5 ms·

Exactly what I was thinking: > https://i.imgur.com/0EPIi6D.png https://i.imgur.com/0EPIi6D.png

buboard 7y ago
at least they make money off those ads. kind of a revenge
ceejayoz 7y ago
It's baffling to me how many major news outlets have willingly compromised their integrity in this way, to the point of permitting Outbrain/Taboola to use look-alike fonts and formatting. In an era where legitimate reporting gets called "fake news", why make that easier to do?
- lllr_finger 7y ago
  Because Outbrain and Taboola can easily be 1/10th or more of a legit site's revenue, on the order of millions of dollars. I'm not saying that's a good thing, it's a very difficult argument with the amount of money you could potentially miss out on.
  - joegahona 7y ago
    It's similar with affiliate links. Make tons of money but compromise your integrity and point your users to the exit door.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    Sure, in the short term. The damage to their reputations may cost substantially more in the long run. Doesn't take many "I clicked a NYT article and it was a scam" experiences to permanently sour someone on the outlet.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      How many people do care about reputation of a news source beyond "it's mainstream" vs. "it's a tabloid" vs. "it's something random I've never seen before"? I think most people these days don't follow news sites, they click through to individual articles from their IMs and social media feeds.
      - ceejayoz 7y ago
        I cancelled a NYT subscription over their continued employment of folks like Bret Stephens (https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20834957/bret-stephens-bedbug-meltdown-dave-karpf-new-york-times-explained https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20834957/bret-stephens-bedbug-...) and Bari Weiss (https://theintercept.com/2017/08/31/nyts-newest-op-ed-hire-bari-weiss-embodies-its-worst-failings-and-its-lack-of-viewpoint-diversity/ https://theintercept.com/2017/08/31/nyts-newest-op-ed-hire-b...). It wouldn't be shocking for someone to do so over Taboola.
  - anigbrowl 7y ago
    It's not a legitimate site any more once it starts making money that way. You might as well sell cigarettes in a health food store. Outbrain and Taboola are cancer and the world would be better off if their offices were flattened by a meteor impact.
    - brycesbeard 7y ago
      I assert it doesn’t affect the legitimacy of the site at all. Also, I don’t think selling cigarettes undermines a pharmacy. I may place less importance on “brand coherency” and more on “value to myself” than others.
krick 7y ago
I rarely see all this stuff, since I'm using adblocker, but this is legitimately funny.
have_faith 7y ago
This is a BBC worldwide thing, we don't get any of this on the UK site. Bit of a strange stance.
- codev 7y ago
  Such a strange stance. To point out the hypocrisy visible to 99.2% of the world's population.
  - r00fus 7y ago
    If it’s not visible to the original author and his/her primary audience then is it actually hypocrisy? Or an unfortunate case in point (irony)?
  - codetrotter 7y ago
    I think parent commenter was talking about it being a strange stance on the part of BBC, not on the part of the person pointing out the hypocrisy.
  - have_faith 7y ago
    Not sure what you mean, I was saying it's a strange stance for the BBC.
mantap 7y ago
BBC is not allowed to show ads in UK. It's likely that the journalist who wrote the article is totally unaware that the page has this kind of spam in other countries. Hilarious though.
rozab 7y ago
I had no idea the BBC showed ads outside the UK. It's really upsetting how far it has fallen in recent years.
- frereubu 7y ago
  While I agree that standards have fallen at the BBC in recent years, this is not an example of that. BBC sites have shown ads outside the UK for more than ten years on the basis that UK licence fee payers shouldn't have to subsidise their sites for visitors outside the UK. The ad income pays for that. Same with BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, that sells BBC content to other broadcasters outside the UK.
ErikAugust 7y ago
https://beta.trimread.com/articles/569 https://beta.trimread.com/articles/569

at least they make money off those ads. kind of a revenge

It's baffling to me how many major news outlets have willingly compromised their integrity in this way, to the point of permitting Outbrain/Taboola to use look-alike fonts and formatting. In an era where legitimate reporting gets called "fake news", why make that easier to do?

lllr_finger 7y ago
Because Outbrain and Taboola can easily be 1/10th or more of a legit site's revenue, on the order of millions of dollars. I'm not saying that's a good thing, it's a very difficult argument with the amount of money you could potentially miss out on.
- joegahona 7y ago
  It's similar with affiliate links. Make tons of money but compromise your integrity and point your users to the exit door.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  Sure, in the short term. The damage to their reputations may cost substantially more in the long run. Doesn't take many "I clicked a NYT article and it was a scam" experiences to permanently sour someone on the outlet.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    How many people do care about reputation of a news source beyond "it's mainstream" vs. "it's a tabloid" vs. "it's something random I've never seen before"? I think most people these days don't follow news sites, they click through to individual articles from their IMs and social media feeds.
    - ceejayoz 7y ago
      I cancelled a NYT subscription over their continued employment of folks like Bret Stephens (https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20834957/bret-stephens-bedbug-meltdown-dave-karpf-new-york-times-explained https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20834957/bret-stephens-bedbug-...) and Bari Weiss (https://theintercept.com/2017/08/31/nyts-newest-op-ed-hire-bari-weiss-embodies-its-worst-failings-and-its-lack-of-viewpoint-diversity/ https://theintercept.com/2017/08/31/nyts-newest-op-ed-hire-b...). It wouldn't be shocking for someone to do so over Taboola.
- anigbrowl 7y ago
  It's not a legitimate site any more once it starts making money that way. You might as well sell cigarettes in a health food store. Outbrain and Taboola are cancer and the world would be better off if their offices were flattened by a meteor impact.
  - brycesbeard 7y ago
    I assert it doesn’t affect the legitimacy of the site at all. Also, I don’t think selling cigarettes undermines a pharmacy. I may place less importance on “brand coherency” and more on “value to myself” than others.

krick 7y ago

I rarely see all this stuff, since I'm using adblocker, but this is legitimately funny.

have_faith 7y ago

This is a BBC worldwide thing, we don't get any of this on the UK site. Bit of a strange stance.

codev 7y ago
Such a strange stance. To point out the hypocrisy visible to 99.2% of the world's population.
- r00fus 7y ago
  If it’s not visible to the original author and his/her primary audience then is it actually hypocrisy? Or an unfortunate case in point (irony)?
- codetrotter 7y ago
  I think parent commenter was talking about it being a strange stance on the part of BBC, not on the part of the person pointing out the hypocrisy.
- have_faith 7y ago
  Not sure what you mean, I was saying it's a strange stance for the BBC.

mantap 7y ago

BBC is not allowed to show ads in UK. It's likely that the journalist who wrote the article is totally unaware that the page has this kind of spam in other countries. Hilarious though.

rozab 7y ago

I had no idea the BBC showed ads outside the UK. It's really upsetting how far it has fallen in recent years.

frereubu 7y ago
While I agree that standards have fallen at the BBC in recent years, this is not an example of that. BBC sites have shown ads outside the UK for more than ten years on the basis that UK licence fee payers shouldn't have to subsidise their sites for visitors outside the UK. The ad income pays for that. Same with BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, that sells BBC content to other broadcasters outside the UK.

ErikAugust 7y ago

https://beta.trimread.com/articles/569 https://beta.trimread.com/articles/569