CS needs to filter their ads…

[smormu]

Hi all!!

In the years I’ve been on this site, my heart has been warmed by how kind and empathetic the community and staff are- which is why I was stunned and honestly disgusted to see this ad just now.



Yeah, an ad trying to bribe us to side with genocide for… an enamel pin? As I’m sure most people know, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in what all valid sources define as a genocide. As someone with loved ones who have been lost to this, not only did this upset me beyond belief, but it made one of my favourite websites suddenly less safe.

I believe this is an issue of the ad service they use, not them personally, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the ad is terrible and shouldn’t be shown here, especially considering it leads to a site that’s by definition propaganda on a website that boasts its child safety. While I don’t actually have any images of this, I’ve also seen ads trying to convert the viewer to religions with threatening subtext and other somewhat sketchy subject matter- just generally a lot of ads that don’t belong here.

But yeah… this isn’t okay. I apologise if any of what I’ve said has been presented in a way that’s against site rules or isn’t clear, but I’m a little emotional while writing this.

[reggyy]

I second this. That ad is horrible. I too have seen my fair share of questionable ads, no doubt inappropriate for a site that pushes to be child friendly. While I agree that it's not CS itself, I do think that this should be brought to their attention to do something about it.

I also would recommend looking into a free ad-blocker since I would think that this may not be handled relatively quickly.

[smormu]

I just popped back to the exact same page to see if any other weird ads popped up (it seems to be a different kind on different pages?) and not only did I find the same one, but also one that goes against the terms of service, using a word that we can’t and advertising clothing meant to provoke feelings that don’t adhere to the site’s strict all ages rating. This one feels less grievous, but it also shows it’s not really a one off problem.

[onion]

jeeeeeez thats horrid. i agree with this post and ive thought this for awhile actually. ive been getting weird ads myself including dating website ads...? like....

[ursachuu]

i use an adblocker so i can't see these ads, but it's appalling regardless. a website geared towards children, regardless of how big the adult base is, shouldn't have these types of ads shown whatsoever. i hope they can resolve this quickly. i don't even want to think of children clicking on these ads :c

[bugbody]

agreed! I saw the support israel one too and was briefly horrified before realizing they probably just didn't put enough thought into blocking certain ads/tailoring ads. the ones for inappropriate sites are also absolutely unacceptable for a kid-friendly website.
everyone, i reccommend you use OperaGX for your browser! it has a built-in ad blocker so you don't have to download anything extra to get rid of ads.

[sippin]

bump!!! something should be done about this.

[smormu]

I’m glad to see that other people seem to agree with me on this!! The ad hurt me, but I’m an adult with the skills to deal with those emotions. I dread to think how it could effect one of the many kids on here who may have also been effected personally.

I also worry now that the ads may in small ways be exposing children to mild nsfw content- I’ve certainly seen a few that tow the line, but now that I’m looking closer a lot of them seem very sketchy. I’ve been jumping around with a VPN to see some other ads (they’re tailored to location) and I’ve found a few for adult dating sites that would be so easy for a kid to click on.

TDLR; it’s good that other people care and I don’t think all the ads are actually in line with site rules

[puffy]

this is awful… i 100% agree, and i do believe there used to be a thread about reporting inappropriate ads, but i can’t find it now? however, i do know cs staff do have the ability to block ads and have done it in the past, they just need to know these ads are coming up. definitely send in a help ticket with a link to the ad- that’s what they’ve asked for in the past and need that in order to block it
aside from that, inappropriate ads have been an issue on here for a while. it would be nice to have that thread or something similar easily accessible again so people know they’re able to report stuff like this

[N-n-M's]

I've honestly never seen these ads, but my personal has ad blocker and my school computer has a safe search thing on it. This is really serious though, especially because there are children on the website who don't need to get involved with this. They're kids, with innocent minds, who don't need ads about war and dating website. They shouldn't have to worry about this, I hope CS'll do something about this!