I just received a fantastic message a few hours ago...

[Scream And Fly]

... that this site's Google ads are suspended, thanks to Google Publisher violations on the site.

As you can imagine, I'm thrilled right now.

What are those violations, you might ask? That occurs , among other things, when people post explicit language, direct toxic comments toward people, and cause disruption here. Why would Google care? Because now more than ever they do not want such content associated with ads they serve on publishers' websites.

I have posted numerous times about this. I have reached out to the very small group of people that simply cannot help themselves and find it entertaining to antagonize people here. I have tried every avenue toward making people understand how serious that is for this site. That seemingly doesn't matter to some people. Like starting a fire, the fun to them is in the mess they create.

90% of this site's server costs are paid for because of Google ads. Those server costs are extremely expensive due to the traffic this site processes. The site absolutely depends on it. So as a punitive measure for breaking Google AdSense terms of service for publishers, I get to pay those costs now until our AdSense account is restored.

And the timing could not possibly be better, since I am in the process of dealing with all of the damage to my house from the hurricane. I needed this happening now like I need a heart attack.

The real shame is, some of the people that post toxic comments have a lot of knowledge they share on here, which in turn helps members. So whatever post(s) somebody made to sling insults may have been funny to the person that posted it, but your five minutes of fun will be paid for by me now. Thank you.

There will be member suspensions forthcoming.

And, here's my little trophy from Google.

[hydrochicken]

[rock]

... There will be member suspensions forthcoming.

Sounds fair to me. You make your bed you sleep in it.

Rock

[LakeFever]

Greg its unfortunate that your having to deal with this, again. The frustrations of managing people in light of our current political climate is a mostly thankless role although I will thank you for managing it. You have gone to extreme lengths and efforts to keep the free speech aspect of our community here alive and well. My hat goes off to you

To everyone else who may read this? We can do better guys, for the sake of Greg and the health of this site lets bite more tongue and be more chill. We all know who the real valued and helpful members are. The only ones who dont? Are precisely the ones causing tension.

[rjdubiel]

Let us all know what we can do. I am sure we can cover the costs one way or another as many of us love this site for daily use! The other option is mandatory fees to be here and I know its not the direction you want but maybe that should be just to cover costs. I am not sure it will fix the issue as I am guessing the offenders are paying members.

[Frank Molé]

I think we all can help,but you have to do whats BEST for the SITE................

[mistah_max]

at this point, just call them by sreen name.

i mean, you warned us numerous times, you've been polite in doing so, but now that you have to actually pay from your pocket for this nonsence, they braught it on them to be called out.

i know it takes 2 to tango but some seem to be looking for a argument on every post they make...

[Forkin' Crazy]

Not sure what to think because I keep see advertisements from G00gl3 in header and side banners for Ford, GM, even sexy women's lingerie, on a boat site?

So they punish you but still run their adds?! ... I cannot say exactly what I am thinking, but to be nice and PG 13--- They are giving you the shaft.

[David - WI]

... that this site's Google ads are suspended, thanks to Google Publisher violations on the site.

The notice you posted says ads will stop showing on only the offending page(s); not site wide (for this violation anyway).

Right now Google is still serving ads on the forums and the rest of the site... you can see when you click the blue tag on the ads.



That notice also says you can remove just the offending content and request a review, you wouldn't have to axe whole threads from the sound of it.

It does sound like a hassle but won't cost any money to do. On a site this size there's going to be some moderation needed... there's no way around that.

[transomstand]

So they punish you but still run their adds?!.

If I'm reading the letter correctly, ads have only been pulled on the offending pages (so far).

[rock]

I have said it before, don't feed the trolls. Let the clowns do what they do just ignore. If we do not respond it will go away. They only post to stir s##t.

Rock

[TooStroked]

Greg,

With regards to this part of your original post:

The real shame is, some of the people that post toxic comments have a lot of knowledge they share on here, which in turn helps members. So whatever post(s) somebody made to sling insults may have been funny to the person that posted it, but your five minutes of fun will be paid for by me now. Thank you.

There will be member suspensions forthcoming.

It would appear to me that it might finally be time to weigh the positive contributions of the small number of individuals you're talking about here against the negative financial consequences they have brought on you and the site. Maybe the suspensions need to be permanent. You shouldn't have to put up with this crap. Just my 2 cents.

[David - WI]

Just keep in mind that there are 2.3 million posts by 88,000 members... the number of "toxic" posts is astounding because it's so miniscule.

Not making light of the problem, but I was here when 10% of the new posts were "toxic" compared to 0.01% now?

The forums here are amazingly civil if you consider the size of the group, but like I said any open forum will require some moderation if you want to stay within Google's rules.

[Scream And Fly]

The notice you posted says ads will stop showing on only the offending page(s); not site wide (for this violation anyway).

Right now Google is still serving ads on the forums and the rest of the site... you can see when you click the blue tag on the ads.



That notice also says you can remove just the offending content and request a review, you wouldn't have to axe whole threads from the sound of it.

It does sound like a hassle but won't cost any money to do. On a site this size there's going to be some moderation needed... there's no way around that.

There is an added list of the actual violations, which shows details. What I pasted is just the general message they send. They have provided details, as they always do. The page with the actual and most violations is the forums here. They won't delineate actual posts with several violations. Ads are still showing in the banners because the code is still present. The ad servers cannot stop serving ads at the individual site level with sites using the old-style embedded code like we have. I just won't get paid for it. Removal and insertion of the banner ad code is my responsibility. I'm actually supposed to remove it during any suspension. Since it's only a month in this case, It's easier to leave it unless Google makes an issue of it during a suspension. The hope is to fix the issue and have Google audit the site, but in this case it's more punitive because it's a repeat violation. They will audit the site, but I still receive the suspension. Ultimately, if I continue to allow violating content, they'll revoke my AdSense account. And that's something I want to avoid ever happening.

S&F is still using the old hard-coded banners from Google, which they have been trying to phase out for years. With the site overhaul, the new banner system will be implemented. That new system will allow Google to remove ads at the site-level since it will use their ad server. It also allows advertisers to better track their banner performance. We still use the old embedded Google code because of my requirements that the banners never become invasive to people here, and using the embedded code has much less tracking abilities. Google will eventually discontinue support for embedded banner code within the next few years.

This occurred once before. Usually, AdSense violations are not a big deal if the matter is corrected quickly, but repeat offenses like here are another issue.

We have moderators but babysitting this stuff is very tedious and you can't catch it all.

[engineermike]

Cuda, you might want to put that in quotes with an author/artist; otherwise people might get the wrong idea.