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Click This Link And Get A Free HDTV!

Jake, Colossus of Clout

20:45 / 12.02.07

What the heck is the deal with these banner ads? Just in the last ten minutes I could have received a new laptop by answering, yes or no, "Do You Like President Bush?," won a PS3 by knowing where Eminem is from (L.A., Detroit or "Batswana") or nabbed a new iPod for knowing who some generic-looking celebrity was. I might not have won the iPod, but I could have walked away with a PS3 and a new laptop? Supposedly.

Does anyone actually click these things? I can't imagine them to be very effective advertising, and no one could possibly be dumb enough to think they're going to walk away with the alleged prize, so why do they exist? They fascinate me.

The Ghost of Tom Winter

21:05 / 12.02.07

You get a free iPod in exchange for signing up to various mailing lists and getting x amount of people to sign up as well (in addition you have to sign up for things like cd mailing companies or netflix where monetary value is a necessity). Then you get thousands upon thousands of spam everyday from now until you die. But look on the bright side, you the proud owner of a brand new HDTV!

23:19 / 12.02.07

They exist because people are stupid.

Not the people here like, the more general 'people', the same kind that roam the internet punching monkeys and randomly installing all sorts of allegedly free stuff, then moaning about the terrible performance of their machines and all the pop-ups they're suddenly suffering. Spammers and banner ad designers wouldn't carry on all these years if it wasn't working for them, so obviously enough people the world over are clicking on these things.

People are stupid.