h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Erm, hi there. I've got a little comment about this one advertisement on the banner. You see, several times that banner advertises a contest to win a "Warhol Original" work of art. I realize that this is most likely a prepaid arrangement, and you have to have the banner displayed for a certain amount of time, but I just want to say that the pictures on this are very...adult. Granted, nothing lewd or "X Rated" is shown, but pictures of people in the nude (even if they don't show anything) may be a tad upsetting to younger viewers, or the parents of younger viewers.

I am, of course, willing to wait for this advertisement to eventually be finished, as all advertisements eventually are, but, as a researcher not yet out of my teens, I wish to request that advertising like this be more carefully considered before put in the banner section.

In any event, thank you for your time. I've had a wonderful ten or twelve months here on h2g2, and this is the first major complaint that I've got. Thanks for listening and considering.

The problems with the banner ads are more complex that you might think at first.

h2g2 does not chose which banner ads to display, or even which companies' ads to display. h2g2 gets paid to host banner ads chosen by a third party (DoubleClick Inc). DoubleClick is one of many internet advertising/marketing companies that matches up advertisers and web sites using methods they refuse to disclose.

My understanding is that h2g2 uses DoubleClick's service because they pay a far better rate than similar advertisers. Meanwhile, DoubleClick consistently matches h2g2 up with Eyestorm. And Eyestorm sometimes creates banner ads that people find offensive or controversial in nature. These have included instances of partial nudity, displays of homosexual affection, and one ad that featured a dead man's severed head.

I don't think h2g2 has express power to demand that DoubleClick stop attaching Eyestorm ads to their site. h2g2 can either leave DoubleClick in protest, or live with whatever ads DoubleClick choses. I'm also willing to guess that the consequences for leaving DoubleClick could be severe financially as well, since banner ads are probably h2g2's main source of actual revenue right now.

Even worse, h2g2 may have signed a contract with DoubleClick where they promised to use the service for a certain period of time. If they did,, h2g2 can't get rid of the Eyestorm ads until the contract expires. Otherwise, DoubleClick might sue them for breach of contract. Such would be very expensive and ugly for h2g2.

This doesn't mean that you can't protest the ads. I've seen a few complaints already. And if enough people complained, h2g2 might look closer into what they can and can't do to appease people's concerns. I just want you to understand that you are asking for more than a simple change that could be implemented right away.

Ah, I see, I see. I didn't know about this Double Click company. Thanks for explaining.

Allow me to try to clarify how DoubleClick, banner ads and h2g2 work together. DoubleClick provides h2g2 the server and infrastructure (their DART technology) to allow us to display banner ads to h2g2 site visitors. DoubleClick also offers sites such as h2g2 the possibility of being added to their sales network. We haven't yet signed up for that part of the service and instead sell our ads with in-house staff or a few other companies who sell banner ad space on our behalf.

In fact all the people we work with are aware of our criteria for accepting banner ads. However we usually give them direct access to the ad server so that once a generally acceptable ad is booked, it can immediately be copied to the site so h2g2 can start earning revenue. We'd like everyone to comment on our advertising and business practices in general on the Business Feedback page: http://www.h2g2.com/A459506 and we can feed those comments back to our advertisers to give them an idea of what works and what doesn't. In any case we have ultimate control of what appears on h2g2 and are certainly able to remove an ad that proves offensive.

We've done exactly that in the case of Eyestorm and within a few days you should be seeing a new banner ad that the editors think more pleasing. Please tell us what you think!

Ted

Hurrah! h2g2 has much more control than I thought they did. This also explains to me why h2g2's ads seem to rotate a little less often than most other companies affiliated with DoubleClick. I'm glad the company has decided to retain some control.

I guess I felt it was a shame that Eyestorm seems to prefer controversial ads over aesthetic ones. I purchased a bunch of posters from an ebay business rather than peruse Eyestorm's selection, afraid that I might come across rather a lot that I didn't want to see. I'm sure the controversial ads draw in clicks, but I really doubt they lead to higher sales. My guess is that serious buyers are turned off by them. Of course, that's just my humble opinion.

Thanks for being willing to tackle this issue on behalf on the site's members. I for one appreciate it.

I must say that I very much prefer the new ad to the older one. I'm grateful for the change. And thanks once again for your time!

I agree. It's tasteful, and anything on space is quite likely to snag h2g2ers.

A pleasure. Because of the previous banners we asked to be able to give feedback on the ones used. They showed us three possibles. I'm glad you approve of the banner we picked. This just goes to show how valuable h2g2 feedback is, to everyone. So thanks to everyone who commented.

Still, the banner shown at the moment is *much* nicer!
Merry Christmas!

I think it's wonderful that you're advertising the Peer Review which I don't think was being used enough by "ordinary" researchers, let's hope this makes a difference!
Can I just ask what the 4 green bits sticking up on the banner are supposed to be though?
- No eye for art!

Yes, it's a very effective way of doing things. Perhaps this will keep researchers busy for a while.

Although, I must say that I miss the good old days when the banner was for "Amniste International", and that one about saving the gorillas. Ah, those were the days...

The four green bits are just aesthetically pleasing I think. Unless you have any other ideas?

Peer review does seem to be attracting more comments lately, and it is a very good way of reading and influencing the content of the Guide. So I'm very pleased it's getting a little extra publicity.

Yes, it's amazing the amount of good ideas I've seen spout up ever since the new banner was put in place. Although I did recall an entry on eBay that had two researchers almost change the subject to an argument about 'sniper bidding'.