In view of this from RAMPAGE I have suspended my last two postings on this matter.
OK, we have looked very hard at this issue and we have actually discovered an error within the ad server.
This error (which involved the filtering of which blogs get which ads) made the criteria for the display of sexually themed ads too strong, which resulted in these ads being displayed on blogs with no sexual content. To be more specific, this error resulted in text segments being searched with the result that words such as 'cocktail' or 'cockateel' were considered to be sexually themed.
We apologise most sincerely for this error. We have shut down the majority of the sexually themed ads while we are working on this.
However, once this problem is resolved, blogs with sexual content will have ads of a sexual nature. Since Google do not allow us to display their ads on these sites, and since ads are specifically selected for display depending on the content of the blog, there really is no alternative.
However, we have NEVER deliberately displayed sexual acts or genitalia or any sort, and we have not actually seen these ads to which many of you are referring, despite repeated attempts to locate them. We would be very grateful if someone who can see these sexually explicit ads could drop me a BM with a screenshot if possible, or indeed any information about them whatsoever.
Again, we can only offer our sincerest apologies for this error. We understand that we have alienated a number of users because of it, and that is something that affects us deeply. We will, of course, strive to ensure that this does not happen again.
In the meantime, we can only request your understanding and patience as we work to get to the bottom of this and to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Thank you,
Your BCUK team
Many thanks to everyone who supported this issue.
