Wednesday
Jun282006
Reader survey: Google's Israel ads
Issandr El Amrani
For a while now, I've been somewhat uneasy about the presence of pro-Israel ads on this site. I don't choose them, the near-sentient megacomputer at Google does. (In the future, it will send a robot back in time to kill me.) While I don't think many of this site's readers want to send flowers to Israel or pizzas to IDF soldiers, I keep receiving emails complaining about this and that ad. I've even gotten in touch with Google minions and asked if there's any way to filter these ads. They said that basically no -- although the adsense program does allow you to specifically filter certain ad sites, but you have to know the site URL to block it. While I think that surely the technology to run keyword filters can't be that difficult for a company like Google, I'm more or less stuck with it.
It's not like I make much money from the ads anyway (although it covers hosting and a little more) -- especially compared to the money I lose by blogging rather than working -- so I could just take down the ads. Or someone can suggest a better ad service than Google's. My question to readers is, how much do you really care? My feeling about it is that a pro-Israel ad on this site amounts to a waste of money for the advertisers -- money that they won't be spending on perpetuating the occupation of Palestine. So I'm inclined to just ignore the ads, much as I do on any other website. I've adopted this reasoning the hard way: a few years ago, I was a regular reader and occasional contributor to Eric Alterman's blog, Altercation. I once emailed Alterman about the conservative ads that appeared on his blog (for instance plugging Ann Coulter's new book) and he tersely answered in a one-line email:
If you really care about this, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
It's not like I make much money from the ads anyway (although it covers hosting and a little more) -- especially compared to the money I lose by blogging rather than working -- so I could just take down the ads. Or someone can suggest a better ad service than Google's. My question to readers is, how much do you really care? My feeling about it is that a pro-Israel ad on this site amounts to a waste of money for the advertisers -- money that they won't be spending on perpetuating the occupation of Palestine. So I'm inclined to just ignore the ads, much as I do on any other website. I've adopted this reasoning the hard way: a few years ago, I was a regular reader and occasional contributor to Eric Alterman's blog, Altercation. I once emailed Alterman about the conservative ads that appeared on his blog (for instance plugging Ann Coulter's new book) and he tersely answered in a one-line email:
Grow up. They're wasting their money.He later explained why exactly this was a waste in a post. I think he is right.
If you really care about this, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Reader Comments (32)
Guess what dude? You Arabs hate Israel because of jealousy - look what Israel has accomplished technologically and in all modern ways and then take a look at the pathetic condition of most Arab countries- reality speaks for itself!
Honestly? I find the Google ads more amusing than offensive - you know, the Sexy Israeli Singles, and the Former Muslim who Sees Christ in a New Light. If enough of your readers are bothered, you might ask them if they'd be willing to chip in a bit for blog costs.
I think ' growing up' just about sums it up.
They're 'there' anyway, right? Hopefully people visiting the site will know better , and if they don't, maybe visiting the site is a process unto that eventually.
Otherwise for funding, would anyone know of any decent arab initiatves that would like to advertise here?
Maybe institutions that offer scholarship programs. Be they academic insitutions or just businesses that offer that.
Also, you know the web-clips that appear in google mails?
They're a series of headlines from newspapers or anything else that is advertising. But if this is blog has enough hits, maybe it could have those webclips or somehow links to news websites or such..
Not into e-fundraising. eek! Sorry..
Hoping this might generate/spark something, somewhere..
Well, its a good reminder that being pro-Israel is a business.
Doesn't bother me at all; I already use Interflora to send my flowers to Israel
I vote for taking the google ads off the blog, if there is no way we can filter them. It's not nice getting banners that support IDF soldiers, attached to articles about the plight of Palestinians. It's a visual pollution. Let's try to find some other ways through which we can financially support the blog.
Is Google the only game in town, or is there a specifically Arab ad service you could use? I'm obviously more sympathetic to Israel than most of your readers are likely to be, but this site is a community, and you shouldn't be forced to run ads to which you or a majority of the readers object. I vote for taking them off. Those who might want to send flowers to Israel someday are perfectly capable of finding out how elsewhere.
I'd say if you can find another source of income, go for it. However, as long as you dont have another reliable and steady way to finance hosting, you may as well stick with the google ads and ignore the Israel ads. I would like to think that people are mature enough to realize the difference between your content and the random ads.
I think the substance is great! I don't even look at the ads. So keep up the good work.
BTW, Google advertisers pay by the click-through, so the appearance of pro-Israel ads doesn't increase the advertisers' marginal cost. If they bother you - and the fact that you wrote this post suggests that they do - take them off. Those of us like me who value this site's Egyptian coverage and insight will gladly contribute to its maintenance.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict already has enough unwilling participants without making you into one. Anyone who might want to send flowers - to the family of a kidnapped soldier, for instance - can go someplace else to find out how.
As stated by many, if you can find another source of income, drops the ads. But I'm sure people will understand the economic issue here and separate between your views and Google's ads.
I actually think that the ads are a solemn reminder of the solid and thriving existence of Israel in the midst of it all.
At any rate, one could hardly imagine the Arabist supporting IDF soldiers or sending flowers to Israel anyway; I think they should be kept.
Thank you for explaining this Issander. For me, it was very confusing to find this large amounts of Israeli Ads on the Arabist. It gives an impression it is exclusively Israeli funded; a matter that contradicts the contents.
I understand the team writing for the Arabist is very busy to look for alternatives and could be earning money if they invest their time writing for $.
As a reader I would say I do care, and the ads did surprise me. Clarification was essential. Yet, I do not know of any alternatives other than give up the ads, fundraise for hosting money from the readers who follow the blog. And they are many and they do care I believe.
Best, Nora
PS: the Manalaa blog needed and still needs funds.. A fundraising campaign was launched last year and now we are thinking of another.. How much are yr costs by the way?
Ignore it, and if that doesn't work, smoke a joint and then ignore it!
The technological advancement of Israel, as opposed to the underdevelopment of Arab countries does not justify the injustice committed by the Israeli state. It's like the British and French colonialists explaining their racist, colonialist, unjust history by pointing to the backwardness of their Indian subjects.... In fact, that is exactly what they did. But where is the occupation now? Israel might be more advanced than its neighbours, but it is a racist state whose very existence was based on a notion of race...very much like Nazi Germany, ironically.
In all fairness, Underdog, most states are based implicitly or explicitly on race or peoplehood or whatever. They're pretty much all built on racist nationalisms (ahem, Arab nationalism? French 'republican values'?), so the Nazi comparison is tiresome. I'm no fan of the occupation, and it would be inaccurate to call me pro-Israel, but I loathe when people talk about the conflict and suddenly lose their ability to make comparisons.
And as for my $.02 on the ads, really, I never even noticed them. Ignore it, I say.
To Underdog: It's not a matter of race, it's a matter of culture. Both Israel and India are thriving because these are relatively open and democratic cultures. These democracies foster innovation and progress even thopugh they are far from perfect societies. Compare Pakistan to India and you'll see what I mean - both were part of British rule, but India kicks butt despite it's antiquted caste system because Hindus by nature are more tolerant. With regards to Israel, there are Jews of every color and race, and there are even muslims. But where are the Jews of the Arab countries - they fled for safety after Israel was created. It's culture, not race, stupid.
Jonathan - are you sure that Google doesn't pay per ad impression as well?
I have to say that the ads bother me. They are an unwelcomed reminder of opinions I find offensive and make a lot of effort to avoid. You can look at having the ads on the site as a waste of advertisers' money or you can look at it as supporting the advertisers by not objecting and boycotting their products and politics. There has to be another way to find funding without compromising yourselves.
Our MES Program used google ads to advertise our summer arabic and persian programs, and I'm pretty sure we were only charged by the click-through.
According to the Google Ads FAQ, "site-targeted ads" are charged a minimum fee per thousand impressions. I'm not sure if the ads under discussion are site-targeted or not (I'd guess not, given that pro-Israel advertisers would have little reason to target this site).
Google also claims to have http://www.google.com/services/adsense_tour/page7.html" rel="nofollow">"sensitive language filters" to block unwanted advertising.
I'm not concerned either way; I use the Ad-Block extension with Firefox.
Mohamed, I'm a recent convert to Firefox, so I'm still trying to find my way around. How can I activate this Ad-Block option?
We are the original:
And how much funding does isreal get from the US? What's the population of isreal?
In the meanwhile, if my opinion means anything, I say keep the ads, and suggest mozilla-firefox and Adblock for those who don't want to see them. Obviously someone's clicking through if you're getting cash; bleed the advertisers dry.
To the Original:
So you are saying that the Israelis have occupied Palestinian lands, killed civilians indiscriminately and treated the Palestinians as sub-humans, not because of their race but because of their culture. That sounds a whole lot better. Thanks for the clarification “original�, very original indeed. What is the definition of culture in your opinion, smart ass? Is it a static state that a people find themselves in, that is immutable? If that were the case, we could talk about some traits of a culture that can actually be pinned down and generalized to a large group of people, but unfortunately "original", eople are not so simple like you. They are so much more complex. I guess you must be talking about some kind of "Islamic Culture" since you singled out Pakistan, which is not an Arab country. So you think that the people in Turkey, Syria, Saudi, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the millions of Muslims in France, the UK, US, etc share this so-called "Islamic Culture" and that this shared culture that is definable across geographical and temporal spaces is inferior to say Hinduism? Do you also think that India’s success is attributable to Hinduism, which is inherently more tolerant, according to your nuanced analysis? I recommend that you get yourself a book of history or better still an education.