Strange Ad on TradeMe

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simon14

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#112020 23-Nov-2012 09:39

I found this kind of weird, TradeMe have a skyscraper ad for Blockbuster as per below screenshot that links to a US website and the service cannot be used in NZ:

Links to:

https://www.blockbuster.com/signup/m/plan/p.30235/r.google?utm_source=google&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=google160x600&utm_campaign=helloblockbuster2

These TradeMe ads are not cheap.... seems odd.

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2degrees

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#721701 23-Nov-2012 09:47

Even stranger: driving some place to temporarily obtain a disc you have to return the next day or pay more in late fees than it would have cost you to buy it.

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wellygary

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#721702 23-Nov-2012 09:49

Do you use any VPNs or Proxies?

I think Trademe use Google adsense

So the ads could be regionally generated by Google to serve "local" eyeballs

simon14

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#721715 23-Nov-2012 10:08

I am on my home Vodafone ADSL connection and do not use VPN's or proxies.

TradeMe can be very strict with their advertising, I'd be very surprised if they used Google Adsense anyway.

mattRSK

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#721729 23-Nov-2012 10:17

SaltyNZ: Even stranger: driving some place to temporarily obtain a disc you have to return the next day or pay more in late fees than it would have cost you to buy it.

What is this madness you speak of?

Behodar

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#721739 23-Nov-2012 10:33

The service, according to the terms and conditions, is only available in the US. So why are the options in pounds?

mattRSK

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#721740 23-Nov-2012 10:36

I used that fatso service for a while, but the discs were always scratched.

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#721742 23-Nov-2012 10:37

They may use AdSense as their default, as we do here as well. If they don't sell 100% then AdSense covers the rest.

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richms

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#721806 23-Nov-2012 12:11

Behodar: The service, according to the terms and conditions, is only available in the US. So why are the options in pounds?

Even weirder is if its in the US and they are quoting it in pounds.

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#721812 23-Nov-2012 12:19

Trademe could block it if they needed to. Probably not worth the effort for them.

blackjack17

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#721829 23-Nov-2012 12:48

richms:
Behodar: The service, according to the terms and conditions, is only available in the US. So why are the options in pounds?

Even weirder is if its in the US and they are quoting it in pounds.

For me it is in Dollars

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Behodar

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#721830 23-Nov-2012 12:54

To clarify my "why", I understand the technical reason (I have my browser set to proper British English and it's grabbing the currency character from there) but I don't understand why the Blockbuster site is configured to do that, as opposed to always using a $.

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#721955 23-Nov-2012 16:54

Most likely because they use the same platform for their regional websites (Blockbuster used to have a presence here, for example) so they just wrote internationalisation into it from the start so they didn't have to later.

In terms of why you saw the ad, it is indeed because they use AdSense to fill quota - if you look at the UTM parameters on the Blockbuster site when you click the ad it kind of gives it away. Blockbuster, however, should be given a swift kick for failing to correctly target their campaign however, as there is a section in AdWords campaign manager allowing you to target to markets you actually operate in.

Behodar

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#721987 23-Nov-2012 18:13

Kyanar: Most likely because they use the same platform for their regional websites (Blockbuster used to have a presence here, for example) so they just wrote internationalisation into it from the start so they didn't have to later.

But even then it should be using geolocation rather than the language settings; for example an English speaker in Europe would still want to see prices in euros, not dollars.

Kyanar

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#722251 24-Nov-2012 12:25

Laziness there I assume.

Goosey

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#722264 24-Nov-2012 12:56

Kyanar: Most likely because they use the same platform for their regional websites (Blockbuster used to have a presence here, for example) so they just wrote internationalisation into it from the start so they didn't have to later.

In terms of why you saw the ad, it is indeed because they use AdSense to fill quota - if you look at the UTM parameters on the Blockbuster site when you click the ad it kind of gives it away. Blockbuster, however, should be given a swift kick for failing to correctly target their campaign however, as there is a section in AdWords campaign manager allowing you to target to markets you actually operate in.

I see Blockbuster still has a presence in NZ.

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