Writer's Guidelines and Policy

Why Am I Seeing "This" Advertisement ?

There's this advertisement on this website that doesn't belong there... or that I find offensive.
What's it doing there?

We gets ads from a number of sources. One, google, provides "context sensitive" ads that it places based on the text on the page the ad is running on. Advertisers select keywords to match and their ads are matched to our content. Sometimes, you'll see ads from websites or organizations that are diametrically opposed to the message, vision and mission of this website.

We can block some sites, but there are multiple reasons to block sites. We can't block them all, and frankly, we don't want to.

For example ocassionally you'll see an ad for Ann Coulter's free newsletter. I detest Ann Coulter, but there's an ironic sense of justice that her ad is paying to help deliver our progressive message. That gives a certain pleasure in seeing her ad, and I smile, knowing that if she realized that she was helping us deliver OUR message, it would drive her crazy. So I allow those ads to stay. The same goes for most right wing ads that show up on our site.

If you still find an ad particularly offensive, after digesting this "ironic" perspective, drop me a line. Include the link to the site and why you find it inappropriate. You must include the URL the ad takes you to. Send it to rob@opednews.com and also, please include the exact location on the page where the ad appeared. 

I'll consider blocking ads linking to a particular site. For example, we wouldn't tolerate a link to a hate site. But then again, neither does google, so those are rare.