CC advertisements??

Let me preface my question by saying that I love CC! It has really put food, exercise, and healthy living in perspective for me. It's the only long term "diet plan" that has actually worked with my lifestyle.

My question is...
CC promotes healthy weight loss/maintenance through diet and exercise, so why do they allow some of these adverstisers to put their fad diet crap up on the site? I mean, "lose 10 pounds in 5 days without dieting or exercising!" and other ads along the same lines. Basically, "take the easy way out" ads. I understand that they need the ad revenue to keep CC free, but couldn't they be a bit more selective about the ads that show up?

Thoughts?

Well think about it. This is a weight loss site. People advertising crash diets are going to be the ones wanting to advertise here the most. The more people that click the adds or w/e the more revenue they get from it. Honestly I barely even notice the adds.. but I think I might have things blocking them from showing up, because I think I've seen them maybe once or twice.

Since I can't really see the adds I guess I might not be as helpful insight wise, but honestly I wouldn't let it get to me. There is a much larger market for weight loss 'short cuts' than there is for diet plans or exercise programs. My guess is that its more an issue of availablility and ease than much else. :)

you know.. I always wondered why I never saw adds...

edit: oh my goodness! My sister has the exact same hat that you're wearing in your picture! I didn't know more of them existed!

Haha! Gotta love the crab hat (I'm originally from Maryland and they're everywhere up there).

Geez, I'd love to block those ads from showing up. I'm not tempted or anything, I guess I'm just concerned that some of the younger,  more impressionable cc'ers might see that and think that it's a better route to take. When I was a teenager I would have done (and did) just about anything to lose weight ... apart from a healthy diet and exercise. The magic weight loss pill sounds glamorous and easy when you're 16 and see yourself as overweight.

I think sometimes you can't control WHAT ads pop onto your site. You make an agreement with so 'n so, and they are the ones that provide the ads for your service. It will be automatically generated by matching the content of the site. Look up yahoo webpages. You'll notice their ads are totally random and try to match the content. Like if someone had a blog and typed "beach", there might be an ad for vacationing in Florida.

Well, those ads are what keep this site free - so I'm perfectly happy to put up with them.

I don't mind the ads myself, but I'm pretty oblivious to the world.  I don't know with a site this big, that cc can afford to be selective.  If they do bother you, firefox has an add-on that you can use to block advertisements, period.  A lot of people I know really like it, but I found that it slowed my computer down a bit.  Enough that it drove me crazy, but it could just have been my settings.  Give it a try and see if it works.

I log an apple.

"Why eat 55 calories?"

BECAUSE IT'S GOOD FOR ME! Shut up! Jell-o has NO nutritional value, I don't need to feel bad about a freaking apple!

You can't lose 20 lbs in 10 days! Oh no! I've been ripped off!

CC has no absolute control over the ads that appear here. Neither does About.com. The adverts come in bundles and are there to keep the website free. You can install an ad blocker on your PC, or, make use of your own words. The users of CC's forums have more control than you may all realise, beyond the capability of print-screening any seriously offending adverts you may come across.

The words CC's posters use drive the ad content of this site. Talk less about 'diets'. Talk less about hating your body. Talk less about weight. Do that, and you get fewer ads about fad diets and scams that take advantage of people and their wallets.

Talk more about healthy foods. Talk more about exercise that you enjoy doing. Talk more about aspects of improving your overall health and well being, and you'll get more ads targeted at these needs.

While, ultimately, it isn't up to us to tell you want to say, be aware that what you and CC's users generally say here is what's driving the ad content.

If you see something that is truly offensive to you please screen it and bring it to a moderator's attention. We'll do what we can, there. But it is best to ignore them, or block them with a program. And heck, I'd hope most our CC posters have a bit more common sense than to think anything linked by those sorts of ads will be much more than a scam or hoax!

i blame the google gremlins.

edit: and if you do click on them, the company gets charged but the money goes to google.

octo,

not necessarily. Depending on what package they buy it could be flat rate. I only know bc my credit union has bought packages through google in the past... personally I thought it was a waste and I would have rather done more community events... lmao but oh well ;)

Original Post by littlemalynda:

octo,

not necessarily. Depending on what package they buy it could be flat rate. I only know bc my credit union has bought packages through google in the past... personally I thought it was a waste and I would have rather done more community events... lmao but oh well ;)

sounds like your company just budgetted for a certain number of clicks. believe me google wont give you any clicks for free. & yeah usually any financial 'words' are very expensive & lots of competition, im not sure how small your company is so it sounds like your idea would be better (now go tell your boss to give you a raise). the word diet would be no different. anyway off topic.... i love the fact that we get this site for free, my work probably wouldn't agree tho.

Adblock Plus extension for Firefox blocks all the ads...

If you're using Internet Explorer....  too bad for you!!!