Not sure if this is where I should be posting this. I have a web mail account with well known Irish provider and in the past couple of months I've noticed that every time I go on to their site to check my mail there is a banner advertising sexy Thai girls or single Ukrainian women. Constantly. Or today, a banner that looks like a facebook invitation to "connect" with Stephanie who apparently lives 2.8 miles away from me. I'm sick of it but don't want to change my email address. I contacted customer service and got some guy who told me it's nothing to do with said Telco but driven by cookies and if I delete my cookies the problem will be solved. I tried and didn't work. Not a good enough response in my opinion. Is there anything i can do about this to at least make a proper complaint to someone?
offensive banner ads: (web mail account with well known Irish provider)
- Thread starter annR
- Start date
DrMoriarty
Moderator
- Messages
- 5,173
Try using a mail client like MS Outlook (or the free equivalent, Mozilla Thunderbird)? The latter integrates well with OpenOffice.
PetrolHead
Registered User
- Messages
- 300
Two possible solutions -
1 - (and I don't mean to be glib) Live with it
. Without taking this thread in the direction of debating 'paid for' versus 'free' online content and services, you have an email service which doesn't cost you anything to use. It does have to be funded in some way however.
2 - If you use Chrome or Firefox, there are a number of ad blocker add ons you can install that will stop the banners.
1 - (and I don't mean to be glib) Live with it
. Without taking this thread in the direction of debating 'paid for' versus 'free' online content and services, you have an email service which doesn't cost you anything to use. It does have to be funded in some way however. 2 - If you use Chrome or Firefox, there are a number of ad blocker add ons you can install that will stop the banners.
Last edited:
This /\
I use AdBlock Plus and although it takes a while to update the filter list (but is simple), it's a joy to not have to put up with annoying ad banners after.
I'm using rather basic language here and a computer expert will rebuke me...
Generally, these naughty ads are "trespassing" and have nothing to do with the site on which they trespass. That is, the actual site -such as Telco- does not receive a penny.
Of course, some of these respectable sites could build higher walls around their property which would keep out most trespassers,but maybe they feel that nowadays most people have their own protection like recommended previously.
Also, it could be the case that most Telco subscribers don't get those ads.
Perhaps the trespassers have effectively latched on to you via the Telco site and could have done so through other sites as well.
It's more complicated than that and my analogy is deliberately simplistic but the bottom line is the actual service providers do not want and get no benefit from sneaky annoying ads.
Generally, these naughty ads are "trespassing" and have nothing to do with the site on which they trespass. That is, the actual site -such as Telco- does not receive a penny.
Of course, some of these respectable sites could build higher walls around their property which would keep out most trespassers,but maybe they feel that nowadays most people have their own protection like recommended previously.
Also, it could be the case that most Telco subscribers don't get those ads.
Perhaps the trespassers have effectively latched on to you via the Telco site and could have done so through other sites as well.
It's more complicated than that and my analogy is deliberately simplistic but the bottom line is the actual service providers do not want and get no benefit from sneaky annoying ads.
there are various ways ads appear and why they appear. However, it isn't like advertising in the media or normal advertising. In many cases anyone can purchase an ad space by just paying with a credit card.
In addition, many sites use the google adwords system so that if certain terms are used, a company has paid so that their ads show up. You'll see this on newspaper sites and it can be especially ironic where a news story is negative against a company, but because of ad words, their ad shows up.
The host site just takes revenue from clicks, etc and selling of a space, but they have no control over who gets that space.
One last form of targeted advertising is not a direct comment on the OP or their situation, but some ads appear based upon internet history, internet searches and what's stored in your cookies.
In addition, many sites use the google adwords system so that if certain terms are used, a company has paid so that their ads show up. You'll see this on newspaper sites and it can be especially ironic where a news story is negative against a company, but because of ad words, their ad shows up.
The host site just takes revenue from clicks, etc and selling of a space, but they have no control over who gets that space.
One last form of targeted advertising is not a direct comment on the OP or their situation, but some ads appear based upon internet history, internet searches and what's stored in your cookies.
I'm afraid that's not true. The telco sells this advertising space to one of the many online advertising agencies. When you hit the telco's page, the code embedded by the telco sends a request to the advertising agency to serve up an ad. The agency's system then uses methods (as suggested by Latrade) such as google adwords or cookies they have planted on your system to determine what ad to serve up.
These advertising agencies track your browsing history across all pages where their code is embedded by the page owner. So if you've bee trawling the internet researching a new phone, they are likely to serve up a related ad, ensuring a better chance of a 'click-through', where they earn commission.
PetrolHead
Registered User
- Messages
- 300
Consider yourself rebuked.
The mail site is renting out space to a provider who places the ads on it. There is an option for them to block adult ads (default on google ads if I remember correctly).
Depending on the deal the mail site either gets paid per view or per click on the ads.