Hi, I’ve just joined the Coop and was looking through some of the members sites, as I was concerned I didn’t want to be linking my site to anything pornographic etc. I’m a bit concerned about a website I found http://www.henheaven.co.uk which advertises strippers and escorts and sex. I also noticed in there the footer of there page where the coop ads are there is a link to a sub domain of there’s http://www.stripper.henheaven.co.uk which is a specific stripper/escort website. The other thing I noticed is that the coop ads never change and are only on the homepage – I thought they had to be on every page?? If the site is not rotating ads are the fooling the coop into thinking they are showing them? I don’t see why I should be advertising sites which are never going to be linking to me. The same thing seems to be going on at another site that seems to be associated with it – I went to http://www.henheaven.co.uk/stag-party.php which is another one of the coop ads links and it goes to a page (again no coop ads showing or hidden) linking to http://www.thestagcompany.com which does the same thing – a few coop ads at the bottom of the page that never change - and only on the homepage – surely this is not a legitimate practice and not a coincidence when it is on both sites? I’ve just joined the coop and I’m quite concerned about it when I see things like this going on. My main thing is I don’t want to link to dubious sites like this as my site is family orientated and besides that, this sites seems to be cheating members into linking to them when they don’t link back. Is there no method for the coop to filter sites that are adult orientated like this so I don’t have to link to them?
If they never change, they aren't (validating) co-op ads. Probably an alternative link network. In terms of us linked TO them, this is a grey area one. They do nothing illegal and as far as I've clicked around, it's OK for under 18 (no naked body parts that shouldn't be there etc.). They are free to link to their subdomain, not something we can do much about. The co-op mods only check the actually site that the ads go to. If they were to look 2nd tier it would take forever. So, a) those static links aren't co-op links it seems so they're not cheating and b) it might be outside your comfort zone but it's not against the TOS (for as far as I've scrutinized the site these past minutes) so if you really really don't want to have the off chance of you linking to such sites then the co-op might not be for you.
But my point is that these were links I checked from my text file - so if these sites are not in the coop then how did they get in my text file ? If they are in the COOP then surely they have to show coop ads somewhere - it says in the terms of service I read by the digital points owner that they had to be on every page of the site - not just the home page http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=3170 . I take it that the ads could be from another network but it also says on the Terms of service page at http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/ad-network/tos.htmlthat "Co-op ad network ads should be the exclusive ad network used for that site. I understand that it a hard job policing all the sites, so I thought it was upto the members to help out. Surely these site must be in the COOP to manage to get in my text file and if they are in the COOP then where are they putting their adverts as I thought they had to be visible as well. Sorry to be pedantic but either way I thought this site must be cheating the COOp some how. Do any other members have these links in their text files - I can't be the only one ???
I think a webmaster can build up 'weight' using "Website A" - then use that 'weight' to promote "Website B" - so ads don't necesarrily have to show up on sites that are being advertized through the CO-OP. [correct me if I'm worng there guys]
You can run the coop ads on one site and point the weight to another. That sites doesn't violate the TOS from what I can tell. edit: Azakers we were replying at the same time
No you have this wrong. You can show co-op ads on Site A (linking out to us) but receiving traffic and links back only to site B. You can make it triangular if you want. Showing ads does not necessarily imply receiving ads nor the other way around. Again, if they are static, they're not Co-op ads. If they happen to be co-op ads anyway, they won't validate hence loose all their weight. But there are static networks out there (LinkVault) and you're probably looking at a link set from them. The owner of the site is in the co-op (or renting co-op weight some way) but not necessarily the site in question. They are in your text file so a PERSON has manually approved them after checking the landing url at least, probably more pages. So, this site is not cheating the co-op and it's up to you whether you want to link to such grey area sites.
Oh - I thought that if you were in the coop then every site you had to have in had to show adverts. I did not realise if you showed adverts on one website you could just use all your weight to point links just to another website. Still think the site is a bit adult really but guess tastes differ.
The question in the main post of this thread still has not been answer and that is: Can we filter content we deem inappropriate for our sites? I just got my ads working and took a look at a bunch of the links, I would say that 3 out of 10 just don't work for me. There are several reasons why they don't work - although not porn, they are too risky for my audience - tojan horse downloaded from one link when clicked on - non english so have no application to my audience Basically with no control of which links display, I guess that the coop isn't for me. If content filetering is added, I will re-consider.
A filtering mechanism will be added at some point, but it's a little tricky, because you have to apply a weight penalty based on what percentage of the total ads a site chooses to filter. That's why it's not in place yet.
Yeah I have also found links that set my virus scanner into overdrive. Certainly not the stuff you want to be linking to - I'm sure a lot of people are using the coop for "bait and switch", and just stick up whatever they want as soon as a "resonable" site has been reviewed. I guess that with a network like the coop that manipulates SER's so fast you are going to get a lot of people who into "unethical" stuff.