Wednesday afternoon, just before Thanksgiving, we received the following email, entitled, “constructive feedback,” from someone named Evan Parsons:
“I dont care how fucking premium your advertisers are, i dont want to see two unclothed men kissing when i’m reading the news. you disgusting pricks.”
I responded that the ad he was referring to is for a medical science study, and that we would be publishing his email.
Free speech works both ways.
But since the topic is on the table, what do you think? We are very careful about the ads we allow. We have declined to publish a fair number of ads for their content — too “racy” — Â or because they violated our political or social principles.
Do the ads you see on the site bother, offend, upset you? Do you feel you are less likely to visit our site because of the ads?
Note that some ads are from Google or other networks, and are placed without our approval, based upon content and your prior reading habits. So, if you see an ad for, say, Michele Bachmann, or Ron Paul, we didn’t “OK” those!
But I’d like to know what you think. Most LGBT news site have similar, and, in fact, much more “provocative” ads. We try to appeal to a wide audience of both LGBT and non-LGBT readers, and we’ve achieved a broad readership.
Are there ads for products or companies you’d like to see?
We work hard to present a site that’s appealing and informative. Now’s the time to share your thoughts, as we’re looking at making some design changes next year!
Thanks.