for anyone who has a differing point of view. Neither is a just perspective.

In that spirit, I am judging people's preferences for enjoyment as something that should be viewed permissively, where there is no right answer. I am also judging the way one chooses to react to those preferences as something where there is a right answer, and expressing my belief that you are on the wrong side of that line. You may disagree with my judgement of how these two situations should be regarded (and, I would say you almost certainly do). Fine, I take no issue with that. However, the mere fact that I don't have one single way to approach all situations doesn't invalidate my position on its face.

I most certainly do apply my premise to someone with whom I disagree. In fact, I have already applied it to the people who are masochists or who enjoy advertisements. I don't understand it, nor will I ever understand (or agree) with it. However, I am content to live and let live, even though we disagree.

I also, to return to something you said earlier, find it highly ironic that you lament that people are not willing to adopt Voltaire's attitude of being willing to defend the right of someone to say things they disagree with. I have done so already, in your case. I could have simply done what so many moderators do here, and used my mod points to try to drag your comment down. I didn't, because I don't believe anyone has the right to try to censor you (despite the fact that I disagree with what you are saying). My attempting to change your mind through discussion does not constitute an unwillingness to defend your right to say what you wish. No one is using force here, even if I am expressing the opinion that your handling of a given situation should not be considered acceptable.

How I treat others is very simple. I respect their freedom of speech even though they may say things with great conviction that I find abhorrent. Where I draw the line is when they insist on using force or fraud to coerce others into agreement.

You have contradicted yourself left and right to try and show that my speech is somehow unacceptable while that of another is perfectly valid. Now you stumble over yourself and backpeddle to pretend that you shared my ethos about free speech all along.

This is beneath you.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[bigstrat2003]

You still don't get it, do you? I haven't backpedaled at all, my position is the same as it always was: you, and they, are engaging in different kinds of speech which should be treated differently. It is that simple. You apparently don't agree with this, and I don't really have a problem with that... but the fact that you don't agree doesn't mean it hasn't been part of my premise the entire time.

At no point in this discussion have I contradicted myself. You may have perceived it that way, because you reject part of my premise, but that's not my fault. I thought that if I clarified, and spelled it out for you exactly, you would understand and we would at least be able to reach a point of understanding, if not agreement. I guess not.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Opportunist]

Some ads are fun.

ONCE!

The main problem with ads isn't that they must be boring. The main problem is that even your favorite show would get boring if you get the same episode slapped in your face over and over and over and...

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, the guy probably has a black turtleneck fetish. And Steve Jobs likes 'em tight.

There's and app for that!

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Presumably submitter is from the place that posted the article - a firm that does market research, eg directly or indirectly makes its livign from advertising. Of *course* submitter is going to enjoy advertising

That said, the commercials that amuse me have a much better chance of not getting skipped than those that don't. Not necessarily a better chance of selling me anything (I'll not get Geico no matter how entertaining I find their commercials -- they can't beat my current rate -- but the first time a new Geico commerical comes on, I'll watch it. Not the 2nd through 1000th times though...)

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Ugh. The multiple typos brought to you courtesy of an irritating gecko.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Erm, the point of his entire post was that neither he nor op has that right.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish there was a '-1 Too Informative' mod.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Faerunner]

Whether you recognize it or not, almost every ad you see is hinting at your sense of self worth in some way. Take the JC Penney ad ("The Walk") linked above. That ad, as beautifully made as it is, has a very direct message: "If you really love your mother (and you should!), you should show her your appreciation with a gift from our store!". That of course implies that if you -don't- buy your mother a gift, or if you buy it somewhere else, you're clearly not the best kid ever and should feel bad about yourself.

Now, most people will not process that message on a conscious level, and many won't be affected by it in ways anyone can pinpoint, but imagine a lifetime of "buy this for your family/friends/self" (with the unspoken idea that buying will make you rich/successful/sexy/appreciated by your family) and what that could do to your behavior. Eventually, you start buying because when you don't buy you feel guilty for "being cheap" or you feel like you're not showing your appreciation of others properly, or you'll never be rich/successful/sexy/appreciated by your family, because you can't buy them everything the ads show.

I know you know people who, if they didn't receive an appropriately expensive gift from you, would assume you hated them. THAT is what ads do best.

I still appreciate the art that goes into a well-crafted 60-second piece, though. And I might save them for later, if they were relevant to my interests.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[zippthorne]

Eh, what?

What about the other message that advertising sometimes sends, "Here's something you may not know about that might be useful to you."

Stuff like that exists.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[hairyfeet]

Okay, I'll bite: Why do adverts have artistic and literary value? It is because they let us in on the mindset of the average person of the time, which is of course where most ads are aimed. Look at that old I believe 50s print ad that shows a man taking his wife over his knee for buying the wrong coffee, or the 60s and 70s ads that chastised black women for having "bad hair" if they didn't look like a brown Barbie doll. Hell look at many ads of today which are so rampant with consumerism and greed they make the ads in "They Live" seem tame.

I would say ads had an artistic and literary value because they give us a glimpse into the zeitgeist of the time when they were created. Sure it has been distorted through the lens of Madison Avenue, but because the vast majority of ads are trying not to offend their potential customers it gives a pretty good indication of what was/is acceptable at the time.

So while you hating them is just fine, hell I have adblock installed in Comodo Dragon as we speak, I can also see why some would like them. I myself love to look through classic ads just to see how much things have changed. I mean take the 1940s war bonds and other propaganda ads. There you have some of the most blatant racism you have ever seen, but nobody even batted an eye. Can you imagine if the USA tried to sell bonds to pay for Iraq with "Let's crush the Camel Jockeys!" and get away with it? Not bloody likely.

So while I personally find the new ads irritating there are reasons one could enjoy them without being a glutton for pain. One may simply want to get a feel for what is the "in" thing, or to compare the different techniques that Madison Avenue tries to sway you. Hell they may even just like catchy jingles which is one thing the admen have always excelled at. I would say both the love and hate crowd can have legitimate arguments in this one.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[froggymana]

I think another good form of some ads are what BlendTec does with their "will it blend" commercials. They can be very entertaining to watch....

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Lincolnshire Poacher]

> Online ads can be beneficial when related to your search terms.

Only if one is actively participating as a potential consumer. Consider the following search terms which I have recently entered:

"first airliner autolanding date"

"ubuntu slow throughput ath9k driver"

"why are submarines painted black"

"how heavy are clouds"

In none of those instances would advertisements be at all useful, desired or relevant.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Lincolnshire Poacher]

> "Here's something you may not know about that might be useful to you"

I refer you to the old adage "no corporation is your friend".

No one is going to spend money to tell you, zippthorne, about something that might be useful to you unless they will benefit from your purchase of the item, either directly ( as the retailer or producer ) or indirectly ( magazines ).

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Bromskloss]

they would call me a pathalogical couch potato - if they knew the word

Yeah, they probably couldn't spell it if they heard it!

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[mwvdlee]

Regardles of whether I agree with you or not...

There's nothing "judgmental" or otherwise faulty about saying that this is pathological. Something is wrong with those people. I don't care if pointing that out offends you because it's the truth, not merely a matter of taste or opinion.

"Wrong" in this context is a subjective moral judgement. Technically, it's nothing more than something out of the norm.
Most things about most people are out of the norm; having ginger hair is out of the norm, preferring smaller breasts is out of the norm, being longer than 2m is out of the norm. Is any of these "wrong"?
The only thing wrong here, and it is a very significant and dangerous "wrong", is that you confuse your own moral values with objective fact.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[trickyD1ck]

Although I have been using ABP with Firefox for the last year or two, recently I worked at computer without ad blocker. I was actually impressed with the ads I saw both in Facebook and Gmail. Facebook had ads with job offers in my city, while Gmail showed ads for some mindmapping software and developer tools. While I didn't immediately need any of this, I find such information useful. As long the are not intrusive, ads (especially personalized ads) can be interesting.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[moonbender]

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Mandrel]

No one is going to spend money to tell you, zippthorne, about something that might be useful to you unless they will benefit from your purchase of the item, either directly ( as the retailer or producer ) or indirectly ( magazines ).

True, with two exceptions: When the full cost of a publication or service is borne by the users; and when people take the time (= money) to give word-of-mouth advice for nice reasons.

However the first usually means a prohibitive paywall, while the second usually delivers information that is either highly-subjective or has been derived from the very same professionals.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Ihmhi]

Oh yeah? Well fuck both of you, Soul Caliber is better than Tekken any day of the week!

Wait, what are we talking about again?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[lysdexia]

I forget. You want another beer while I'm up?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[hedwards]

Tracking? Why would i care about that? Maybe i want to have an image of my personality created since i don't care for golf, i don't want to buy Shitney Spears new album, nor do i care much for the latest and greatest sports cars. I actually want ads to be tailored for me. Any sites where i sign up to, i instantly check settings for things that the site will show me based on my interests.

When is the last time they gave you the choice of whether or not to be tracked or by whom? Which is the problem, you have these people tracking people without permission or any sort of notification. You've got no way of knowing who they are or what they're doing and with the number of security breeches involving supposedly confidential data by corporations too lazy and incompetent to properly secure it.

Yeah, it's your right to not care about that, but you're a dumb ass for suggesting that it isn't any sort of big deal.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[LWATCDR]

Actually good ads do ads value.
I get a magazine called motorcycle classics. There are a ton of really good ads for all sorts of stuff that I want and care about. Same is true for say CycleWorld, Motorcyclists, and Rider. CircuitCellar has really good ads as does Sports Aviation.
Why are those ads good? Well they are not intrusive and they are well targeted.

I would even allow the ads on Slashdot except for one thing. Some of them are animated! I hate animated ads on webpages. I find any animation distracting when I am trying to read.

My personal rules for good ads.
1. No pop up or pop under.
2. No animation and for goodness sakes no sound of video.! Of course if they are embedded in the video I am watching then it is okay.
3. None of those stupid adwords in the body of the text.
4. Well targeted.

Of course well targeted means more tracking info so it is a catch 22. I wouldn't mind getting ads about a new restaurant in my area but am I comfortable with every website I use knowing where I live?

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[An ominous Cow art]

I hate advertising far more than most people. But one of the very few places I find ads to be acceptable is in niche magazines, like the type you mentioned.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[painandgreed]

The submitter "actually enjoys a lot of advertising"? What's wrong with them?

Ads have a lot of useful information. If you want to keep up on trends, prices, what is going on in any industry, the ads in the suitable media will tell you a lot quicker and more completely than any articles that get written. Catalogs, movie listings, concert and theater listings, are all just ads. You need them if you intend to know what it going on in the world. Commercials on TV do have an entertainment value a good amount of the time, just to keep the viewers watching instead of getting up and going to the kitchen. Ads in magazines often have an artistic value go get the reader to look at the pretty and interesting pictures rather than turn the page. Ads done right are of benefit to both the advertiser and the reader. It's not as if all ads are trying to sell things people don't need, people need to buy stuff anyway and if they can find out what they are looking for in ads then they win. If checking out what new computer gear is out and what the prices are, picking up a computer magazine and looking at the ads will tell you. Same for photography where the ads not only do a better job of informing the reader what is the current technology, but also what contests are looking for submissions, what the trends are, etc.

The trouble with online advertising is that it hasn't quite found a way to help the reader yet. They rarely have enough page space to be interesting. Forced ads before videos or webpages often take longer than the desired content. The only thing web ads really can do is be annoying to try and get the attention of the reader. Targeted advertising is getting better so that people actually see ads for stuff that insertests them. Motorcyclists see things about motorcycles. Photographers see ads related to photography. Etc. It's still not to the point that it is likely to do any good. I imagine what the person in TFA is trying to do is the online equivilent of being able to go back and look at the ads in a magazine when you are looking for that information.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[LWATCDR]

But why shouldn't the internet be one niche magazine?
Many of the ads on Slashdot are actually well targeted to what I want.
The problem on Slashdot IMHO is that some of them have animation.
I can not stand animated ads. End of story.
I want Slashdot to make as much money as they can while providing me a website that I like.
I have no problem with them getting ad money as long as they are not animated.
Maybe I am the odd one out but I hate then with a passion.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[zippthorne]

I refer you to the old adage "no corporation is your friend".

That is an old adage. So old, in fact, that it's been made obsolete by facebook: now corporations can be your friends&ominousellipsis;

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone says having $10 is better than having $1,000...

If that someone is Chuck Norris, it ruins your example.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Anonymous Coward]

That's it's actual value, it potentially allows targetting of ad spending on people who don't adblock.

And, necessarily, targeting of content to these same people, which I don't think is the "value" you are hoping to get here. This would simply hasten the race to the bottom.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Matrix14]

This is less true of web ads, but a lot of print ads and billboards are very well designed and definitely enrich the visual environment.

Re:Forget the article, submitter is weird

[Improv]

You'd seriously rather live in a city with billboards?

Right-click, save as.

[theNAM666]

CTRL-D, tag on del.icio.us.

Uh, ... how hard is it now? What big headache does this new pill solve???

Adkeeper

[MikeDataLink]

I hate to say it, but I've actually wished in the past I could save an ad for later. But then I realized I could just click the ad and use the "bookmark this page" in my browser. Derp.

Re:Adkeeper

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I hate to say it, but I've actually wished in the past I could save an ad for later. But then I realized I could just click the ad and use the "bookmark this page" in my browser. Derp.

So you keep clicking the bookmark until the ad cycles around again.

Re:Adkeeper

[MikeDataLink]

No. You visit the page where the ad takes you to... and bookmark THAT.

Re:Adkeeper

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

That's not the ad you're bookmarking.

Re:Adkeeper

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly. It's better.

Re:Adkeeper

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

No, it's not. You're trying to save face.

Re:Adkeeper

[amRadioHed]

He is fine, the problem seems to be that you are missing his point. He is not interested in saving ads for later so he can appreciate their creative merit. He is interested in the ad because of the product it is advertising. Therefore saving the link to the product itself does everything he needs.

My assumption is that this ad saver service is also for people who are interested in products and not the ads themselves.

Re:Adkeeper

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Except the term they use the entite time is 'banner-ads", which makes sense coinsidering that approach doesn't give the false impression of ad-clicks.

Re:Adkeeper

[aliquis]

You're stupid.

Re:Adkeeper

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

You're right. Instead of showing a concise list of small graphical banner ads already designed to inform you enough to grab your interest, the far less efficient method that was suggested is so much more sensible that Im stupid for challenging it. Thanks to you I am deservedy humbled.

Re:Adkeeper

[amRadioHed]

Right, they save the banner ads for you so that you can view them later, but still the point of viewing them later is to see the product, not the ad itself.

Re:Adkeeper

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

The banner ad is your index for browsing them. Instead of going page by page, have just one page showing a bunch of banners. THEN you decide whether or not the product is worth taking a closer look at.

Re:Adkeeper

[Anonymous Coward]

Fun fact: MobileTatsu-NJG is an even bigger nigger than APK

As someone who actually enjoys a lot of advertis

[Anonymous Coward]

"As someone who actually enjoys a lot of advertising"

That explains SOOOOO much about timmy.

Great Idea

[denshao2]

For getting quick money from dumb investors.

Re:Great Idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Check N 2 Cash

Get your payday advance today!

A New Idea...

[Looce]

Disable your ad blocker. Ding, instant shitload of ads.

Re:A New Idea...

[theNAM666]

Damn. Crap, shit. Why didn't I think of that?

*slaps head*

Can we turn that into a product? Something that disables people's adblocker for them? Randy, can you get that Russian programmer of yours on the line??

Wait-- I got it-- we turn your adblocker off, and replace the ads you've been blocking with.... OUR ADS!

Re:A New Idea...

[lennier1]

As batshit crazy as the online advertising world is you can bet someone has already been looking into that.

Re:A New Idea...

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Fork Add-Art (add-art.org)
2. Replace art with your ads.
3. ??? (there's no ???)
4. Profit.

No - this is a great idea!

[Weaselmancer]

Convince advertisers that you'll look at their ads later if they don't bug you with them right now. That'll be the compromise. Get your lousy popups and spam off of the pages I'm interested in and you betcha I'll read them later.

Then set up a cron job to wipe the folder every so often.

Re:No - this is a great idea!

[coolmadsi]

That was something I would worry about; there might be a rise in ads that pop up and cover the whole page, with a tiny 'x' to close right next to (or underneath so unclickable) the 'save this for later' button.

Worse still, drive-by-ad-saving if someone figures out how to automatically add ads to a user accounts without them needing to click on them.

xjlm

[xjlm]

I don't understand people. I use a 16,000 line /etc/hosts file to keep from seeing crap like that. Faster browsing, less spyware/adware/crapware, and I see what I want.

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, sometimes, people just want to see things they are looking for.
If they want to find something, they will find it on their own.

Others don't have the time to find things on their own and would much rather have a 3rd party show them deals, ads or sign up to mailing lists. (myself)

And then there are those who just hate everything and anything, because someone else told them to.
Sadly, most people who block ads fall in this because "ooo, they are invading my privacy and stuff", when they already don't have any privacy in society to begin with and don't have the slightest clue what they are on about, just repeating words of others and think they are winning the argument.

So, which are you?

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

Well Done!

My /etc/hosts file currently has 167,949 lines.

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

Ad blocking has been around for quite some time, and people see ads as something new, a novelty. I have use ad blocking on every browser I use, so, when I visited a friend who didn't, and used his PC. It felt like stepping in a whole new world, full of colour, animation and sound. Quite wonderful really. Wanted to try it at home as well, but by the time I got back, I was stone cold sober.

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

If you only see things you want, then you only see things you already know. Ignorance is bliss.

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of them are blank lines?

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

DEAR SIR,

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE NIGERIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $47,500,000.00 (FORTY SEVEN MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) INTO YOUR ACCOUNTS. THE ABOVE SUM RESULTED FROM AN OVER-INVOICED CONTRACT, EXECUTED COMMISSIONED AND PAID FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS (5) AGO BY A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR. THIS ACTION WAS HOWEVER INTENTIONAL AND SINCE THEN THE FUND HAS BEEN IN A SUSPENSE ACCOUNT AT THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA APEX BANK.

WE ARE NOW READY TO TRANSFER THE FUND OVERSEAS AND THAT IS WHERE YOU COME IN. IT IS IMPORTANT TO INFORM YOU THAT AS CIVIL SERVANTS, WE ARE FORBIDDEN TO OPERATE A FOREIGN ACCOUNT; THAT IS WHY WE REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE. THE TOTAL SUM WILL BE SHARED AS FOLLOWS: 70% FOR US, 25% FOR YOU AND 5% FOR LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPENSES INCIDENT TO THE TRANSFER.

THE TRANSFER IS RISK FREE ON BOTH SIDES. I AM AN ACCOUNTANT WITH THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC). IF YOU FIND THIS PROPOSAL ACCEPTABLE, WE SHALL REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS:

(A) YOUR BANKER'S NAME, TELEPHONE, ACCOUNT AND FAX NUMBERS.

(B) YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS -- FOR CONFIDENTIALITY AND EASY COMMUNICATION.

(C) YOUR LETTER-HEADED PAPER STAMPED AND SIGNED.

ALTERNATIVELY WE WILL FURNISH YOU WITH THE TEXT OF WHAT TO TYPE INTO YOUR LETTER-HEADED PAPER, ALONG WITH A BREAKDOWN EXPLAINING, COMPREHENSIVELY WHAT WE REQUIRE OF YOU. THE BUSINESS WILL TAKE US THIRTY (30) WORKING DAYS TO ACCOMPLISH.

PLEASE REPLY URGENTLY.

BEST REGARDS

Re:xjlm

[metrix007]

APK? Noo....what you wrote is literate, it couldn't be...

Yet, you still advocate hosts file nonsense despite having a variety of much better solutions. Odd

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

Got ya beat. upto 33,000+ line hosts file.

And growing every time i see some crap that annoys me.

Re:xjlm

[xtracto]

I block ads because they are annoying.

Call me "old fashioned" (shit, I'm only 29), but as I started getting into the internet before it was called "surfing" (back in the Gopher days) I am amazed at the amount of crap that appears when I *dare* to navigate the web using Internet Explorer (no adblock in there).

It is horrible to see how the WWW has become the equivalent of a "Mirror" magazine. Even when you use a search engine (ok... I have only used google in a long time, maybe others are better); their first results are mainly "click harvesters". Everybody wants to create a "SE Optimized" web site to get at the top of Google search results and get clicks so that their ads are displayed. Pretty much that sums the internet nowadays.

I guess today Freenet has the same Signal-to-noise ratio as the WWW at the beginning of the 1990s /rant
Oh yeah, and get off my lawn.

Re:xjlm

[Anonymous Coward]

Ads, web bugs, analytics etc. cause you to lose time by page load, rendering, web page element prioritization and execution speed. Also causing information overload, spatial memory problems, workflow and interaction issues.

I already use adkeeper.

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

It works perfectly, I love it.

Oh, wait, that's Adblock. My bad. //This won't go anywhere. But he'll get some nice cash out of venture capitalists before they figure it out.

Very short term review would be useful too.

[Gribflex]

I don't know about savings ads for a long time, but I would love a queue of the last 100 ads that I've seen pass my screen.
So many times I've clicked a link on a web page and at the last second seen some interesting looking ad out of the corner of my eye. When I hit back on the browser, the random-ad-generator hates me, and won't show what I've just been looking at.

Sounds stupid, but it would be really super useful.

Slashdot is actually one of the biggest offenders here (that, and a few of the webcomics I frequent).

Yes, I have the "Disable Advertising" option.
No, I don't use it.

Re:Very short term review would be useful too.

[bloodhawk]

I don't know about savings ads for a long time, but I would love a queue of the last 100 ads that I've seen pass my screen

that would be 99 ads of "you are the lucky 1,000,000 visitor to our sie and have won a sony PS3/Ipod/some of piece of junk"

Advertisements for the poor

[CrazyJim1]

Has anyone ever thought of making a website where you watch nothing but advertisements with the knowledge that the money made for the website goes directly to feeding the poor?

If you're not all out altruistic, you could say 1/2 the money goes to the poor.

All you would need to do is throw in occasional captcha like mechanisms to make sure they're still watching behind their computer.

People would get a running tally of how much money they earned for the poor.

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[theNAM666]

"Three poor children for sale. Make good workers, or if you can't afford to feed them, may be fricaseed to make a great meal!"

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[1u3hr]

Has anyone ever thought of making a website where you watch nothing but advertisements with the knowledge that the money made for the website goes directly to feeding the poor?

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[1u3hr]

Details: http://www.freerice.com/index.php

• Click on the right answer in the middle of this page.
• If you get it right, you get a harder question. If you get it wrong, you get an easier question.
• For each answer you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[hedwards]

Already exists. Well, not quite, but there are a few where each time you click on something somebody donates a couple grains of rice.

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[Anonymous Coward]

http://ads4good.org/

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[BigSes]

I would probably go for it if half of what they pay, say splitting $5 an hour (I really think $8 would attract more takers), went to me, and half went to a charity of MY choice. I don't want to sound too greedy, but my time is worth SOMETHING. In the end, if $2.50 an hour only goes to a charity of my choice, without me getting anything, I could do much more for them with my time by volunteering than to watch ads so they got a small amount of cash. This way, it sort of works for everyone. A little for me, a little for them, when I'm bored and just feel like having a laptop run next to me when I watch tv. Hell, I'm into the idea of CAPTCHAs as well. It surely doesn't hurt them when inevitably I will see a commercial for a movie or game that I would end up seeing or buying.

Re:Advertisements for the poor

[CrazyJim1]

That isn't exactly the same thing as I thought. The version I envisioned had advertisements embedded. The money used to help the poor comes from advertisers. Maybe they can add advertisers later so more rice could be donated with each question.

Great wording

[hhr]

"Think of it as a wine cellar for ads, " I love that phrase. I'm going to paraphrase it everytime I want to bull-shit someone. Think of your cooking as a wine celler for garbage.

Only if the ads are good.

[antant007]

A while back I took survey that was an ad on /., it disabled the ads. Occasionally I enable the ads just to see what is being advertised. So as long as I'm interested in whats being advertised and its not too obnoxious (i.e. a video banner ad that enlarges on rollover) I actually like ads.

Unique

[dcollins]

"As someone who actually enjoys a lot of advertising..."

Only on Slashdot.

Who remembers AllAdvantage?

[tepples]

I use a 16,000 line /etc/hosts file to keep from seeing crap like that.

And a decade ago, people signed up for a toolbar that showed a banner ad every minute, just for an extra 50 cents per hour of surfing the web. Some people even memorized the best startup sequence so that they could get GetPaid4, Spedia, and AllAdvantage running all at the same time.

Re:Who remembers AllAdvantage?

[sco08y]

I use a 16,000 line /etc/hosts file to keep from seeing crap like that.

And a decade ago, people signed up for a toolbar that showed a banner ad every minute, just for an extra 50 cents per hour of surfing the web. Some people even memorized the best startup sequence so that they could get GetPaid4, Spedia, and AllAdvantage running all at the same time.

There are still ventures like that. There was one that would give you free net access, another gave you a free pc, and there are still a ton of sites where you can fill in surveys and crap for coupons or even money.

There seems to be a whole industry oriented around people not doing any work and not getting paid for it.

Re:Who remembers AllAdvantage?

[dangitman]

There seems to be a whole industry oriented around people not doing any work and not getting paid for it.

Well, that seems the logical outcome of not doing any work.

Not a bad idea

[clarkkent09]

People click on ads. I don't and you probably don't but some people do, otherwise companies wouldn't spend money on them. I presume this is more geared towards special offers, kinda like collecting coupons that you don't want to use right now but you might later. Not sure if it's worth $8 mil. but I can see people using it and having a button on every ad on every site that takes them to your site is a valuable thing.

not what you might think...

[Tumbleweed]

The first thing that came to mind is, "People are gonna use this and love it and I'll get richer!" but "Companies are stupid and think that people want to see MORE ads - they'll love this and will give me lots of money do to this and I'll get richer!"

Might not be the business model you THINK (or that it claims). Kinda like all that Starbucks-branded junk in Starbucks is mainly sold to Starbucks employees...

Re:not what you might think...

[Anonymous Coward]

They cant afford that stuff, silly.

Re:Right-click, save as.

[HelloKitty2]

Nothing, I think it's advertisement for advertisement. How ironic. If only we also got to get on slashdot for inventing a new function().

Not your kind

[xjlm]

You sound like some sort of conspiracy theorist. I'll bet you buy gold and listen to Alex Jones, don't you? Sign up for mailing lists because you don't have time to research on your own, that's a new one. 'Yep, I like spam because it keeps me informed.'

Oh no.

[Anonymous Coward]

As someone who actually enjoys a lot of advertising, it sounds only mildly weird to me

Something has gone wrong with you. I blame the Internet.

Re:Right-click, save as.

[Registered Coward v2]

CTRL-D, tag on del.icio.us.

Uh, ... how hard is it now? What big headache does this new pill solve???

Makes it easier to tag and review? Especially for the average user? I've seen ads that I was interested in, but not right away. Of course, they go away so I never click through. This make sit more magazine like; which is good, IMHO.

There are ads I would like to see again, such as..

[i_want_you_to_throw_]

McDonald's fancies your burger sexually. No really. They do

CueCat

[dcollins]

And here I was just reading Joel Spolsky's 10-year-old article "Wasting Money on Cats" earlier today:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000037.html

Re:CueCat

[hedwards]

Interestingly enough, that other technology that he pans in the article has taken off in recent years. Albeit not quite as implemented at that point. Now that many smartphones have a camera and the ability to process images you get all sorts of things like those clever barcode scanners.

As much as I hate to admit it, that really solves the main market problem that the :CueCat had.

Now you know how much it took to not laugh...

[Anonymous Coward]

..when I interviewed with these geniuses(hence the anon post), my exact thoughts as I heard the detailed description. "If I get desperate then not a bad place to scam a paycheck for a year before they go bankrupt."

Thankfully I've moved onto a better position at a sane company with an established business model(and working on other revenue streams too!)

I also enjoy ads

[thechemic]

I really like ads also. Ads have made me laugh uncontrollably. They've introduced products and services which have improved my quality of life.

BABES

[Spy Handler]

ads have some of the hottest babes.... maybe that's why the submitter wants to save them

Disable Advertising

[thechemic]

Infact... on Slashdot, how do you disable the "Disable Advertising" block? It's extremely annoying. Great, so I contributed something positive to slashdot. Now you want to take advertising away from and if I dont submit to this you're going to nag me with a "Disable Advertising" block? [rolls eyes]

The only time I wanted to archive an ad

[lavagolemking]

The only time I wanted to archive an ad was when I was complaining to the company that booked my flight about their shady behind-the-scenes sale of my credit card number. I got this ad in my itinerary promising me 20% cash back from my purchase if I signed onto a trial for this "Great Fun Site" (run by Trilegiant). Thing is, I'm pretty detail oriented (what most people call "weird") and I actually read the terms of use. Sure enough, although they ask for only my e-mail address, the terms of use said Priceline already handed them my credit card information before I even entered anything. The idea behind this company is that after the 1-month free trial (where I hear you don't really get any of the coupons they promise), they start billing you monthly and you have to call their customer service line to cancel (entering your e-mail address is formal agreement to their billing terms). Naturally, I didn't enter anything.

At the time, I had more important/productive things to do than complain about it. A few months later, I wound up with around $700 of international charges for Cyprus-based adult websites on that same credit card. It was a new card, and in protest to bad practices of banks I always pay with cash when possible, so Priceline was the only company I gave the information to. So, when I went to complain and show them the link, the ad was conveniently gone so I had no evidence. Priceline insisted they did not send anything to Trilegiant (even though the terms from the ad said they already had it) because I didn't enter my e-mail address nothing was sent, and their systems were "unbreakable" and had "never been hacked as long as Priceline existed".

I guess in summary, the only reason I would want to save an ad is for legal documentation when the advertiser oversteps his/her bounds.

To be fair, in this case it could go either way. The issuing bank, 5/3 Bank, has been careless and tried to pass the cost of fraud onto me several times in the past (this time by refusing to dispute the international transaction fees). I can narrow it down between 5/3 Bank or Priceline & Friends, but in my opinion they're both equally shady and equally likely to have had a data breach somewhere they're not telling anyone about.

Re:The only time I wanted to archive an ad

[Anonymous Coward]

Haha! You got financially raeped by the Adaptive Marketing FreeTriple Bear! Now you get triple your account charges for free!

(Anything offered for free or at a big discount and wanting your credit or banking number is bad for you kiddies! Not just the internet, but also as seen on Cable TV. Isn't it great that terms of service contract agreement loopholes give them legal free run to apply the anal lube to millions of people?)

Re:The only time I wanted to archive an ad

[Scryer]

I confess I watched the one with Paris Hilton washing a car in her bikini several times. I forget what kind of hamburger it was advertising, though.

Re:The only time I wanted to archive an ad

[hedwards]

Thing is, I'm pretty detail oriented (what most people call "weird") and I actually read the terms of use.

That's not weird just pointless. Unless you're an attorney it's not realistic to expect to understand the ToS to the extent necessary to consent. The language will frequently include a phrase acknowledging that some or all of it isn't binding if you're jurisdiction doesn't allow it. But there's no indication as to what it is and without a good resource for case law and the knowledge to interpret it properly you're never going to understand what you're being asked to agree to.

Re:The only time I wanted to archive an ad

[lavagolemking]

No, what was pointless was actually trying to complain to a big company like Priceline. It's not like they cared if I was unhappy with those charges, or even if one customer who noticed what was going on wasn't going to return, as long as they got their commission for selling my information on top of what I already paid. I didn't even feel better after sitting on the phone for all that time, and my letter was most likely thrown away.

Yes, terms of use tend to be convoluted and obfuscated, but are not always impossible for a non-lawyer to understand. They're more long than anything usually, with only like 1 or 2 sentences that mean anything. In this case, it was pretty clear (to me, at least) they had my information and entering my e-mail address was "explicit authorization" to use it, while someone who didn't bother to read the terms (most people) wouldn't have known.

Re:Right-click, save as.

[sorak]

Flash banner ads are a little more difficult, especially if they are delivered via a javascript tag that randomly returns one of several ads, and the one you want is actually in the form of a second javascript tag that returns the flash banner you need. I've never tried to save one of these ads before, but I work for a company that has a website, and sometimes, both we and our advertisers will use javascript-based invocation code, so that we can each do our own ad tracking and verify that the other party is being honest.

With that having been said, I know it can be done, but I don't know how, without having to install additional software and/or firefox plug-ins. I would expect that this would save someone the headache of having to learn how.

Of course I'm just reading this because I was hoping from the title that it would provide a way for people to support the sites they visit with less risk of viruses. Oh, well...

Honestly...

[rastoboy29]

Actually, I think it's brilliant.  I would never use it, but I can easily imagine that many people would.

Seems to be a lot of traction with embeddable javascript buttons these days, and this concept is simple enough to work.

Possibly good news

[Anonymous Coward]

If it does anything to lessen the glut of advertising that is constantly thrust on those of us who aren't interested in or influenced by online advertising in any way other than heightened blood pressure then I'm all for it. For instance I'm not interested in watching a 30 second ad every single time I want to watch a 10 second clip on youtube. Advertising is almost bacterial. It's fine if it goes mostly unnoticed, but when it hits a critical threshold or becomes malignant then an immune system like response kicks in and you either tune it out, move to less annoying products, or banish the ads and sometimes the medium entirely.

Marketing in general needs a serious reality check. Advertising is failure. You can polish a turd and dress it up all you want and people will still be annoyed that you're sticking it in their face every time they turn around. Even more so if you're screaming at them to buy it while interrupting what they'd rather be doing.

Cable TV

[DogDude]

It works great for cable TV... People pay a ton of money every month for lots of advertising and crappy content that's usually available elsewhere for free.

Re:Cable TV

[sourcerror]

Well, I've got advertisement in youtube and other videosharing sites, but at least the cable channels don't buffer.

Good ads aren't that bad

[cooldev]

Lately I've been pleased by the ads I get on most sites. After having recently shopped for a luxury car I got almost nothing but BMW, Infinti, Acura, etc. ads for months. None of which were intrusive. This Christmas I did some online shopping for some pajamas for the GF at Victoria's Secret and lo and behold now I'm greeted with Victoria's Secret models on a number of sites. Not only can I live with that, I can proclaim complete innocence when she's looking over my shoulder.

I even clicked through on a couple of the car ones while I was making up my mind, and afterwards as a bit of a reward for sites that host decent non-intrusive ads.

On the other hand, sites that have intersticials or Javascript pop-up/fly-overs that can't be blocked without disabling script, can DIAF. I have a bookmarklet that nukes most of them, otherwise I just immediately close the tab.

Re:Good ads aren't that bad

[shovas]

So, you're ok that someone has that much information about your online habits and is able to instantly mine that data to show you targeted ads like that?

Re:Good ads aren't that bad

[cooldev]

Good question.

No, it is not my preference that companies can do this. But at the same time I recognize that many of the web sites I visit on a regular basis need to make money somehow, even if they're only trying to cover the cost of their bandwidth.

Also, like I said, I'd rather see these kinds of ads than the horrible flashy blinky mortgage and weight loss scams and whatever else I seem to initially encounter on a "clean" machine.

It has uses

[Anonymous Coward]

It sounds like a good way to save randomly shown coupon links, or signup offers. Of course, those vendors likely wouldn't be the ones that opt in... just random normal ads.

For example, how many would have saved Pinecone Research banners a while back, before they went downhill?

Yep, this is were the site failed

[Anonymous Coward]

Marketers and graphic designers invaded...it was a tech site long ago.

Re:Right-click, save as.

[zippthorne]

Depends. Is the impending shutdown of del.icio.us a feature or a flaw?

Re:Right-click, save as.

[theNAM666]

Keep up. There is no impending shut-down. And it's not a social bookmarking service.

Then fix the title...?

[magus_melchior]

the basic idea is to let people easily archive ads they think might be interesting for perusing later.

That's not quite what the title implies, is it? One could cheaply achieve the same effect of the title by disabling ad blockers.

I will say that the guy's idea is novel, and perhaps crazy enough to work.

metrix007 pwned himself on HOSTS files?

[Anonymous Coward]

"APK? Noo....what you wrote is literate, it couldn't be..." - by metrix007 (200091) on Sunday December 26, @09:30PM (#34673342)

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1888084&cid=34462614

LEARN TO READ metrix007: Your skimming in the link above shows how easily dispatched you are due to your illiteracy, & skimming...

Fact is, You got played. You played yourself.

(Anyone reading that link above will see what I mean, & it's caused by your own quoted mistakes captured there in black & white, + on the topic of HOSTS files no less!)

---

"Yet, you still advocate hosts file nonsense despite having a variety of much better solutions. Odd" - by metrix007 (200091) on Sunday December 26, @09:30PM (#34673342)

What "better solutions" are those, metrix007?

APK

P.S.=> Go ahead, as it's going to be a pleasure humiliating you again - or rather quite possibly watching YOU humiliate yourself (as you did in the URL above, right off the bat)... apk

Re:metrix007 pwned himself on HOSTS files?

[metrix007]

What "better solutions" are those, metrix007?

APK

P.S.=> Go ahead, as it's going to be a pleasure humiliating you again - or rather quite possibly watching YOU humiliate yourself (as you did in the URL above, right off the bat)... apk

Better solutions, does not belong in quotes, kiddo.

How to find out about new products?

[Mandrel]

What about the other message that advertising sometimes sends, "Here's something you may not know about that might be useful to you."

Isn't a less intrusive, better filtered, and more trustworthy way of learning about new things through editorial content rather than ads?

There are ways to fund publishers of helpful product-related information such as reviews and "what's new" lists other than via up-front charges or advertising.

Re:How to find out about new products?

[zippthorne]

Not really. you know what ads are. You might accidentally trust editorial content.

Re:How to find out about new products?

[Mandrel]

Not really. you know what ads are. You might accidentally trust editorial content.

Yes, editorial can be corrupted. At the moment one of the most common ways this happens is through the favouring of advertisers, which makes advertising doubly corrupt.

That's why you have to find a trusted source, based on their reputation, their policies, or your experience.

And this article is promoting it. Very clever.

[Anonymous Coward]

There's nothing like an article on Slashdot to promote a product. All you have to do is pretend that you are criticising it and let the reader do the rest.

so that's $8,000,000+

[sdnoob]

that investors will never, ever see again.

Middleman attack?

[History's Coming To]

So somebody sees an advert, "saves" it and clicks on it later from within the program....who gets the advertising revenue, the original hosting site or the bloke with $8m?

This makes sense, boundaries btwn ad and entertain

[qwerty8ytrewq]

are essentially being eroded. This is a good thing. Advertisers are essentially being quality controlled. product placement has known this for a while. Just look at the latest lady gaga video, or an episode of Madmen. Full of stuff for you to buy, and fun to watch. People like me will even plug for you, (Doh!). What we think of as ad banners will become decor, or whatever in their own right. wait... Isn't this just a diggit or 'like' tool for ads? I think this firefox plugin that lets you choose your own "ads" is a much better idea. http://add-art.org/

No joke

[Anonymous Coward]

I completely forgot there were ads on the internet.

Wow, adblock makes me feel like I have a sheltered life

Avoiding answering a question again, metrix007?

[Anonymous Coward]

Quit avoiding the question: What are your "variety of much better solutions" for both protecting users online, & across all of their webbound apps, + one that speeds users up at the same time as well (in more than a few ways), vs. hosts files, metrix007?

"Yet, you still advocate hosts file nonsense despite having a variety of much better solutions. Odd" - by metrix007 (200091) on Sunday December 26, @09:30PM (#34673342)

Again - What "better solutions" are those, metrix007?

APK

P.S.=> You already tried that here -> http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1888084&cid=34462614 and ended up with egg on your face, right off the bat, due to your skimming and screwing up...

Want to try again? Evidently not - you're just avoiding the question, & who can blame you after your "fine performance" (not) above? Run away now... lol! apk

Going too easy on them

[JThaddeus]

Monetary damages are too easy on spammers. How about for a first offense a 5 year ban on computers, to include ATM, automobile computers, and--oh yeah--that microchip in your pacemaker. Second offense we take your hands (gotta be vets out there interest in transplants).

People enjoy adbanners? Ok, like these??

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it is fair to say that many people enjoy ads by metrix007 (200091)
on Sunday December 26, @09:21PM (#34673304)

Sure they do - Do you also mean ads like these that were infested by malicious scripts & what-not:

---

HACKERS USE ADBANNERS ON MAJOR SITES TO HIJACK YOUR SYSTEM: -> http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/11/doubleclick [wired.com]

THE NEXT AD YOU CLICK MAY BE A VIRUS: -> http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/15/2056219/The-Next-Ad-You-Click-May-Be-a-Virus [slashdot.org]

NY TIMES INFECTED WITH MALWARE ADBANNER: -> http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/09/13/2346229 [slashdot.org]

MICROSOFT HIT BY MALWARES IN ADBANNERS: -> http://apcmag.com/microsoft_apologises_for_serving_malware.htm [apcmag.com]

2 MAJOR AD NETWORKS FOUND SERVING MALWARE: -> http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/13/0128249/Two-Major-Ad-Networks-Found-Serving-Malware

---

(That last one was only a week or two ago no less)

?

People sure like ads online: After all, it's THEIR MONEY they pay out to be online, & adbanners SLOW YOU DOWN AS WELL AS POSSIBLY INFECTING YOU:

ADBANNERS SLOW DOWN THE WEB: -> http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/11/30/166218

---

You can certainly think it strange, but you would probably be in the minority, and the evidence would indicate you're not enjoyings ads is closer to an objective abnormality. by metrix007 (200091)
on Sunday December 26, @09:21PM (#34673304)

Oh yes, another "sidewalk surgeon/sidewalk psychiatrist" quick "snap prognosis" by metrix007 - the ONLY shrink in the world minus his degree in psych, years of actual professional practice in psych, & a complete lack of a formal analysis done in a professional environs to boot.

APK

P.S.=> metrix007 is a pitiful troll, & here was his "latest blunder", especially regarding adbanners & HOSTS files:

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1888084&cid=34462614

Where his skimming & poor understanding of things IP did him in, right off the bat... apk

Re:People enjoy adbanners? Ok, like these??

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought you denounced using hosts files because you realized that you're a nigger. Whatever happened to that?

Re:Right-click, save as.

[DragonFodder]

Interesting, yet a flaimingly tart response.

So how do you explain this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicious_(website)
Delicious (formerly del.icio.us, pronounced "delicious") is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks

Or this.

http://www.delicious.com/help/learn
"...Delicious is a Social Bookmarking service..."

Ads that work like that are annoying anyway

[billstewart]

If you want me to be able to save your ad for later, you need to display it in a format that's transparent, standards-based, and not annoying. (They also have to get past NoScript and AdBlock, so maybe I'm not your target customer - I don't mind static banner ads from legitimate advertisers supporting web pages I'm looking at for free, but they get trashed as collateral damage because I really don't want animated scripted spyware-laden bloatware ads slowing down my browser.

This guy seems to have raised $8m in the premise that people not only want to save ads, but that the advertisers he's probably hoping to monetize his product with are more willing to pay him to make their ads savable than to make their ads non-annoying in the first place. Maybe he's right, but it looks like he's trying to find the suckers who are born every minute...

Re:Right-click, save as.

[It'sYerMam]

"Open in new tab" would be my preferred method.

Re:Right-click, save as.

[theNAM666]

False consciousness?

More likely the the Delicious boys got it past the boys in marketing by appending "social" to "bookmarking." Delicious is a great bookmarking service; what's social about it, is another question (you need Diigo for that).

Smart enough to take the money and run

[Anonymous Coward]

Can someone please inform me what is so smart about forming About.com? Other than it can be sold off to stupid companies like Primedia or The Times for a large profit, I mean that's pretty smart, but does anyone but your grandmother use About.com? It's like the "for dummies" version of the Internet.

History repeats itself.

[call.me.peter]

I present ClicVU, from the year 2000:

EFax.com, ClicVU, Team to Let Users Save Ads for Later (from ClickZ, March 8, 2000). Also, "ClicVU's technology lets users bookmark banner ads for later consumption." (from Brandweek, May 29, 2000).

The timing suggests that we've got another bubble to look forward to. The climax of the Dot-com bubble was pegged at March 10, 2000, just two days after ClicVU and eFax.com announced their collaboration.

Who said you were able to think?

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject line, and don't try to think. It's not your strong suit troll.