Goddam you, Democratic Underground!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[keepCAblue]

This is the last straw with DU. I am so out of here. The rise in homophobia at DU has grown intolerable and, now, I have to have THIS ad staring me in the face when I visit DU:

and when you click on the banner ad, you're sent to protectmarriage.com, a "YES on Prop 8" site:

[Kittycat]

1. You realize DU has no control over this, right?

If you were a paid member, that used FireFox, you wouldn't see this garbage. But now that you've posted it - I have to go bleach my eyes out.

[keepCAblue]

8. So if the KKK wanted to run banner ads at DU

which linked to a racist site...

Or the skinheads wanted to run ads on DU, linked to a anti-semitic site, that'd be fine because DU has no control over the banner ads they run on their site.

Bullshit.

[sharp_stick]

14. delete posted to wrong thread

oops

[VeraAgnes]

16. Just take a break, think about the campaign

ads/banners this is business.........you know the true intent of DU so chill out, be above the rhetoric others throw. You can do it.

:hug:

[davidinalameda]

39. chill?

he's perfectly right

maybe the admins need to use another ad service

[racaulk]

17. I thought you said you were leaving.

Or are you just looking to start a flamewar? :shrug:

[amdezurik]

18. they do not sell individual adds doofus

Du and Dkos and MyDD and many others buy a SERVICE that sells ad space (OMG that dammed 1st Admendment!!!) to anyone who pays.

[amdezurik]

19. I should have said contract with a service

[mikelgb]

15. they choose to have ads AND fund drives...

they have choices, raw story always seems to have either progressive, topical ads or neutral product ads

DU ads constantly break DU rules that would get others post's locked or even a user banned...

but the advertisers get free reign on our attention spans

as disclaimer I have blocked all Ads, and encourage others to do the same, but I support others speaking out on this

anything for the mighty dollar, you'd think donors would be able to post whatever they want with impunity


DU ADS SHOULD HAVE ALERT BUTTONS NEXT TO THEM, that capture the current ad and send it to mods for approval

[Orsino]

29. DU *chooses* not to control it. n/t

[FreeState]

31. Wrong - they are Google ads - you can choose not to show ads through their system n/t

[DS1]

2. Putz

[Teaser]

3. It's an advertisement, not an endorsement.

But, please enjoy whatever site you find to replace DU.

[ret5hd]

4. IF you had coughed up even $5 you would have never seen it.

[LeftCoast]

30. There's a great donation slogan: "Pay up or see the homophobic ads"

Nice

[Duncan Grant]

36. Pardon our "McCain/Palin" ads!

Same lack of principle, no? :hi:

[LeftCoast]

37. Hey! Nice to see you!

It's good to see you around. :hi:

[cboy4]

34. Have you ever heard the term, "it's the principle of it"?

:eyes:

[ret5hd]

35. The "principle" of it is...

if these people are so totally obtuse that they waste their money on an audience that is so obviously averse to the message they spew, i will not only applaud their efforts, I will encourage them to do it more and more!

[d_b]

5. Firefox Ad Block

It's the shit.

[CTD]

12. Bingo. I never see the ads here.

Apparently that's a good thing.

[Occulus]

26. I can't get it to work at all

Heard it was great, downloaded it, and nothing happened.

Status: AdBlock Plus is active.

Blocked items on this page: 0 out of 26.

So... how do I turn it on?

[d_b]

27. put your cursor over an ad

right click

go down to adblock image.

etc.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. I hear your anger, and I do understand it...

There is something you can do about the awful ads...

If you had a star, you can turn them off.

But I don't think you feel like giving any money to DU...

I'm sorry...

[davidinalameda]

40. you need to read one of the previous posts

pay up and you don't have to see the homophobic ads

nice

thought you were a bit better than that-guess I was wrong

[mtnester]

41. Did you come here to say that?

Seriously...? Just to say pay up or see the homphobic ads?

Real nice...now back to the Lounge with ye. Sheesh.

On edit - applies to all up and down thread posts of similar nature.

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. Uh oh.......

[meegbear]

9. Toodles! Don't let the browser hit you on the way out!

:hi:

[Duncan Grant]

10. I'm sure that McCain/Palin banner ads can be found here, too.

;)

[lamp_shade]

11. What? I don't see any such advertisements.

[racaulk]

13. Please read this post that I made yesterday, and calm your shit down.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=83488&mesg_id=83670

:eyes:

[byronius]

20. I think you should feel good about it.

DU's gettng cash for that. Do you think anybody here buys it, or is moved by it? HERE? No way.

Let 'em waste their resources. Hell, I hope the Klan and the Neonazis pour millions into DU advertising. It goes right down the rathole, but don't tell them that. No one here WOULD EVER vote for Prop 8, unless they're a troll anyway.

Better here than at moderate sites, where it might make a difference.

I see the same thing on a lot of lefty sites -- TPM had a McCain ad, fer chrissakes. Who cares? They're sowing seeds in stony earth. I swear to you, no one here is in the slightest moved or affected, except for the DU servers, which can afford upgrades for the massive traffic that comes here for real news.

Don't go.

[hlthe2b]

21. Progressive sites like this support GLBT and other equality issues

but if you'd like to kick those who support you over the trolls that occasionally disrupt or the ads that most of us can't even see, but which pay to SUPPORT this site, well, so be it. "Biting off your nose to spite your face" was one of those sayings that never meant much to me as a child, but as an adult, it has increasing resonance.....

[LeftCoast]

38. I'd say tolerate rather than support..

:shrug:

[Zuiderelle]

22. Before I blocked ads here, I was amused at the near-naked men I saw in ads every time I came in the

GLBT forum. Pretty damn funny actually.

And as much as I like to kneejerk react to some things myself :) this is not a battle we need to fight.

Give $5 to DU and turn the ads off... or install Firefox and block them.

You may as well be furious at the world every time you drive past an anti-choice billboard.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

23. Ever try to block an adsense ad?

I have. It's practically impossible.

[racaulk]

24. IT'S A TRAP!!!

So you saw a banner ad that included "protectmarriage.com," and you were SURPRISED that the banner ad took you to that website?

:rofl:

[sinkingfeeling]

25. With a donation to the site, you can turn the ads off.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. It is sadly the way of the internet

It has me thinking about solutions for that....but I also donate and don't see any ads here. This is a rough cycle, and I hope you will cut the site some slack, but I do understand your point. It has been tough as nails around here and on the streets.

I have seen from experience that the admins here try like hell, they do think when time allows, and they really do want to do the right thing. The right thing, is can be hard to achieve on a daily basis, on all levels. I think they oft times fail to understand the particular mocasins in which others may walk, but then so do I. As do we all. I don't trust many websites, but I will tell you, even when I am very pissed at something here, I know they have hearts in or seeking the right place. As do you and I.
Really. Good people wanting to be better people, that is the vast majority of DU and I thnk it also describes the mysterous admins, known only by their stealthy work and occasional postings. I bet they'd like rid of those ads or some control as well. I bet that is a goal to be attained, much as many of us dream of the day we can walk away from a miserable day job into the light of choice and freedom. I bet it is all about money, and I doubt there is much greed or gluttony going on either. Who knows? They could be building an empire off of this stuff, but I bet they are making a living, and I hope it is a decent and complete one, even if there is a compromise to be made at times. Hell, I've made some huge ones for money, who the hell hasn't?

[Behind the Aegis]

32. A little help

Just so you know, it is better to send an alert to one of the mods and one of the administrators. Copy the pic (like you did), and send it in a PM. Explain where it was seen...main page, GLBT forum, Guns....whatever. Though they don't always seem to have control about what pops up (usually based on key words), they can and have removed ads. Over a year ago there was an ad to an anti-Semitic site and it was removed within a day of being notified of its message and location. I don't know if the ad expired or if they really removed it but it was gone and was well with DU for those brief, fleeting moments. :)



Hang in there!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

33. Become a member and you won't see them.

Blog ads simply pick up on key words. At any rate, I'd suggest you click on them, often. Because that drives revenue to DU.