Inappropriate advertising

[jonalisa]

Hey, I get that we need to generate revenue to provide the best site we can, but I see this ad every time I get on. The shirt on the top left is just crass.

 

[neo71665]

Ads are based on search history, what have you been shopping for?

 

[Tankueray]

Ads are based on search history, what have you been shopping for?

Neo is correct, and then some. Ads are based on your search, browsing and all activity history, not just your shopping history. And depending on whether you're using a computer or a phone, it gets worse. (You're only slightly more protected on a computer.)

Example: I have a Samsung watch, one day I was talking to a colleague in his office about the impending birth of his second child. I was wearing my watch, but my phone was on my desk in my office. For days afterward, ads on my phone, facebook, and personal computer were offering up maternity and baby things. (Work computer was not affected because I do not access any of my personal accounts through it.)

Lesson: When you use portable devices, social media and other apps downloaded onto those devices ask for permissions. Most people ignore that and allow them to install as is. Those permissions allow an app like Facebook to see ALL the data passed through your phone and access your microphone and camera without you knowing. Lock down your privacy settings on all devices, on all social media and browsers, and any apps you may use, even something like a calculator app. (Ever wonder why someone you don't know at all is offered up as a "person you may know" on the desktop version of facebook? It's because someone you're very close to, based on your phone call and text records, is interacting with them often on facebook or messenger. cough...maybe cheating...cough.)

Windows 10 has "apps" as well as the traditional "computer applications", so say using a PDF reader "app" instead of the Adobe Acrobat "application" to read a PDF that you've opened from your hard drive (not something from online) gives that app access to the content of that PDF. @jonalisa So if you were innocently reading an old article or a novel that mentioned hawaiian shirts or how to sew a shirt, or your phone heard someone say "hawaiian shirt", guess what ads are going to pop up on you? @CHlCKEN (nice "L" there btw) You probably searched a phone number for something or typed in seven to ten digits that were interpreted as you looking up a phone number. Or you may have a spam blocker app installed that searches for phone numbers as you get a phone call.

For a less scary explanation see here: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/are-targeted-ads-stalking-you-heres-how-to-make-them-stop/

To understand how worried you really should be, watch these two films (both on Netflix):
https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/the-film/
https://www.thegreathack.com/#the-film

Note on The Great Hack: I used to develop apps for iPhone, Android, and FB. I'll tell you right now that Cambridge Analytica did not exploit or hack anything. That was part of the FB app developer agreement from day one. If I could get you to answer a survey or play my stupid game, I could access all the private data and posts of ALL of your friends. (That's since been changed, but not much.)

The bottom line is, if you're using a free service, how do you think they pay all their employees? YOU are the product, not the customer.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Short answer:
There are kids under thirteen on here who will be seeing these ads, that's why it is worth reporting.

There shouldn't be (at least as registered members). If they are, we remove their access. It's in our registration requirement that someone agrees that they are 13 or over when joining BYC. If they lie about their age, that's on them (and their parents).

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Somebody in a thread I was on randomly mentioned their cat, and the next ad I saw was for cat food. So yeah, what you look at on line generates the ads you see. We don't all see the same ads. I've never seen that shirt ad.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

There is tremendous subjectivity around what is considered "lewd". Some parents will not allow their kids to watch any movies over PG rating because they contain content that they feel is inappropriate. Other parents are comfortable with their kids watching R rated movies. It's really hard to please everybody all the time.

In general, we try to keep BYC as "family friendly" as possible. When ads that are inappropriate for our audience make it through our filters, we want them to be reported so we can remove them.

Of course, the best way to ensure 100% that you (and your kids) don't see an ad that you don't like would be to support BYC with a PFM membership and have all ads removed

 

[Kiki]

Have you been Googling looking for shirts to buy someone?

 

[CSAchook]

It is can be very difficult for the site host to police ad content. However, if you get an ad you feel is inappropriate, you can usually report them to the ad service (Google) so that you will not get that ad again.

Click the X in the upper right of the ad. Then click “feedback”, then “inappropriate”

 

[Brooks_]

Hey, I get that we need to generate revenue to provide the best site we can, but I see this ad every time I get on. The shirt on the top left is just crass.

Really, it's kinda tame. I can buy butt rub at the grocery. Consider a PFM.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Mine are just low key creepy.