Since a few weeks I’m noticing AdChoices on more websites every day. They are the for a longer time, but now I’m noticing them because they bore me. AdChoices is some kind of AdSense displaying ads based on your surfing behavior. It shows ads related to websites you visited before or search terms you used in Google search. Unfortunately for the AdSense publishers the ads are not relevant any more to the website content.

AdChoices

Why AdChoices doesn’t work (for me)

Although it might work for a certain public for me I don’t think it will ever work. Last week I ordered a GoPro HERO camera. A very nice and compact HD camera that can be used in ‘hard’ conditions. Under water, in the air, outer space,…

As I said, I ordered it, I bought one, I have one and I don’t need a second one. Every site with AdChoices is showing me ads for the GoPro HERO.

Beside the fact that I’m not interested in buying another camera, displaying 3 times the same ad isn’t pretty smart. I was downloading FileZilla, trying to sell me some web hosting would have been more appropriate.

Why we don’t like AdChoices

Not only it is displaying ads I’m not interested in it also violates our privacy. Imagine: you’re looking for a new job, you check your private mails from time to time at your office desk. The next day you’re searching some information related to your job (together with a college or your boss) and all you see is ads about new job opportunities, not relevant to the content of the page you’re visiting.

Giving a surprise party will become impossible with AdChoices!

Beside the privacy issue, the revenue of the publishers will lower. I’m not going to click on ads of a camera when I’m looking for a ftp client. These ads are irrelevant and at that time I’m not interested in them.

Update: Still bored by AdChoices

A few weeks ago I posted about van-de-wereld.com. A domain I used to try some Search Engine Optimization stuff.

The goal was to get some pictures in the Google image search results. The website is optimized for three phrases: “mooiste man van de wereld” (prettiest man in the world), “rijkste man van de wereld” (richest man in the world), “slimste mens van de wereld” (smartest man in the world).

To stand a bit out of the crowd of rich an famous people I took a monkey, a camera and some accessories. The photo shoot and search engine optimization results can be found below.

Results

Google image results for "mooiste man van de wereld"

Google image results for "rijkste man van de wereld"

Google image results for "slimste mens van de wereld"

Conclusion

Choosing a good domain name is very, I mean very, important when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. It’s obvious that the content of the website needs to relevant too. After only a few days the pictures popped up in Google image search. A few weeks later they are still there. So far no issues with the sandbox. I’ll post an update from time to time to see what happens to the website and the pictures in the future.