For some time I’ve been reading Calvin and Hobbes on ucomics.com. But I think I’m going to have to stop, because they are running highly irritating ads that are complete lies. Check out this, but brace your eyes first. Even better, don’t: it’s a violently-flashing yellow-and-black GIF saying Winner! Winner! You just won a free digital camera! Click here!. If you decide, as I did, that it’s worth flaming about and click there at ucomics, you discover that it redirects to a random advertiser, many of which are “Page not found”, none of which offer digital cameras, and which include apparently-respectable firms like ValueClick. I wonder if these people know that offensive, lying ads are being used to link to them? (This piece was originally going to be a flame at them for buying this kind of ad, but then I clicked again). I wonder if respectable cartoonists like Pat Oliphant know that their work is being displayed next to this kind of trash? I wonder if it’s legal to run ads which are outright barefaced lies? Would it be OK for me to put ad banners all over the Internet saying Free Beer! pointing to ongoing? [Disclosure: no free beer here.] What am I missing?
