It's bad enough that the limited server capacity is now being used to push a steady stream of pop-up ads onto my computer. But I also get a doubleclick.net cookie as a bonus, the kind that tracks EVVVVVVERRY place you go on the web. What a deal.
"Braintree, MA. March 7, 2000 AdSubtract.com today released free software that automatically blocks DoubleClick cookies and ads. ‘Cookies’ are small files placed on an Internet user’s computer to track their activities, habits and purchases. Internet ads use cookies to track and transmit data about users to the ad-server. By tracking cookies across many sites, DoubleClick and other ad-servers create detailed online profiles of Internet users. AdSubtract SE software blocks web ads and cookies to combat user profiling and make web browsing faster and more pleasant. It is available for download at www.adsubtract.com.
Online privacy concerns are escalating, as more people become aware of how easily personal data can be cross-referenced with supposedly anonymous cookie data to create extensive profiles of their online and offline activities. A lawsuit was filed against DoubleClick (NASDAQ: DCLK), the largest Internet ad-server company, after plans were disclosed to combine online data with an offline database. Online-privacy has the government’s attention and the FTC is reviewing what information is being gathered and if it should be publicly accessible, as are credit reports"
i don't see how you can reasonably complain about both the limited server capacity AND the advertisements on this site. we have advertisements to pay for our current server, which is overloaded because we don't have more money. it's a vicious circle, but hey, we're doing the best that we can with what we've got.
Wraybill, go read that first post again, and you will see that my complaint is with the doubleclick cookies I got Monday. The reason I don't get AdSubtract Pro is that I realize pop-up windows are a (damn annoying) price of using non-subscriber web sites these days. Pop-ups will be a counter-productive way to advertise until they come up with a way to avoid having more than one window with the same ad opened at a time. When you have 10 or 15 windows on your machine with the same ad, it's hard to get a good attitude toward the advertizer's product.
