Yes on 8 had a far superior web presence

[eridani]

We need to learn from this.

http://www.clickz.com/3633275

As the Yes camp thrived online, the No on 8 team seemed to be coming apart at the seams. Reportedly, its campaign manager was pushed aside just three weeks before the election, and others working with the campaign were also replaced. Despite attempts to do so, ClickZ was unable to speak about the No on 8 campaign's Web strategy with representatives of coalition member Equality California or campaign-affiliated consulting firms Smith Perry Communications Group and Dewey Square Group.

Meanwhile, ProtectMarriage was prepping an online attack that would catch the No campaign and its supporters completely off guard in the final days before the election.

"If the voter file-matched ads were akin to a stealth bomber," suggested Connell Donatelli Senior Account Manager Anthony Bellotti, this ad onslaught was "akin to a carpet bombing." They call it the Google Surge, and it appeared to cause distraction among Prop 8 opponents online in the last two days before the election. The tactic involves serving ads on behalf of one advertiser on most or all of the Google content network pages generated within a short period to a specific geographic area. In the last 48 hours, Yes on 8 covered sites in Google's AdSense content network with display ads targeted geographically to Californians. Like other campaigns using the tactic, Yes on 8 aimed to push voters to the polls and persuade them to vote their way.

"We knew we were going to play that card," said Bellotti. "The No campaign didn't know what was going to hit them.... Our goal was to do a saturation buy.... We wanted to completely overwhelm them." Of the $41 million in donations raised by the ProtectMarriage campaign, $7 million was raised online, according to Flint. The campaign originally thought they'd be lucky to raise $2 million. And in the final days, the money was rolling in.

[dsc]

1. This is a textbook example of why those ads shouldn't be allowed on sites like this

[eridani]

3. How can we stop it next time?

We need to be thinking in advance here.

[dsc]

4. liberal websites need to block the ads

and pressure should be put on other websites to get them to block them as well.

[Jeep789]

2. Protect marriage bs

as if extending the right to others would nullify your marriage was exactly how it was portrayed and what people fell for. Not to mention that it would turn your kids gay (be taught in schools) and lead to people marrying their pets. The ads were ridiculous. Sadly, they worked.

Who is to blame? The Noes were ahead and who can really blame them for knowing that the other side would stoop to such idiocy (and that people would fall for it)?

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Just want to point out that the bad decisions

were made mostly by the Democratic consulting firms, such as Dewey Square. These are not 'gay organizations' but private firms that do work for Democratic candidates and issues.

[MsUnderstood]

6. those ads were blocked on this site

This site uses google ads. Google sent the ads based on keywords on the pages. If you find an ad offensive you contact Skinner and he removes them. When people saw the ads they put a ton of energy into bashing the site in posts and responses rather than contacting skinner.

So the answer is if you find an ad that goes against DU values don't sit around and bitch, contact the administrator.

It is a concept similar to what you do in politics. Don't sit around and bitch, do something.