Bad Ad
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On October 12, I started a forum topic entitled, “Questionable Referrer”. No one has replied, so I did a search identical to what was in my “Referrer” section of my stats. It’s what I was concerned about. It’s a bad ad that has covered up the header of my blog site. That ad also appears at the bottom of my post for today, October 14. It has probably been there since October 12 when I saw the odd referrer.
I will upload a couple Print Screens to my media files of what is taking place.
I would really appreciate it if someone would correct this situation and take steps to ensure that it will not happen again.
Thank you all so much for keeping us safe on WordPress.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
I think you’re referring to the advertisements we place in all of the free WordPress.com sites.
Please understand that we display advertisements on free WordPress.com sites, in order to keep free features free. We try to make the ads discreet and to only run them in limited places.
However, if you’re referring to something else, please share some screenshots so we can have a look and better evaluate it.
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Hi fstat,
I replied to your reply of yesterday and it appeared to have been sent — but it is not to be seen anywhere here. So, I will try to restate my concerns… And, in this time frame, I now see another blogger, who has the same concern.
To help you see the problem, I had uploaded three Print Screens that show how an ad is offensively obliterating the picture and title on the header of my blog. Please check those Print Screens out……. I put highlighted notes on the Print Screens to point out the problem.
Another one of my posts is obliterated with a different ad on the header, and it does not look like an honest ad……. Out of curiosity, I checked out a whole bunch of WordPress sites from My Favorites in Internet Explorer……. All of those blogs had ads in appropriate places — except for two blog sites that also had their headers obliterated.
It would be greatly appreciated if WordPress would correct these inappropriately placed ads….. They make WordPress look uninviting, which is not a good thing — and they make people feel bad.
Thank you all for caring and for protecting all those who use WordPress.
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Hi there,
The ad you refer to is not an error. Our advertising partners are running tests with a new type of sticky ad that appears at the bottom, top or side of the browser window.
You can dismiss the ad by clicking the little tab that’s sticking out, but there’s no way to prevent this type of ad from appearing on your site. I have forwarded your feedback about the ad to our advertising team, though.
If you don’t want ads to be shown on your site you can hide them by upgrading to any of our paid plans.
This forum is staffed primarily by volunteers. If your other thread has not received any reply, it’s because no one saw it or thought to tag it for staff help. I’ll reply to you there shortly, as that is a separate issue.
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Hi kokkieh,
This old lady is confused again. .. This morning I replied to you in two separate emails… I seem to recall that in the past that emailed communications in the forums would appear on this forum also…
Has that changed?… Should I only reply directly on the actual forum site in order to not confuse the issue?
Thanks again — and again.
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Yes, you can continue to write to us here. When you are subscribed to a thread, like this one here, you will get an email notification anytime someone adds a reply to the post.
You can also access this thread directly in your browser
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/bad-ad/ -
Hi Liz,
I can see that I can write to you when I am literally on this forums page for WordPress… My concern is about replying to a WP forums email from my email account….
Over the years, I have been able to use this forum by writing from my email account…. But, that has not been the case on this thread… From WP email notifications received, I have tried three times to reply… Each time I am notified that my email to this forum thread is: undeliverable, delivery incomplete, or message not delivered.
Has WP changed its policy on receiving emails to their forums?
This is really puzzling me… Thank you so much for caring… I really appreciate that… Have a great day.
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Our forums software was upgraded a few months ago. The new version of the forums does not allow replying to a thread by replying directly to the notification email, so you now need to visit the actual thread and reply here instead.
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Hi kokkieh,
Thank you so much… That clarifies my puzzlement over all the bounced forum replies… I will try to keep that in mind… Now, not wanting to be overbearing — but also not wanting my thoughts and concerns to be thrown into oblivion, below is a copy/paste of two the the bounced emails… I feel they are important in retaining WordPress’s good name.
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[ This was sent October 17 at 9:17 a.m. ]
Hi kokkieh,
I am so glad for your expertise, as this has been a puzzlement for some time…. In case you’re curious, my mention of no forthcoming assistance turned out to be because my second contact was made from my email, which WordPress could not accept because I referred to wordpress dot com in the way that makes it a live link. That’s how simple I am — plus a lot more.
The WordPress advertising partners should consider the impressions of surfers arriving at WordPress blog sites…. When the blog site’s header is destroyed by an ad, the whole feeling about the blog becomes negative and feels unsafe. Also, every blogger, who sees their header obliterated and mutilated, will feel demeaned and attacked because their works of expression have been destroyed.
Surfing visitors really need to know they have arrived at a safe site. After the initial shock of seeing the mess at the top of the blog site, no reader will want to click on that little tab that supposedly will dismiss the obtrusive ad. When seeing that mess, I instinctively felt that clicking that tab would lead me into unknown parts, where I did not want to be — or that it would give private information to an undesirable party. I am now supposedly informed and should feel more comfortable — but, what about the millions of surfers around the world?
I thank you and all of WordPress for taking this into consideration. I feel it is vital in promoting everyone’s feeling of security when going to WordPress blog sites. People do want to learn and share in a safe environment — and everyone has different areas in which they want to learn and share.
Hope you all have a great day, and thanks again for caring.
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[This was sent October 17 at 10:27 a.m. ]
Hi again, kokkieh,I just want to add another note for your advertising partners.
There are millions who surf — but relatively few who blog. Many that I have spoken to have no clue that there is such a thing as blogging — and they have no interest in becoming a blogger, because life has necessarily led them in a different direction. Nevertheless, they have most likely encountered blogs when they surf, but have no clue that it is a blog or how blogs work.
They are far from stupid, but they have no understanding of what a blog is, or the validity of any one particular blog. The necessary priorities in their lives have to lead them in other directions — and, they serve many peoples in ways that are necessary to our existence.
It is out of respect for all non-bloggers that they should not have to be taken aback by weird ads that block the header of the site they imagined they were going to. That sort of ad placement makes them think only of malware and their need to back out of such a site as soon as possible.
Ads need to show that they are trustworthy. That is why appropriately placing them is such an important factor.
Thank you all for your consideration of and appreciation of everyone’s different role in life. We all need to work together to help everyone.
And so we wish you all a most pleasant day.
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Thank you for passing these two bounced emails on… I really hope this helps everyone concerned — whether it be advertisers, bloggers, or surfers… The WordPress advertising partners would also be more helpful if they would consider the subject matter of each blog… Some ads are totally inappropriate to the subject matter of the blog… That cheapens all of WordPress’s efforts to present every blog in the best manner possible.
It’s a challenge and I’m sure it’s possible. Thank you all and do have a wonderful day.
Margaret
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Hi Margaret, thanks for that. Can you confirm the address you sent these to, too?
Also, are you still having issues with ads?
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Hi supernovia,
This has been one of my “duh” moments, when I was blind in one eye and could not see out of the other… It never occurred to me to check the address it was going to, instead I just imagined I was replying to a specific person, when I hit the reply button.
Of course, I was sending it to: (email visible only to moderators and staff) . com… Who would have thunk it?
I have not checked my blog site again, but have checked others… The ones with obliterated headers look absolutely awful… I did see a couple with an ad at the top of their header, without obstructing anything, which seemed better… Nevertheless, placing an ad in the side bar or at the bottom of the post seems more respectable.
Depending on the theme of the blog site, sometimes the ad even covers up their menu or other links regarding their blog… Not even commercial websites do anything like that… I think the advertising partners of WordPress would agree, if they would check each ad for appropriateness.
All in all, it’s good to know that WordPress is watching out for us, as we plunk away at our keyboards… Wishing you all a great day.
Margaret
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supernovia,
Here we go again… I checked what I wrote and discovered that it put “email redacted” instead of confirming the address I sent it to… So, it went to “noreply” at the English division of the forums at our beloved WordPress dot com.
Sigh!
This old lady is getting tired… Thank you all for your patience.
Margaret
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Hi Margaret,
I checked what I wrote and discovered that it put “email redacted” instead of confirming the address I sent it to…
That’s no problem — email address are automatically redacted from public view on these forums but staff can still see them.
Depending on the theme of the blog site, sometimes the ad even covers up their menu or other links regarding their blog…
The ads team have been looking into this and made a few changes on our side. Would you be able to check your site again and see if the placement issue is still occurring?
Some ads are totally inappropriate to the subject matter of the blog…
There is a “report this ad” link at the bottom right and that can be used to report any ads you feel are inappropriate.
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Hi gemmacevans,
It’s great that technology can allow only the staff to see certain things… I just didn’t think of that… Thanks for telling me… : )
I checked my site again and today an insurance ad blocked off the better part of my header, making it look terrible.
I had three different ads on today’s post: 1. The insurance ad that blocked the header… 2. A Frankenstein ad in the side bar… 3. A carbs ad at the bottom of the post.
I feel the Frankenstein ad is very inappropriate for the content of my site… I noted how the top corner of it said “Ad Choices”, so I clicked on it… Ad Choices deals only with ads for European countries and their guidelines for ads… I don’t know why they should be advertising on websites in non-European countries…
I feel I was pretty much inundated with ads today… That’s how all media is these days — TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, all the the Internet, billboards, junk mailings, etc. ….. I think we’re on overload…
It’s the ads that obliterate the headers of a goodly number of blog sites that needs to be corrected as soon as possible… I’m glad WP is working to correct that… Wishing all at WP a great day.
Margaret
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Just another quick note.
I went back to my site to check on the “Report this ad” opportunity…. The ads in the side bar and at the bottom of the post were in such small, very light grey print that I didn’t see them before.
At this time the Frankenstein ad was at the top, obliterating my header and I did report it because it is not appropriate for the content of my site…. The ads are obviously being rotated rather quickly, so they are different on every visit…. That makes it very difficult for a blogger to know what is on his site….. …
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I did report it because it is not appropriate for the content of my site
The content on your site has no effect whatsoever on what ad is displayed.
Advertisers bid in real time on ad space on your site every time a visitor loads your site in their browser, and what ad a particular visitor sees depends on factors like that visitor’s location and browser history. No two people visiting your site will see the same ads, and there’s no way for you to know which ads are being shown on your site.
We have relayed your concerns regarding the sticky ads to our ads team, but the final decision is up to them.
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Hi All,
This is just to note that I came across a WP blog site this morning in which the side bar ad blocked one’s ability to close out of the notification that cookies are being used…. Scrolling up or down made no difference…. The ad stayed over the notification.
Ad are also still obliterating the headers of various WP sites….. Thank you all for checking into this.
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Thanks Margaret, would you mind collecting a few screenshots and uploading them to wordpress.com/media? You can update us here when you’ve got a few samples.
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Hi supernovia,
I uploaded a bunch of examples to my media folder……. One is of how my own site has the header ruined……. The types of ad problems are: header obliterated, links covered, and cookies notification covered……. If you can see the name of the file, you will see that.
The two examples of cookies notification covered that I saw today show only a portion of a cover……. In them, I think one can still use their button links……. The one I saw the other day had the button links totally covered and no matter how one scrolled, the ad covered the cookies notification……. It’s too bad I never thought of doing a print screen of that……. If I do see one of those again, I will upload a print screen of it for you.
Thank you all at WordPress for caring about our blog sites.
Have a great day.
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Thanks, let’s separate the ads and cookie notification issues for the moment.
Did the ads issue appeared on your site today? We had implemented a fix a few days ago and I want to confirm you’re still seeing this problem.
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