Suggestion: An ad report thread

Question

I'm not sure about anybody else, but I've seen quite a few ads that are either scams or inappropriate for this site. (I will provide screenshots if somebody wants to see some examples.) I've never really known how to report them, as PM doesn't often check his wall and there isn't (As far as I know) already a thread for reporting ads.

Comments

I see a bunch of NSFW adds on the mobile version, too.

---

http://imgur.com/TgfhHLg , http://imgur.com/AA1Ymew example

---

I'm sorry but that second example is hilarious.

---

Add made this: https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/meta/61880/advert-report-thread
@Mega_Sceptile @PokeTrainer67 if you see more bad ads please report there.

Answer 1

ƒιzz isn't completely correct, I do have some control over what adverts are displayed. And in fact I've blocked lots of stuff in AdSense.

Firstly there are various "sensitive categories" that can be blocked, such as "references to sex", weight loss or cosmetic procedures. I already have the first one blocked so the ad you posted should not have been shown. I will check into that one. I can maybe block some of these other categories too.

I can also block any URL I want to. I already have 60 different URLs blocked - mostly the ads that say things like "Download the app" which are basically misleading because it sounds like it's an app for this site.

I can also block specific ads if necessary, or the whole company that's running the ad(s). Again, I've blocked dozens of these but the problem here is that the same company just makes a new AdWords account and puts ads up again. It's pretty annoying!

I think it's probably a good idea to make a report thread, and I'll block what I can. As ƒιzz said you can also click the X on an ad. You should then see a button "Report this ad" so if it's a scummy ad that shouldn't be on here, click that and it should block it.

Answer 2

Pokemaster can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think webmasters have control over what sorts of ads are displayed on their website if they are serviced by a third party like Google. As with most sites, this site runs AdSense and AdWords, services run by Google that distribute ads and allow creators to make money. Advertisers pay Google to run their ads through their service and then Google distributes them online, targeting certain users with certain ads based on their browsing habits. What shows up is all based on your browsing and Google's algorithms -- as such, making an ad report list likely won't be of much use to Pokemaster.

AdSense and AdWords use your browsing history, internet cookies and Google account info to determine what ads you see. Based on what people have posted here, manga seems a large contributor to the inappropriate ads that are appearing, so the programs are probably targeting people based on their history reading manga online or something along those lines. Maybe clear your history and view anything related to the ads in private mode so it doesn't contribute to your targeted advertising. I wouldn't know why inappropriate manga ads are showing up here more often -- probably doesn't help that Pokemon itself is a big name in Japanese media.

I'll also share this link here. It's a good insight into what Google thinks you're interested in and what ads it'll throw at you. From there you can disable targeted advertising entirely or move certain topics into a "don't like" section if you don't want to see anything related to them. This certainly doesn't have to represent what you really like, so if you like manga but don't want manga ads, feel free to throw the topic in the "don't like" section. You can also manually indicate that you don't like an ad by clicking the blue "X" in its top-right corner and selecting "stop seeing this ad" afterward. Disabling targeted advertising to begin with is probably the fastest and easiest way to stop seeing NSFW ads.