Misleading advertisements on a forum.

[Beverly]

On one of the very famous admin forums where I'm a member, they allow suspect ads (such as the ones that say, 'you have 1 private message'). These messages are clearly advertising and most times generated by Adsense but I wonder how many times they get clicked on mistakenly by someone thinking they have a private forum message. Seems kind of dishonest to me. Though I guess a site owner can't really control the specific Adsense ads shown.

 

[Ashley]

I've seen this before and I usually ignore them. Ten to one says it's probably just a scam to get detailed info out of you if nothing else. I just leave them alone.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

You actually can control Adsense ads if you try...

I stay away, far away from misleading ads as such. They make the forum owner (YOU) look bad and dishonest. Its a horrible marketing approach and it can harm your online reputation management.

If making money weighs more importantly over building an honest community, then you shouldn't be in the message forum business.

 

[RH-Calvin]

People who are aware of such ads simply ignore them. They have become quiet common nowadays and most people avoid them.

 

[Ashley]

You actually can control Adsense ads if you try...

I stay away, far away from misleading ads as such. They make the forum owner (YOU) look bad and dishonest. Its a horrible marketing approach and it can harm your online reputation management.

If making money weighs more importantly over building an honest community, then you shouldn't be in the message forum business.

Yeah, but what if it's a free-hosted environment? THOSE ads you can't control. I know some free hosts like SMF allow you to buy credits to have those ads removed, but this is why I like to try to have AdBlock on in situations where you can't control the ads yourself.