Does everybody see the same banner ads on the Outsports home page? Recently I've been seeing banner ads for Bell Mobility, one of the major Canadian cell phone services. I'm wondering if it makes sense for them to advertise on Outsports when the majority of users are American.

Haven't noticed it here in the U.S. I'll keep an eye out now. Their adserver may target ads based on geography and other factors. It would make sense, CanMark, as your question implies.

[ December 05, 2002: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

Dragging in an old thread about banner ads because I noticed one today on the discussion board that's entirely in German. wink

Comrades:

Did you see the French pop up ad this morning - Saturday, May 8? It even listed some prices in euros!

What is going on here? I live in Chicago, and that's nowhere near Europe!

I wonder if our current craze over the French rugby team in Paris has something to do with this new pop up ad.

Mikestead

The Taliban wanted an ad, but even we have standards.

Reminds me of one my favorite Bette Midler quotes - "I have standards, as low as they are, I still have standards"

You never know. I recently saw a post from someone in Norway talking about the latest American Idol Norway version. Now if we start getting posts from people useing French, German, or even Norwegian I'll start to wonder more...

In another thread, bobby78751 posted

I am tickled pink that an ad for my and Dolly Parton's native neck of the woods (she being from close to Sevierville and me from Strawberry Plains just outside of Knoxville) was just at the top of an Outsports page!

Where do these banner ads come from? I just saw 4 in a row that were really odd or from obscure companies. One of them was for some sort of foodseller that said "For the holidays, try TURDUCKEN!" eek!

JIP, Turduken is awesome. I mean, come on, a Turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken...damn interesting 3 way there.

More Canadian content: noticed the current banner ads on Outsports are for the Montreal OutGames and for zip.ca, a Canadian DVD rental company.

One of the current Outsports banner advertisers is blocked by my employer's firewall ... so instead of the ad, I see the top of the screen that, when seen in full, says, "Site Blocked !!The site you have attempted to reach is considered to be inappropriate for access using [company name] computer resources."

Fortunately, they just block. They're too busy fighting viruses and spam to investigate.

Anyway, I'm puzzled as to what the advertiser is. Personals? Sexy undies? :confused:

Am I the only one being bombarded with Flash pop-ups for Verizon every time I'm here? This is new this week.

You need a pop-up blocker. I hate looking at websites at work because we don't have one installed (though it doesn't stop me, obviously). In the last few months they just put in Windows XP Professional but it's Service Pack 1. The update for the home version of Windows XP (Service Pack 2) includes a pop-up blocker.

And I might add Joe, service pack two is quite impressive at that! Even though it took awhile to download, even with high speed cable.

Do we really need a banner ad that says, "Bust Santa's zit and win a free iPod"??? eek!

Found this in a column about computer issues at Philly.com:

FINALLY! A banner ad I enjoy...I mean like.

Noticed a banner ad for the state of Arizona (tourism) website (above the Find a Masseur banner ad), so I clicked it and did their survey. Thought a non-gay, non-sex-related (but still relevant) advertiser deserved support.

I'm confused....As I went into the P&R section, at the top of the page, a McCain for President banner appears, and on it, it says "Paid for my McCain for President"

His campaign paid for an ad on a website that is visited by people he believes are bad?

It's probably automated -- Google ads and such -- to show up based on the content. If the name McCain shows up a lot, a McCain ad appears. If you look at other ads, they're often based on the content of the page.

I figured it was based on the page you visit and "buzz" words it contains, but I thought the ads were specific to Outsports....

We contract with some specific advertisers. We are also part of a larger ad network and sometimes we will be servicing ads placed across a wide range of sites. As for the McCain ad, I am not sure.

I'm amused by one of the ads that display on some pages of this board. It's sort of like the Google ads that generate based on the content of the page, except it seems to generate links based on keywords and only displays those words. I don't know what the links actually go to, but on the main page for the board just now the box contained the following:

New Friends, Penn State, ATP Tennis, College Basketball, Gay Sports, World Cup, Winter Olympics, MLS, Jock...and my favorite one: Cyd. Does this mean Cyd is a product for sale now? And should Jim be jealous because his name isn't shown?

edit to add: ...now another one shows up with a couple of changes, including one for Chase Utley.

Typing away a pm this evening, I glanced up to see a banner ad asking me in very large letters, "Are You Gay?"

UH? Ya think?

Or do you think I should take the test to make sure??

Nah...I'm sure.

This morning I saw a banner ad for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Outsports home page. It was promoting the upcoming Blue Jays-Red Sox series.

I don't know if it's just me, but recently I've been seeing ads for Magic: The Gathering. Now, while I certainly love the game, I was surprised to see the ads here on Outsports. First, most people wouldn't consider it a sport. Second, I don't really know any LGBT people who play it (and are not in the closet about enjoying the game).

Just noticed a banner ad for Orbitz/Toronto Tourism, advertising Toronto as a gay-friendly destination.

Also see an ad for FilipinaHeart.com, on online service to meet lovely Filipino ladies.

Edit: saw another one that says "Date Wealthy Women."

Those are for that straight guy who bookmarked Outsports a couple of months ago.

Now I'm seeing a banner ad for Hockey: The Musical, not to be confused with Score: A Hockey Musical which is the opening night film at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Today I'm seeing banner ads for the Jeep Wrangler and the Cardiff International Gay and Lesbian Short Film Festival.

==========

Today (day after the above post) I'm seeing a banner ad for the GMC Sierra.

I'm getting Boston Gay Speed Dating and a smart little outfit from Neiman Marcus. WRONG on both counts.

Today I'm seeing a banner ad for British Airways, Priceline (featuring William Shatner himself!) and the Chevy Silverado.

Also, Caesars Windsor casino.

Today I'm seeing banner ads for Dexter on Showtime and Parenthood on City-TV.

For a while there I was seeing lots of "gay" ads on Outsports. But today I'm seeing Old Navy, HP and the Chevy Silverado, plus some gay ads for Key West and various dating sites and chat lines.

An ad for mormon.org? WTF is that all about?

These are auto-generated ads we have no control over. But if the Mormons want to pay us money, just go ahead and click on it and you will make them pay. ;-)

The Kylie Minogue ad is annoying. You scroll over the ad and it expands. And blocks some of the content you're trying to read.

Thank you, Aaron! The only thing more annoying than the ad would be to go to one of her concerts! She makes Glee look like high art!

I'm now seeing one for Gay Halifax. Who knew Halifax was courting the gay travel market? They say, "The beautiful scenic coastlines and romantic streets of the historic downtown make Halifax a must-see gay travel destination."

They are also promoting this exhibit: Hello Sailor!

Today I'm seeing banner ads for the upcoming Broadway revival of Evita, starring Ricky Martin as Che, and NYPDrecruit.com, which seems to be a recruitment site for the NY police force.

Hey Mark - actually Halifax has been targetting the gay market for a few years now. They've visited our agency a couple of times to promote their gay-friendliness. Other Canadian tourism boards that have contacted us to market to the gay community other than the 'big three' of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver include the Yukon, Prince Edward county (Kingston area) of Ontario, Ottawa, the Niagara region and Niagara Falls, Stratford, Quebec and Quebec City and Winnipeg - especially once the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opens there.