ebay takes piss

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:04 am 0

An advert that just appeared at the top of Gmail:

Nigeria Scam - http://www.eBay.co.uk - Nigeria Scam and more! Feed your passion with eBay.co.uk

With a real link to an ebay search for "Nigeria Scam"..

Good excuse to learn how to do screen capture on OS X:

cclemon · Post by **cclemon** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:49 am 0

Maybe that happens to everyone with 666 messages in their inbox?

merman · Post by **merman** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:20 pm 0

It's not eBay's fault, it's Google Ad's context-sensitive text...

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:24 pm 0

That's the thing though, where's the context? Where did it get the idea that I would be interested in Nigerian Scams? And why would it recommend ebay as a fine purveyor of them, unless ebay had included those in its adwords?

Unless it's a lot cleverer than I think it is.

dom · Post by **dom** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:25 pm 0

AdSense words are bought like any other marketting space, clearly these Nigerians are turning a tidy profit.

Dom

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:48 pm 0

The link pointed at an ebay search. What were the results? People selling booklets on how to avoid it?

From what I've seen Ebay tend to buy up huge amounts of random words and point the adsense links at an ebay search for that word.

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:52 pm 0

HGFB wrote:The link pointed at an ebay search. What were the results? People selling booklets on how to avoid it?

No, absolutely nothing!

From what I've seen Ebay tend to buy up huge amounts of random words and point the adsense links at an ebay search for that word.

Yeah, I'm used to that, it just seemed like a bit of an odd one. Especially as, like I say, I hadn't been reading about or searching for "Nigerian Scam" in the first place

StarshipUK · Post by **StarshipUK** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:54 am 0

In Google Mail have you ever noticed the advertising Links in the Spam box?

It is ALWAYS recipes which contain Spam!

Just went in there a few times and got:
Spam Breakfast Burritos - Bake 5-10 minutes, serve with salsa
Spam Fajitas - Serves 8, add extra salsa if desired
Ginger Spam Salad - Serves 1, refrigerate overnight
Spam Veggie Pita Pockets - Serves 8
Spam Skillet Casserole - Broil until golden
Vineyard Spam Salad - Combine grapes, spam, peapods and onions in large bowl
Spam Imperial Tortilla Sandwiches - To serve, cut each roll in half

But what Google Mail does not learn is that I DON'T LIKE SPAM!