so, a friend of mine was on his facebook tonight, and he called me to tell me there was a DrunkDuck Banner Ad for Powerjeff on the Facebook site.

i though he was just calling to be a jerk, but he read the ad and described the partial image of the latest page i have up right now. he said it looked like it was randomly generated by a program, “Read ____ on DrunkDuck.com *image*”.

he went to reload the page to see if the advert would feature another book, but he couldn't get it to come up again.

are we doing adverts on other sites, such as facebook now?

Must be :)

I dunno. Pretty cool if we are though!
I could find out…
But I don't really want too…

Love the idea. It sounds right. DD does do stuff like that and has in the past in various ways.

That would be pretty cool. Facebook has pretty good ad software, I get very specific ads because of my affiliation with my university.

I hope this means we'll get more forum people, I would love to have an influx of conversation!

I don't agree with them using OUR comics, without our knowledge and permission, to advertise THEIR service on other sites. (Did the ad link to powerjeff's page, or just the DD main page? DD main page I'm betting.)

On the surface it seems harmless, but I'm not sure that's in the DD usage ‘contract’ anywhere, and in a way it makes it look like the comic owners are endorsing the ads and site they're advertised on. Facebook isn't very objectionable, but I think there's an ownership/notification issue here. It would have been MUCH better if they had at least asked the comic owners' permission before using them for advertising. Most people would happily say yes.

skoolmunkee
I don't agree with them using OUR comics

Spoil sport :(

Well, personally, I'd be fine with them using Living With Insanity to advertise DD if they asked me first (and also if they linked right to LWI, but that probably won't be happening). But to do otherwise seems a little amoral, especially if they're using content that they don't own.

I suspect the ads direct people to the work it's advertising.

ozoneocean
I suspect the ads direct people to the work it's advertising.

If the banner is auto-generated somehow (as powerjeff's description said it looked a bit like) then it may not be linking to that, it may just be pulling from a pool of randomized images but all linking to DD's main page.

We don't really know what it's doing unless we get hold of Platinum and ask.

skoolmunkee

ozoneocean
I suspect the ads direct people to the work it's advertising.

If the banner is auto-generated somehow (as powerjeff's description said it looked a bit like) then it may not be linking to that, it may just be pulling from a pool of randomized images but all linking to DD's main page.

We don't really know what it's doing unless we get hold of Platinum and ask.

good luck getting a straight answer out of them.

as far as where it linked to, unfortunately, we didn't get to find out, since in my friend's excitement he reloaded the page. i seriously doubt it would have linked directly to my comic since the description sounded very generic.

personally, i wouldn't mind too much if my book was used in advertising for drunkduck, as long as i knew it was going on. from the sound of things, no one has any clue how or why or when PS started doing this.

I've gotten hold of our contact guy, he tells me that the only DD ad on Facebook should be for Night School, and that Nick and Amy have been involved in that process. Nothing else should be in use. I've copy/pasted your original post to him so he can follow up with the ad guys to find out what happened.

Sorry if I'm depriving you of an ad :] But I don't think they should be putting out ads without the creator's knowledge so wanted to follow up on it.

Skool's a spoil sport like that.

She doesn't drown kittens or puppies though. :)

————
Naaw. It was a very responsible thing yo do to find out and pursue that angle.

hopefully json doesn't get any stalkers that want to try to date rape him…
you know how they do on Facebook and all.

When it gets to MySpace, that's when the shadiness starts happening.

TheMidge28
hopefully json doesn't get any stalkers that want to try to date rape him…
you know how they do on Facebook and all.

DATE RAPE?!?!
sign me up!!!!!

ozoneocean
Skool's a spoil sport like that.

She doesn't drown kittens or puppies though. :)

She feeds them to Carly.
Speaking of, where is she?

i advertise drunk duck on my site.

:kitty:

Plat guys say that the Facebook thing is over, and no ads for DD should be anywhere at this point. If they are still appearing (and especially for comics that were never involved) then something has gone wrong.

They'd like anyone who sees a DD ad to take a screen capture of it so they can chase down wherever/whoever this might be coming from.

Hey, guys. Just wanted to let you know that we here are not, nor have we been running ads for Drunk Duck on Facebook. There were a few running for the Night School fanpage but I've been told those have ended now. If we did, we definitely wouldn't use any of your artwork without asking first, just like we asked Nick and Amy before doing anything with Night School, even though we were publishing Night School.

If somebody else is running ads for DD there it's not us, nor have they let us know anything about it. When/if anyone sees this again, would you please take a screen shot and PQ me about it? I'd like to find out who and put a stop to it right away. It may be someone trying to do a nice thing, even, but they shouldn't be doing it without our knowledge or using art without talking to the owners about it. We have never and would never do such a thing to you guys.

Platinum Dan
Hey, guys. Just wanted to let you know that we here are not, nor have we been running ads for Drunk Duck on Facebook. There were a few running for the Night School fanpage but I've been told those have ended now. If we did, we definitely wouldn't use any of your artwork without asking first, just like we asked Nick and Amy before doing anything with Night School, even though we were publishing Night School.

If somebody else is running ads for DD there it's not us, nor have they let us know anything about it. When/if anyone sees this again, would you please take a screen shot and PQ me about it? I'd like to find out who and put a stop to it right away. It may be someone trying to do a nice thing, even, but they shouldn't be doing it without our knowledge or using art without talking to the owners about it. We have never and would never do such a thing to you guys.

thanks, dan. that's good to know.

i wouldn't have a problem with my art being used for ads…..but it does raise the question that if it isn't you guys at PS, and it isn't us here on DD….then who is earning revenue from the ads? very strange indeed.

I know Facebook just recently changed their TOS stating they have rights to all images and can use them in any way they see fit…(paraphrased). I wonder if there is a connection between this use of facebook images for advertising and this ad yoor friends saw.

Do you mean who is paying for the ads, json? Facebook ads are on a CPC (cost per click) and are relatively expensive, given that you can target very specifically the people you want to see your ads. Take a good look at the ads when you're on. Chances are, they have something to do with things you've talked about in your profile or groups you're a member of. I'm extremely curious who would be paying for those.

And, Midge, I don't think it would have anything to do with that. If it was Facebook themselves, why would they use ads to send people to other sites? It's very interesting. I do appreciate the help in trying to solve the mystery, BTW. I'd really like to find out who is doing this.

Json, do you have a facebook fan page for Powerjeff there by any chance?

I think what json was saying is pretty much what you pointed out with the second part. Who would be paying to place the ads, and what profit would they be hoping to get? There's no one who would do that, logically, unless there's something we don't know.

Maybee his friend was just pulling his leg, or saw a DD ad and assumed PJ would be on it-and got to excited to notice it wasn't.

Platinum Dan
And, Midge, I don't think it would have anything to do with that. If it was Facebook themselves, why would they use ads to send people to other sites? It's very interesting. I do appreciate the help in trying to solve the mystery, BTW. I'd really like to find out who is doing this.

Json, do you have a facebook fan page for Powerjeff there by any chance?

But that's it, his friend never clicked on the ad so we can't confirm if it takes a person to DD. But if json had adverts and images for Powerjeff in relation to DD then Facebook would use those images in their advertising appealing to viewers viewing his page or other suscribers linked to json which may appear as advrtising DD and Powerjeff.
Just a thought.

Maybe contact Facebook and ask them?

Dan: no, i don't have a Powerjeff fan page on facebook. we've joked around about having one, but never actually made it. i did put a link to my comic page on a couple people's facebook pages, however.
what kind of struck me about the generated revenue was who would front the initial cash for the ad, and who would be making money of the clicks.

i don't think my friend would call me to pull my leg like that. he's a very honest man. and he read the ad, which featured the “chia spores ceral” page that was the most recent page at the time….one that could be linked by using the default /powerjeff html address that i included in those links to my friends (but not the afore mentioned friend in question, he's a longtime fan of PJ as it is).

one thing that does kind of worry me…..is the change in facebook's TOS. i am going to have to read that all the way through again. that is pretty scary to think they could just use and photos or artwork i have on my page. looks like i'll be taking a lot of my imagery down from there.

from the facebook terms of service…..

“When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. Facebook does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content.”

Sounds like a densely reworded Creative Commons almost.

json, if you have been watching the news Facebook have changed their new TOS under the public pressure back into something that the users feel more safe with.


The only option here that makes any sense would be that another one of your friends bought the ad space for you and hasn't told you. Depending on how much that costs though, it could have been a pretty nice gift…

skoolmunkee
json, if you have been watching the news Facebook have changed their new TOS under the public pressure back into something that the users feel more safe with.


The only option here that makes any sense would be that another one of your friends bought the ad space for you and hasn't told you. Depending on how much that costs though, it could have been a pretty nice gift…

very true. i'm not sweating it, one way or the other. just made me curious as to whether or not we're adverting on different websites. now i know we're not officially, i'm actually not gonna worry about it. if someone wants to advertise for me, then awesome. more people to read my crazy story.

it actually sounds like something my mom might do….she's sneaky like that, and she lives on facebook. she'd never admit it though.