The annoying in-the-stream ads

[MrExcel]

I've been getting calls from a company that puts ads right in the text of a webpage. I tested one static page and they seem both amusing and annoying.

They are amusing because they pick the stupidest words to use. In the disclaimer at the bottom of some pages, I have a disclaimer that I don't guarantee the "fitness for your app", and that generated an ad for a workout place.

If you will, I would like to run the ads in the Lounge 2.0 forum for the weekend, just to see how they work. I will promise that I won't expand them to the whole board. I will send a free autographed book to who ever can post the reply to this post that generates the most ridiculous ad. I am intrigued by the technology, but in my initial views of them, they are not as targeted as the Google ads.

Bill

 

[MrExcel]

There you go - I already have an early lead, with the word fitness leading to an ad for senior golfers. I am sure that MrExcel is loaded with senior citizen golfers...

 

[Richard Schollar]

Bill

How do you get the link into a post? Is it simply hit and miss about whether the software chooses to insert an advert based on the textual content of the post?


EDIT: Ah yes I see! So it is based on the content and thus relevant words maybe even including excel or access or microsoft or even linux could also work?

 

[Domski]

Stop it, please!!!!!

 

[MrExcel]

Right - the software chooses which words might be keywords.
Tennis elbow or jello recipe might be words that the software likes, or maybe not. It looks like there is no logic to say that this is a page basically about sports and not a page about medicine, so you might get any type of ad mixed together. If the technology was smart, it would see Las Vegas and start proposing tennis facilities in Nevada. But I suspect that the software is just looking for one keyword and not paying attention to the context of the keyword.

Dom - Trust me, they won't stay for long. You should not be seeing them anywhere except for the Lounge, and they will disappear by Monday.

 

[Richard Schollar]

OK, let's give this a whirl then:

"abbey
abdomen
abettor
aborigine
academic
accordion
accountant
accuser
ace
acid
acne
acre
adage
adult
affection
afterlife
aggressor
agnostic
ailment
airport
album
alcove
ale
alibi
allegory
alley
alloy
allure
almanac
ammonia
amulet
ancestry
annex
another
anyplace
apex
apocalypse
appendix
arbiter
ardor
arson
artist
assistant
astronomy
attorney
auger
automation
avalanche
axle
babe
baby
backpack
band
bandanna
bandit
banister
barrel
batch
beach
beast
bedding
beer
belfry
bevy
bigot
birthmark
blackmail
blasphemy
bliss
blossom
bonfire
boss
bottleneck
bough
boyfriend
breast
breeze
broker
bruise
budget
bullet
bunch
byte
byword
cab
cabin
cadre
cafeteria
cage
camper
can
canoe
canopy
cap
capture
card
catcall
category
celebrity
chair
chamber
charlatan
chief
chum
city
claw
clerk
cliffhanger
closet
cluster
cobweb
coffee
coffin
colleague
comedian
commodity
community
complement
conceit
congress
container
contract
core
corps
costume
coward
crease
crook
cuff
curator
cushion
cyberspace
cyst
dad
dairy
dancer
date
daybook
dealer
decoy
deformity
deity
demography
demonstrator
dent
depiction
deputy
desert
desperado
detention
devil
dignity
dinner
directive
disaster
disclaimer
disease
dispatch
dissidence
diva
dock
doctrine
dog
dogma
dome
donor
dormitory
downlink
dress
drink
drudge
dungeon
dye
dynamo
dynasty
ear
earnings
ebb
economy
effects
egg
elation
election
elite
emissary
empathy
enclosure
ending
engineer
enigma
enthusiast
entrails
entrant
epic
epicurean
evasion
event
evidence
example
excerpt
exclusion
expenditure
explosive
eyesight
eyewitness
fable
face
facsimile
factory
faithlessness
fan
fascism
fascist
fatherland
ferry
feud
fever
fighter
finances
fireworks
fixation
flat
flaw
fluid
folks
fondness
foresight
formula
foyer
franchise
freeway
fruit
fuel
furvor
futon
fuzz
gala
gas
gash
gathering
gem
gesture
ghoul
giant
gimmick
glossary
glut
governor
gown
grandeur
grange
graveyard
group
grump
guidebook
gun
guru
guy
hacienda
hail
hairstyle
hamper
hangover
harbinger
hardware
harmony
hate
health
heritage
hijacker
hinge
hitch
hobo
homicide
horse
human
humorist
husk
hypocrite
hysteria
ice
icon
idea
ideal
idol
imbecile
implement
incident
incubus
individuality
information
injury
insanity
insomnia
instinct
interior
intermission
introspection
invasion
investigation
isolation
item
itinerary
jacket
jail
jailer
jam
jar
joker
journal
jug
jungle
junk
jurist
juvenile
keeper
keepsake
key
keystone
kingdom
kismet
kit
klutz
knack
knoll
knowledge
kook
kudos
laboratory
laborer
labyrinth
lap
latch
lattice
lawn
lawsuit
laziness
leader
leaf
league
leash
lectern
legacy
lemon
lesion
lexicon
liar
library
lid
limbo
link
logic
loser
lounge
lunatic
madhouse
madness
magic
malpractice
malady
manacle
maniac
marsh
masquerade
matrix
maverick
mecca
medal
mercenary
merchant
mirth
miscellany
misfit
mishap
mistake
mogul
mold
mosaic
motto
movie
museum
mystery
mystique
nanny
narrator
nationality
necessity
neophyte
nerve
network
newsletter
nip
nominee
nook
nosh
notary
nucleus
nugget
nun
nurse
nurture
nutrient
nylons
nymph
oaf
objection
obstruction
occlusion
odor
office
omen
oomph
opinion
optimist
oration
ordinance
orientation
orphan
outdoors
outfit
outlaw
outsider
overtone
overview
owner
paddle
page
pageant
paint
pan
pants
parish
passenger
pastor
patchwork
pavillion
pedigree
penitentiary
perdition
perfume
personnel
pet
phantom
philosopher
philosophy
phobia
physician
piffle
pill
plaster
plaza
pocket
podium
poet
poker
politics
portal
portrait
posterity
powder
praise
predestination
pregnancy
preview
prison
progression
proposal
prosperity
psychology
psychopath
pulp
puppet
pushover
pyramid
quack
quagmire
qualm
quantity
quarrel
query
queue
quibble
quiet
quilt
quota
radio
radical
radius
rainbow
ranch
ransom
rapture
rascal
rash
rat
rationale
ray
receptacle
recluse
record
referee
region
religion
remorse
reproduction
residence
retort
revenue
rhythm
ritual
road
roster
route
routine
rubbish
ruffian
ruin
ruler
runt
sadness
saga
sale
salvation
sample
sanity
savior
scenery
schedule
scrutiny
reasoning
secret
sector
seer
semester
series
sermon
shame
shell
shield
shoe
shopper
shuttle
silence
silhouette
singer
site
skin
skit
sled
slogan
smoke
snitch
socialite
solace
solitude
span
species
speck
spectator
speed
spiral
spoof
spray
stem
stomach
storeroom
stripe
student
style
suburb
successor
summary
supplies
swamp
swindler
synagogue
synergy
tableware
tact
tag
tail
tailor
talent
tariff
task
tavern
team
technique
telegram
tempo
temptation
tenant
terminology
theme
theory
thrill
tiff
timetable
tongue
torpor
tower
tradition
translator
treasury
troupe
trousers
tundra
tutor
twaddle
twilight
tycoon
tyrant
tyro
undercurrent
underdog
understudy
underworld
unification
universe
upset
upshot
utensil
utility
utopia
vacancy
vacation
vacuum
vagrant
valley
vegetable
verdict
verse
victim
viewpoint
virtue
virus
visitor
vocation
volition
voodoo
voucher
wager
waif
wall
wanderer
warehouse
warlock
warning
water
weakness
wealth
weapon
wedge
whirlpool
whiz
widget
winter
woman
worker
wrinkle
writer
xanadu
x-ray
yacht
yard
years
yesterday
yokel
youth
zeal
zero
zit
zone
"

 

[Richard Schollar]

Hmm

Seems to have a restricted result set: it selected acne both times I posted (with and without the new lines & carriage returns).

Of course, this was only a sample of nouns. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Is it only me, or does everybody else notice a performance hit as a result of the software applying the hyperlinks?

 

[shades]

Or maybe it is words in context that helps the software? So a list wouldn't be as effective as real text passages.

But then again, Bill, I am just old (not a golfer).

 

[MrExcel]

I wonder if there is some limit, such as they only put the ads in the top nn,nnn bytes of the page? Because nothing in the list beyond the A's was flagged.

Also - the code is 10 lines of javascript embedded before the /Body tag of the page - so the page should load, and then the ads should appear.

It is fascinating technology, but they really seemed to have done a poor job of implementing it.

 

[Oaktree]

Hi, Bill.

I noticed that when you refresh the page, their software changes the site the hyperlink directs you to.

A couple of refreshes on this page point your fitness word to a gym or, my personal favorite, a scooter cupholder here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=7216077704

If THAT is the site their software refers someone supposedly interested in fitness to, I think they have a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go on their software