Humorous Mistargeting

A lighthearted look at the foibles of Adsense.

[ken_b]

OK, many of us occasionally notice ads that are mistargeted, sometimes targeting is so far off it's funny.

I thought we might collect a few examples here for our entertainment.

My contribution for the day....

On a page about a four-door car..... all 4 ads were for doors for houses, etc.

My all time favorite for my classic car site is the ad for hair restoration. :)

[Powdork]

Site about Lake Tahoe, Hiking section page tells you where to park for a particular hike. Ads about parking at heathrow airport.

[Marcia]

Employee background checks on a graphics site.

[olwen]

My favorite local news site had an article about a robbery is a town, saying that the culprits may have come for out-of-town. Adsense was advertising accomodation in the town.

[birdstuff]

An article about the rock group "Three Dog Night" displaying ads for dog grooming kits.

[percentages]

Large extensive home improvements........

Large extensive improvements totally unrelated to a physical building!

Bring it on.....the CPC was good ;)

[hyperkik]

Sometimes good targeting can be bad. On a page with a joke about a divorce lawyer who was sending out fake "love letters" to break up marriages, there were ads for divorce lawyers, envelopes, and styrofoam hearts.

[hannamyluv]

On that note, I have a page about the etiquette behind how you should go about breaking off a marriage engagement. Invariably, a there is a skyscraper image ad for engagement rings.

[novice]

Environmental article about being environmentally responsible and using paper trash bags instead of plastic ones, with ads about heavy duty plastic trash bags.

AdSense ads were off the page the next day.

[ytswy]

This was in gmail, rather than proper AdSense, but still very funny.

A collegue of mine sent me an email saying he had finished the export of the sales data, and the system he had up was still quite crude, but the work was flowing nicely.

I got an adword from the IHT advertising an artical called something like "Is Libya the new Iraq. A new frontier for oil companies"

[sailorjwd]

I noticed a surprising ad on my site the other day for:

Software that goes out to the web and automatically fills in pages and clicks on hyperlinks.

Surprised Adsense is allowing such software ads..

[ken_b]

These are great examples. Thanks folks.

[trader]

Realty website devoted to Oregon Real Estate with ads on it for Georgia real estate listings, seen many similar poorly targeted geographical ads on many sites, especially involving real estate sites for some odd reason.

[Powdork]

perhaps they thought oregon was a misspelling of georgia. They do share a lot of letters you know.;)

[arrowman]

I've mentioned it before, but since you ask...

We have an expression in Dutch "met je mond vol tanden staan" ("to stand with your mouth full of teeth"), meaning: being embarrassingly unable to respond.

This expression was used on an educational page about presentation techniques.

All the ads were about dental treatments and teeth whiteners.

[danieljean]

Hmm... Should the semantic web ever take off, I wonder if it will be because of these types of problems - and the fact that a solution would be lucrative.

[patoruzu]

An article about "civic engagement" displaying an ad about "engagement rings" (I blocked it).

[annej]

My favorite was an ad about buying surfboards on a page with an article about arranging your house to enhance home study.

[Woz]

I happenstanced upon a very sad page one day built in memnory of a still born child. Adsense was placed by the free host, probably unbeknowns to the couple in question. The ads were for funeral homes and embalming fluids. Hmmm.

Onya
Woz

[Teshka]

My favorite was an ad about buying surfboards on a page with an article about arranging your house to enhance home study.

Oh, I'd say that was targeted perfectly well...;) I know I'd rather be surfing...

[GrantNZ]

Vets for Pets page and we saw ads to do with Veterans.

[annej]

How sad on the stillborn child. I would have thought adsense would have put PSAs on that page. I can't write about quilts in memory of 9/11 or about historic quilts made in rememberance of deceased family members without getting PSAs. You have to wonder how google decides these things.

Oh, I'd say that was targeted perfectly well...;) I know I'd rather be surfing...

That's what made it so much fun. Out of the blue targetting yet so perfect. :)

[WebWalla]

Just saw a really funny one on one of my sites today ... on a page about gothic architecture in a Spanish city, I've got an ad whose copy reads "Date sexy Gothic singles!" hahahaha.

[CodeJockey]

Was building a Road Kill Cookbook as a joke for a buddy's birthday (who eats literally anything) and got in to this site with all of these strange wild game recipes like raccoon, squirrels, bear and the like.

The Adsense ads were predominantly for Vegan recipes, Vegan dating service and, strangely enough, Vegan products for sale.

Vegans are strict vegetarians... they don't eat meat or any other animal product whatsoever.

[spharalsia]

I had a page about what it's like to stay at an ice hotel (one of those hotels that is built out of snow and ice every winter). Every last ad was for salt/chemicals to melt ice. "Melts ice instantly!"

[ken_b]

ice hotel ..... Every last ad was for salt/chemicals to melt ice. "Melts ice instantly!"

Maybe it's my warped sense of humor, but that's a great example!

[Jane_Doe]

I saw top gun fighter pilot lesson ads on a page about weddings. (I think the ad was triggered because the copy noted that pilot lessons make great gifts. I wonder how many brides have top gun lessons listed in their registries next to the china and stemware selections.

[europeforvisitors]

I just saw an ad for the Wonder Woman TV show's DVD on a page about Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London. (Maybe Lynda Carter has a thing about Beefeaters, or vice versa?)

[europeforvisitors]

In an article on the Tower of London, I have a page on the tower's ravens. Google Ads on the page:

"New Audubon Bird Guide"

"Pest Birds a Problem?"

"Pigeon Removal"

"Australian Bird Photos"

It's enough to drive me stark raven mad! :-)

[digitalv]

An article about Indian artifacts on an archaeology news site: Meet hot Indian women in your area.