Fark NotNewsletter: Google is at it again

This is a multi-part message in MIME format... ------------=_1534350536-74105-60875 Content-Type: text/html Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable [3D"The](3D")= > [3D"Facebook"](3D") [=3D"Twitter"](3D") [3D"Totalfark"](3D") Having trouble reading thi= s email? View it online [here](3D". Comments thread: [ 9834](3D" Unsubscribe links are at the bottom of this message. =20 =20 ________________________ A message = from Drew Curtis: ________________________&= nbsp; Tl;dr Google's at it again - could use some more subscri= ptions So here's a weird thing that popped up early last week.  = ;Google flagged Fark for being out of compliance with Google's advertising = layout standards again. As you might remember, this happened = to us in late 2016. At the time, Google just shut all our ads off for= six weeks for a false positive on inappropriate content - you can read all= about that in [our original note here](3D"=). As luck would ha= ve it, things have changed since then; now Google notifies us in advance an= d only shuts off ads to the specific page rather than the entire site IF ac= tion isn't taken in a timely manner. This time around, Google= says we have links too close to the ad units - which might cause people to= accidentally click on the ads instead of the links. Here's the problem: Th= e links in question are our "report this ad" links, which we'd rather peopl= e actually click to report bad ads - ads with sound on by default or other = annoying behaviors, which we specifically don't allow but somehow seem to s= neak through Google's ad system anyhow despite Google being almost a trilli= on dollar company that makes substantially all of its revenue from advertis= ing. Anyhow, we asked Google how close was too close for our = "report this ad" links. Their response: "We can't tell you." S= o to sum up: Google has told us we're out of compliance but won't tell us h= ow to be in compliance. We've had this problem before, a few years ba= ck Google told us we were hosting an image with "too much sideboob" but wou= ldn't answer the question, how much sideboob is too much? So far thi= s hasn't affected ads any, and I'll update once we have a resolution on thi= s issue. But meanwhile this is a great time to remind everyone to sig= n up for [TotalFark](3D"=) or BareFark if you haven't alre= ady. Last time this happened, we lost a month and a half of revenue a= nd if it wasn't for a huge surge in subscription signups, that would have b= een a mortal blow to Fark. Our revenue hasn't been shut off so far, b= ut just in case I figured it would be worth mentioning - without subscriber= s Fark would have disappeared years ago. As an added bonus you get a spiffy= tag next to your name, as well as bragging rights next time you run into m= e in person that you personally kept Fark running. __________= ______________ We now return you to your usual Fark NotNewslette= r. ________________________ Comment Mentions Solar probe - 15 Parker - 4= 2 Space Force - 463 Charlottesville - 136 Comment Votes Some of the top-voted s= martest and funniest comments from the past week Funny: Redh8t had [some bad news for = a Farker who's tried not to look suspicious](3D"http=) Snarfangel = ong>was eager to find out more about [how ba= d Amazon is](3D" scottydoesntknow knew [how to keep people from thinking you're a serial killer](3D")= Mr. Coffee Nerves was impressed by [how white supremacists have been demonstrating their supremacy=](3D") Wadded Beef [wanted= the recipe](3D" eriphila pointed out [why it's good that Macaulay Culkin turned down a role in "B= ig Bang Theory"](3D") Naido offered advice on what to do = if [someone is fapping, riding a bike, and = breaking into your house](3D") naughtyrev had a great ide= a for [the big hit movie of next summer](3D")AintNoAmoeba let us know [who's upset at the idea that skinny eyebrows might be cultural appropriat= ion](3D" jaytkay argued [in favor of face tattoos](3D" skinink pointed out somet= hing that's [even worse than fake power outl= ets in airports](3D"=) Smart: jaytkay was = not sorry for [a tourist who was arrested in= Dubai](3D"=) edmo thought that [racist people could teach us all something](3D" Pocket Nin= ja agreed that [Amazon didn't have= a reason to ban any self-published authors](3D"http=) LessO2 = figured that [things could have gone very di= fferently when a man stole a plane from Sea-Tac airport](3D"=) jtow= n pointed out [who the real airpo= rt villain is](3D"https=) SpaceyCat explained [why the stolen airplane wasn't shot down](3D") Zev= on's Evil Twin has [high hopes for = the future (and also does nice things for senior citizens)](3D"=) j= bc figured that [dead people have s= ome work to do](3D"htt=) Snarfangel gave [a visual lesson on face tattoos](3D") ElFugawz = g>was shocked by [some bad news about baby b= oomers](3D"=) TotalFark Discussion: Note: This section can = only be accessed by [TotalFarkers](3D"https://=) Funny: OneFretAway found [something i= mportant to remember about another Farker](=3D" Smart: Ba= dafuco explained [why Ansel Adams t= ook black and white photos](3D"ht=) Funny: JerseyTim = g>revealed [the reason some people have dand= ruff](3D".=) Funny: merrillvillain gave advice on = [ordering authentic Chinese food](3D") = Funny: rcf1105 knew [why a Farker wasn't offered the "real" Chinese menu](3D" Funny:= mmagdalene [thinks that th= is photo of Ross Martin is Ed McMahon for some reason](3D=), but the descript= ion is legit Politics Funny: Snarfangel = >found evidence that [Jeff Sessions was eage= r to avoid being held in contempt](3D"https:/=) markie_farkie poi= nted out [how Donald Trump knows that Califo= rnia's environmental laws are to blame for the wildfires](3D"=) dri= pping with sarcasm knew what Trump= was referring to when he tweeted "5 for 5!" KC Dutchman = trong>sang about [Rick Gates testifying agai= nst Paul Manafort](3D"=) dugitman improved [one of the Space Force insignia options](3D") Pol= itics Smart: justGreg got an idea from ["I'd rather be a Russian than Democrat" t-shirts](3D")Ambivalence explained [th= e difference between Sen. Dianne Feinstein having a Chinese spy on her staf= f and Mueller's Russia investigation](3D" nekom suggeste= d [a way to make the best of Republicans' = cozying up to Russia](3D") Weaver95 had a plan in the eve= nt that [Trump resigns because of the conclu= sions of the Russia investigation](3D"=) Ambivalence discu= ssed [what fighter pilots were called upon t= o do on 9/11](3D") Contest Vot= es Some of the top-voted contest entries from last week, = listed from highest number of votes down Photoshops: cowgirl toffee was living the= dream hail2daking [gave Fark a new favorite football team](3D" RedZoneTuba = >found that [Zorro has started working withi= n the law](3D"=) Yammering_Splat_Vector took [a literal approach to "Space Force"](3D") #2 = strong>gave [a reason to support Jeff Sessio= ns](3D"=) Driver showed us [a couple of Russians who are meddling in a U.S. election](3D" Ya= mmering_Splat_Vector made a strang= e transformation RedZoneTuba came up with a name fo= r [members of the Space Force](3D") Yammering_Splat_Vector noticed a [similar taste in fashion](3D" RedZoneTuba showed [a candidate whose motivations might not be since= re](3D") Farktography: Queen Mab won Fark= tography Contest No. 692: "[Beverages](3D"h=)" with [this green tea](3D") Farktography is Fark's weekly pho= tography contest. If you would like to suggest a Farktography theme, you ca= n contact [Elsinore](3D"=) or stop by the [Farktogra= phy Forum](3D". Fark Weird Ne= ws Quiz Results (brough= t to you by ox45tallboy) &nbs= p; Last week's quiz was another toughie, with no one breaking the 10= 00 mark. In first place, we had the Mole of Production wit= h 909, followed closely by Balder333 with 906 and = bobobolinskii with 899. In fourth it was fuzzyracing1967= strong> with 882, and rounding out the top five was Denjiro= > with 868. The hardest question for most on the Hard Quiz was over = the motivations of Florida Man in his recent conviction for conspiracy to b= low up Target stores. Although it's not hard to believe "living in Florida"= would be motivation enough for all kinds of idiotic behavior, in this case= , he had a grand plan. Only 32% of quiztakers knew he wanted to tank the co= mpany's stock so he could buy it up on the cheap for a massive profit. So, = just basic human greed. The easiest question on the Hard Quiz = was, oddly enough, our history lesson for the week. 77% of quiztakers knew = that John Komnenos was so fat that he literally broke the throne of the Byz= antine Empire when he attempted to sit on it following his coup, which ulti= mately failed. No word on if they refunded his security deposit. The hardest question on the Easy Quiz was over which software company wa= s re-branding and asking its users to decide on new company and product log= os. Only 51% of quiztakers still feel Mozilla is relevant enough to read a = story about. They plan to return to the glory days of 1998 and their browse= r dominance, I'm guessing because Microsoft no longer imbeds IE and no one = likes this "Edge" crap in Windows 10, no matter how many stupid little adve= rts that pop up when you open Chrome, telling you that Edge is "faster" and= "more secure". The easiest question on the Easy Quiz was over= a recent trading card sale on ebay. 85% of quiztakers heard that a Black L= otus card from the original printing has sold for $87,672. It seems that bl= ack borders are tens of thousands of dollars cooler than regular borders, w= hich is apparently the only difference between the card in the first and se= cond printing. For 80 grand, I'd expect the thing to physically eat my oppo= nent's entire deck and do 3 points of real damage to my opponent himself so= he can serve as a warning to others. Congratulations to the winners= , and if you missed the quiz, you can [catch up right here](3D". = --------------------------------------------------------------- ([Fark.com](3D"") sent this newsletter emai= l to: {EMAIL}) To stop these emails, go to the Notifications tab of your [MyFark profile](3D"https:=) to change your subscription preferences. Or, [click here to unsubscribe](3D") from newsletter emails, even if your Fark login isn't '{NAME}'. 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