PLEASE READ AND COMMENT Is it wrong for the virtual cruise threads to have lots of links?

Doodledog
targeting I’m only using the word that advertising agencies use and data gathering sites like Google.
Why do you think the adverts on GN are different to MN : the target audience.

MichaelGransnet Has now clarified the situation regarding links, so we can use them and accept that they are providing enjoyment & information to GN's. I notice nobody has mentioned that deleting your browsing history & cookies and is something that should be done every so often.

I often put links to factual information to help people. I would be sorry if they were no longer allowed.

Thanks to the links and advice that StarDreamer Has kindly provided, I've now got Google Maps for Venice and Duolingo installed on my tablet; without that help, I wouldn't have had a clue.
There was recently a thread about Marks and Spencer dresses; it had loads of links so that posters could look at, and critique the clothes on offer. Never crossed my mind that it could be perceived as advertising; I just thought people were generously sharing their knowledge.

StarDreamer

Casdon

I don’t have any problem with the links to virtual tours, they are from a wide variety of sources and people can follow them or not as they choose.
I am uncomfortable though about the constant references to Duolingo, which is a commercial site, given that there are alternative ways of learning languages. I think some would construe that as advertising.

Well, yes, Duolingo is a commerical site.

I learned that it is free from a Gransnet post.

Actually I have rarely noticed the advertisements, they are static and unobtrusive and only appear between lessons.

Lessons are not interrupted by advertisements, the questions and answes do not have examples such as "I use whizzo to wash my shirts".

YouTube adverts are sometimes intrusive, but YouTube is provided free and a person can pay to have no adverts on YouTube. I find that to be a good balance.

Over the years the Digital Divide has become an issue in society.

If only rich people could learn from Duolingo that would not be good.

If Gransnet were only available to those who set up a direct debit for so-much-a-month that would not be good.

If ITV were only available on a subscription basis that would not be good.

People who are not well off financially get the programme content free even though they are not going to buy a new car if one is advertised.

Though I have noticed, looking at various websites around the web, that since I looked at various websites about cruises and where they visit, advertisements for cruises keep getting displayed on websites nothing to do with cruises.

Yet that is nothing new in general terms. I regularly have Tesco grocery deliveries and I place the orders on the Tesco website.

I get adverts to have Tesco deliveries displayed on various other websites.

Yet those websites do not have paywalls for their content.

Yet television advertising is regulated by law in this country as advertising breaks are only allowed at natural breaks in the continuity.

CNN, which for a while was free to air on Astra in the United Kingdom in the 1990s sometimes carried advertisements from an advertising trade body for "Advertising - Your right to choose" and there was one where it started with a grid of colour televisions all showing different colourful programmes, and it said something about what if there were no advertising allowed, what would you get, and all these pictures started going out and there was a monochrome picture of a man sat behind a desk reading from a sheet of paper and he said "And as a matter of fact ..." or something like that and then the screen went to "Advertising Your right to choose".
.
For completeness I add something that I wrote in the other thread.

I have always had a policy of never becoming "an affiliate" for a link to a site as I feel that if I post a link to a website that sells something that I only do it to tty to be helpful and that I should not receive any reward for doing so.

Also, when various sites have offered me something if I send through them an email to someone I know and they buy something, I have never accepted.

If I inform a friend of a website I do it privately and not for gain.

I’m not doubting your intentions Stardreamer, what I was trying to say was that by you posting so frequently about Duolingo, it could appear to others that you were advertising that particular course, particularly when you pose questions about how to use it and recommend other people to use it. I know you have been learning Welsh, and there are lots of other free resources available for that for example, including by the BBC, Open University and Welsh Government. I’ve noticed how frequently Duolingo has been mentioned, so I’m guessing other people have too - but maybe not and I’ve just noticed because of the learning Welsh references. I’m sure that’s not your intention, but you did ask us about links, so I responded with what I thought.
I know that the adverts that appear on our own Gransnet front page are referenced to things that have been mentioned in threads we are on, and I don’t have a problem with that, although I’m a bit weary of adverts for sheds and greenhouses, I’m obviously their target audience.

MissAdventure

Oh, I forgot, you asked for a comment, stardreamer.

I think it's absolutely fine for you to post however you see fit, regardless of people old (and new! and there have been a lot of those, it seems) who try to tell you otherwise.

The site is for everyone to use, and its clear to see that you like things done in an orderly, organised fashion.
That's fine.

And nobody is disagreeing with that. Link or don’t link - follow links or don’t follow links. As GNHQ have said they are fine with that. No hidden agenda

Shshsh....... BBC doesn't know that ITV exists.

Here is something I remember.

BBC used to have an early evening television programme called Nationwide.

I am no fan of horse racing at all, but I remember, because of the implications of what happened, the following.

There was a sequence about how a horse race, called The Derby, was happening the next day.

On and on about this.

Then it goes back to the presenter.

He tells viewers that you can follow The Derby tomorrow afternoon on BBC Radio 5.

I thought that strange. I knew from general knowledge of The Derby being a big event, I wondered why it was not on television bearing in mind the BBC's seeming obsession with broadcasting horse racing, obsession to the extent that they call it Racing and not Horse Racing.

So I picked up the TV magazines and checked.

It was to be on ITV most of the aftenoon.

So, I consider that as the BBC chose to broadcast about the event they should have said it was on BBC Radio 5 and ITV.

How do they do it these days when the World Cup (short for World Cup of Men's Football ) is on and some games are shown on BBC and some on ITV?

Do they actually say or do they sort of go "Ah, the game between A and B is tomorrow and we will bring you highlights the day after" or do they actually say that the game is on ITV?

Casdon

I don’t have any problem with the links to virtual tours, they are from a wide variety of sources and people can follow them or not as they choose.
I am uncomfortable though about the constant references to Duolingo, which is a commercial site, given that there are alternative ways of learning languages. I think some would construe that as advertising.

Well, yes, Duolingo is a commerical site.

I learned that it is free from a Gransnet post.

Actually I have rarely noticed the advertisements, they are static and unobtrusive and only appear between lessons.

Lessons are not interrupted by advertisements, the questions and answes do not have examples such as "I use whizzo to wash my shirts".

YouTube adverts are sometimes intrusive, but YouTube is provided free and a person can pay to have no adverts on YouTube. I find that to be a good balance.

Over the years the Digital Divide has become an issue in society.

If only rich people could learn from Duolingo that would not be good.

If Gransnet were only available to those who set up a direct debit for so-much-a-month that would not be good.

If ITV were only available on a subscription basis that would not be good.

People who are not well off financially get the programme content free even though they are not going to buy a new car if one is advertised.

Though I have noticed, looking at various websites around the web, that since I looked at various websites about cruises and where they visit, advertisements for cruises keep getting displayed on websites nothing to do with cruises.

Yet that is nothing new in general terms. I regularly have Tesco grocery deliveries and I place the orders on the Tesco website.

I get adverts to have Tesco deliveries displayed on various other websites.

Yet those websites do not have paywalls for their content.

Yet television advertising is regulated by law in this country as advertising breaks are only allowed at natural breaks in the continuity.

CNN, which for a while was free to air on Astra in the United Kingdom in the 1990s sometimes carried advertisements from an advertising trade body for "Advertising - Your right to choose" and there was one where it started with a grid of colour televisions all showing different colourful programmes, and it said something about what if there were no advertising allowed, what would you get, and all these pictures started going out and there was a monochrome picture of a man sat behind a desk reading from a sheet of paper and he said "And as a matter of fact ..." or something like that and then the screen went to "Advertising Your right to choose".
.
For completeness I add something that I wrote in the other thread.

I have always had a policy of never becoming "an affiliate" for a link to a site as I feel that if I post a link to a website that sells something that I only do it to tty to be helpful and that I should not receive any reward for doing so.

Also, when various sites have offered me something if I send through them an email to someone I know and they buy something, I have never accepted.

If I inform a friend of a website I do it privately and not for gain.

I honestly am quite capable of managing my own interaction with adverts. I couldnt work out how to open a gate today but adverts I can manage.

MissAdventure

I think it's quite clear what is happening.

I can promise I’m not targeting anybody MissAdventure, I said what I thought about posting links and advertising, as requested in the post.

I think it's quite clear what is happening.

MerylStreep

Galaxy
Nothing wrong with advertising. It’s the way it’s used = psychology.

And people can choose whether or not to buy the things advertised.

I would much rather see ads for kitchen equipment and dresses I might wear as for cars and high heels that I can't walk in.

It's really that level of difference - nobody is being 'targeted' as though by a sniper or a spy.

Oh, I forgot, you asked for a comment, stardreamer.

I think it's absolutely fine for you to post however you see fit, regardless of people old (and new! and there have been a lot of those, it seems) who try to tell you otherwise.

The site is for everyone to use, and its clear to see that you like things done in an orderly, organised fashion.
That's fine.

MichaelGransnet

Hi all, we're fine for Gransnetters to share interesting links on the boards.
Of course, if you have any concerns - for example, a post might contain a spam link - then please report to us and we'll take a look.

Thank you for clarifying.

How about links for sea salt clothing, et al..?
Are they ok?

Blossoming

What about the ‘Wordle’ threads Casdon? The New York Times is a commercial site, do you construe those posts as advertising too?

I was thinking more of the constant references in posts to Duolingo and the intricacies of how it works, rather than the odd mention of it Blossoming. I don’t think the Wordle threads do that, but I may be wrong because I don’t go on them, people seem more focussed on the result they get each day. It’s a fine line between saying you use a particular tool/site, and others thinking you might be promoting it because of how frequently it’s mentioned. I’m not suggesting that’s happening, I just think that’s how it could be construed.

Galaxy
Nothing wrong with advertising. It’s the way it’s used = psychology.

But farnorth is right this has been thrashed out on another thread and GN have clarified their position.

I use Google and you tube multiple times a day. I am able to decide whether I need to worry about that or not. I am glad we have advertising, it provides a platform for alternative views.

Not sure why this has to be brought up and reported?
Because someone on another thread was complaining bitterly and StarDreamer wanted clarification from GNHQ, which we now have.

Blossoming
The New York Times is not a data gathering company: Google is. Why do you think Google paid $1.6 billion for YouTube 15 years ago: advertising = money.

And blossoming s point about wordle is a good one.

I dont think adverts are a bad thing though perhaps that's where we differ.

I see what you mean Casdon but it's a fact duolingo is free and many, many people use it.
It does contain adverts, tho, which I manage to ignore.