tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post4321878955838145773..comments2024-03-20T10:01:20.599+00:00Comments on Dave Gorman: British Sell-A-ConDave Gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02260701102207639816noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-42124622575184764112017-03-12T15:35:38.075+00:002017-03-12T15:35:38.075+00:00Very tempted to take out an ad with Yahoo targeted...Very tempted to take out an ad with Yahoo targeted at mid-40s males working in media and entertainment, based in London who enjoy cycling, and use BT Internet, advertising The Gorman Method, with Dave's face on it...<br /><br />Though that would mean giving money to Yahoo...JohnLBevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08453894127666119527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-85517359817454129862017-03-12T15:31:44.828+00:002017-03-12T15:31:44.828+00:00@Fee: Facebook have a feedback system in place whi...@Fee: Facebook have a feedback system in place which allows you to report unwanted adverts:<br /><br />To just block the advert from your own profile:<br /><br />- Hover your mouse over the ad<br />- Click the triangle that appears in the top right<br />- You can then choose to block the advert, or all adverts from that advertiser.<br /><br />[img]https://developer42.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/fbads.png[/img]<br /><br />To report the advert so it's removed from Facebook, you can use this form:<br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/162606073801742" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/business/help/162606073801742</a><br />JohnLBevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08453894127666119527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-36229529777268957302017-03-03T08:48:21.823+00:002017-03-03T08:48:21.823+00:00My nan's a drug dealer. (Correct apostrophe, n...My nan's a drug dealer. (Correct apostrophe, no dead kittens). Got to be a whole show there for Jeremy Kyle.Richard Stevensonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-46659522660541153922017-03-02T19:03:46.482+00:002017-03-02T19:03:46.482+00:00Very interesting. A complete abrogation of respons...Very interesting. A complete abrogation of responsibility by BT and Yahoo. You should have a chat with Mark Thomas....he has a fine track record of shaking up dodgy big business practices.Soulfingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-6987174721738903832017-03-02T16:44:32.076+00:002017-03-02T16:44:32.076+00:00So glad you enlarged the photos of the celebs as I...So glad you enlarged the photos of the celebs as I was thinking they had dumbed right down using Sherrie until I saw the picture of Bono!!Barnsley Greenhttp://www.twitter.com/BarnsleyGreennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-87294455965370704822017-03-01T10:09:52.058+00:002017-03-01T10:09:52.058+00:00I'm seeing this sort of thing more and more in...I'm seeing this sort of thing more and more in my Facebook feed, and call me naive, but I thought FB would be filtering out any adverts that link to scam pages or those with malware attached, but noooo. There's an advert for a macintosh clean up advice page which inserts malware frequently advertised on FB. <br /><br />I agree with you that either the companies raking in the income from these ads should be policing it, or they should not be running random ads and also agree that the profile of the average BT customer is likely to be older and more vulnerable to this sort of scam. They have a duty of care with their services and we should be able to hold them to account. Does Offcom have any role in this? <br /><br />There's a whole other kettle of worms in the mobile industry too - my mother responded to an ITV competition and was left with a recurring £5 charge on her mobile bill that Virgin refused to stop, even though she hadn't knowingly signed up for anything. The only way to stop it was to change providers, and so she is now a happy customer of GiffGaff.Feehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-44714449436949787332017-03-01T09:50:30.974+00:002017-03-01T09:50:30.974+00:00An excellent look at this issue. I turn my ad bloc...An excellent look at this issue. I turn my ad blocker off on certain sites (usually newspapers) but it's ad-tat like this that makes me feel justified in using it for most sites. The online ad industry needs to find some way of putting quality control in, and I think you're approach of using BT to put pressure on Yahoo is a good one.<br /><br />@Robin mentioned that there are times when poor grammar/spelling in these scams can be there to filter out time wasters. There's a fascinating Freakonomics podcast on this. I'll link to it below, but in case the link is filtered out it's called 'What Do King Solomon and David Lee Roth Have in Common?'<br /><br />http://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-do-king-solomon-and-david-lee-roth-have-in-common-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16086573487139729039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-49395293323078052592017-02-28T23:29:05.543+00:002017-02-28T23:29:05.543+00:00Thanks for this Dave, I get sick of seeing adverts...Thanks for this Dave, I get sick of seeing adverts for the x method, they sadly however do work, I researched one (then your program made my research look like a pre-school project) and I can see many peeps falling for this especially when on a BT networkAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11408207687664385505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-58110776184911104262017-02-28T18:13:01.483+00:002017-02-28T18:13:01.483+00:00As a small business owner I advertise on Facebook ...As a small business owner I advertise on Facebook and your ad has to be approved before it goes live. So if they can vet ads I am sure BT/Yahoo can do something similar. That said it doesn't stop someone posting scams and other more vulnerable people sharing them...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-87659610663296552902017-02-28T17:54:19.082+00:002017-02-28T17:54:19.082+00:00@Adam Bowie: I agree entirely. But the industry ar...@Adam Bowie: I agree entirely. But the industry arguing that online ads are traded blind these days and so we just have to suck it up is a nonsense... they don't have to, they have to take responsibility for it. If that's how ads are traded that's one thing... but if they accept that they have to resource the reporting and removal of dodgy ads properly.<br /><br />And the evidence here suggests that they either can't do it or that they can but don't. Why would ads pointing to a known URL still be on the network days after they knew about it? <br /><br />How have they been able to block the dodgy ads from BT/Yahoo mail... but not from Yahoo.co.uk? Are they selectively blocking them from one location? That would mean knowing the stuff is fraudulent and turning a blind eye to it in certain places? <br /><br />Neither of these seem like stances that are easy to explain/defend.Dave Gormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02260701102207639816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-58887253698291901452017-02-28T17:46:18.095+00:002017-02-28T17:46:18.095+00:00From what I've read, these kinds of advertiser...From what I've read, these kinds of advertisers use bad grammar specifically to throw off the kinds of people who would notice it, in order to leave only the more "gullible" audience. Robinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-8516916440947192202017-02-28T17:42:30.020+00:002017-02-28T17:42:30.020+00:00@Subtitles: You're quite right. But as the ema...@Subtitles: You're quite right. But as the emails I'm not supposed to quote make it perfectly clear, these ads breach Yahoo's policies also. And a big part of the problem that's led to these things being so tolerated is the idea that everyone has plausible deniability because this and that are outsourced. It's nonsense. Their name is on it. So is Yahoo's. They both have to take responsibility for it - and if BT are unable to do so, partnering with Yahoo was the wrong way to go. <br /><br />Any other way you process the information you arrive at the conclusion "this is the economically most advantageous way to behave... and we accept that as a result of this decision, some of our customers will be defrauded." Dave Gormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02260701102207639816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-81286604567064506482017-02-28T17:42:17.344+00:002017-02-28T17:42:17.344+00:00There's so much about digital advertising that...There's so much about digital advertising that is wrong - or at least, is still the wild west. <br /><br />As others have said, this is likely to be down to Yahoo's ad platform not blacklisting advertisers properly. <br /><br />Of course once upon a time, if you were a dodgy company with a fake business, then you'd have been turned away by the media outlet when you phoned up and tried to place an advert for your obviously dodgy business. <br /><br />But these days, ads are traded practically blindly, and as you've seen, it's far too easy to get dubious ads through to otherwise big-name sites. <br /><br />And it's far too easy for the media owners themselves to abrogate responsibility. They certainly run the risk of reputational damage, but not really much beyond that. Compare and contrast with, say, a broadcaster like Dave. If they ran a dodgy ad, then they are in fact responsible for it, and ultimately it could cost them their broadcast licence. (There's actually a group called the BACC who clear ads prior to broadcast, precisely to prevent this scenario.)<br /><br />There are things called whitelists and blacklists that should be able to minimise this kind of thing. I suspect, but don't know, that Yahoo is mostly using "blacklists." Errant advertisers get added to the blacklist, but everyone else gets published regardless. But they could choose the more conservative "whitelist" approach - ie the site has a predetermined list of advertisers they will accept. Anyone new has to jump through a couple of hurdles before they're added to that list.<br /><br />Of course, if you only use a whitelist, then you're potentially turning away revenue since there may be honest advertisers who don't want to bother jumping through your hoops, and just spend their money elsewhere.<br /><br />Incidentally, this all works the other way around, with advertisers also sometimes ending up places they really wouldn't like to be. See the recent story in The Times about Jaguar Land Rover ads "funding terrorist websites."<br /><br />It often feels like the digital advertising industry still has a lot of growing up to do, and that we're still in the era of snake oil salesmen advertising their patent remedies in newspapers at the turn of the last century.<br /><br />In the meantime, if you've not read it, <a href="http://adcontrarian.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">The Ad Contrarian</a> is always an entertaining read. And <a href="http://adage.com/article/media/p-g-s-pritchard-calls-digital-grow-up-new-rules/307742/" rel="nofollow">a recent speech</a> from a senior P&G exec made the digital advertising industry really sit up.<br /><br />(And yes, I did see your recent Twitter conversation about a Guardian ad too!)LeeJayWhistlingIsNotAnnoyingMehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03918116711259798827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-58335072657458599172017-02-28T17:22:25.199+00:002017-02-28T17:22:25.199+00:00Privatization, while it has, yes, led to this kind...Privatization, while it has, yes, led to this kind of thing, has also been responsible for the huge boom of telecoms services (esp in mobile) at lower prices, esp compared to that of a state monopoly. And it's because BT is concerned with its reputation, that did used to be synonymous with trust, that you're able to hold them to public account. <br /><br />Part of the reason BT find it so difficult to fix this is partly because it's no longer economical for them to offer their own e-mail services - they partner with/outsource to Yahoo, so they have less capital outlay, and they don't have to manage the day to day operations of an e-mail service (Yahoo benefits from scale in a way BT would not). <br /><br />The ads are being served on Yahoo's platform, not BT's. BT is the brand slapped on the e-mail service, much they way my "Westinghouse" TV is a brand name for a Chinese OEM. So when BT tries to fix this, they have to play whack-a-mole, and not on their own system - they have to wrestle with Yahoo. And while I don't know this for sure, what's likely making this difficult is how Yahoo has set up their blacklist to filter out "bad ads". And BT is not the expert at using these - Yahoo is supposed to be...<br /><br />What would make the most sense is for Yahoo to ban this at the payment source level - blocking credit cards and account numbers for people who post these ads. Those at least are not as easy to recreate new ones as it is to buy a new URL, or play the magic words test with a blacklist. But Yahoo has a financial dis-incentive to do this (which is not to say they have not done it, or would not), since it would cost them (not trivial) development money, while stopping revenue coming in from bad ads.<br /><br />I'm sure you know this, but online ads are one of the most common ways credit card fraudsters "launder" money. They get stolen card numbers, and monetize them by buying online ads that point to scams. (if they shipped things to their home, they would get caught...)fallingbeamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17302947867465446644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-82152439749383187892017-02-28T17:07:33.445+00:002017-02-28T17:07:33.445+00:00@Dave
I know that, but I know that you love stuff...@Dave<br /><br />I know that, but I know that you love stuff like too :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01756075149303794720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-14399286230366366452017-02-28T16:58:17.640+00:002017-02-28T16:58:17.640+00:00@Martin Dennett This is a long blog post as it is....@Martin Dennett This is a long blog post as it is... I don't think it would be wise to spend a paragraph crowing about grammar pedantry when that's the smallest of the sins on show!Dave Gormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02260701102207639816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-81581179741229732262017-02-28T16:55:51.629+00:002017-02-28T16:55:51.629+00:00There has to be some way to filter these things. ...There has to be some way to filter these things. They do it with photos. Silly grandma post picture of a naked baby in a bath, and wham it's gone. Surely the rules to removing adverts could be adapted for words as well as pictures.<br /><br />Of course in the dark corners of the interweb these so called money makers could be paying BT to carry their ads.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18056927573529455292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-19937987984245255312017-02-28T16:47:02.677+00:002017-02-28T16:47:02.677+00:00Damn, where's that "Like" button...Damn, where's that "Like" button...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01756075149303794720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-19042824919128000052017-02-28T16:27:51.724+00:002017-02-28T16:27:51.724+00:00Oh bugger, I reckon I'm probably responsible f...Oh bugger, I reckon I'm probably responsible for some kind of kitten holocaust then. I just stick them where I fancy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365303419589685359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-88177040192188756482017-02-28T15:56:49.105+00:002017-02-28T15:56:49.105+00:00I'm surprised you didn't pick up on the gl...I'm surprised you didn't pick up on the glaringly obvious error in the "Visit California" ad: "Have your camera's at the ready". Don't these people know that for every misuse of the apostrophe, a kitten dies?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01756075149303794720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-82698185490370142932017-02-28T15:21:22.082+00:002017-02-28T15:21:22.082+00:00Or maybe BT have the technology to make the ads on...Or maybe BT have the technology to make the ads only disappear from your emails?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15877948360514662038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-68456350564718100122017-02-28T14:17:01.534+00:002017-02-28T14:17:01.534+00:00
Think this could be the system used for all Yahoo...<br />Think this could be the system used for all Yahoo/BT ads?...<br /><br />https://gemini.yahoo.com/advertiser/home<br /><br />Could probably do an Amscreen type thing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365303419589685359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4588205362847565197.post-29301480167623800932017-02-28T13:40:13.242+00:002017-02-28T13:40:13.242+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365303419589685359noreply@blogger.com