Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | The Google ads are just that

Google controls what ads are displayed based on key words on the page. I have limited control over that, and no control whatsoever over the actual ads themselves (the advertisers determine their own ads).

People are certainly free to discuss the ads and if they see things advertised they wouldn't recommend or use (like a colon cleanser), go ahead and share that.

People with IBS are bombarded with conflicting information and one of the purposes of these boards is to foster discussion of the truly helpful avenues for IBS. The corollary would be to also point out misguided or even harmful treatments that are nevertheless still recommended for IBS (again, colon cleansers are a great example).

The message board traffic accounts for about 80% of our server bandwidth use. Server bandwidth is very expensive, as are some aspects of the personnel costs to manage the boards, help users, control spam, and manage some of the board technical aspects. But, the boards are free for everyone to use.

So, I can either start charging for board use to cover the bandwidth costs or I can support the board costs with ads.

I actually can't remember the last time I saw any message boards on the internet that aren't running ads, especially Google ads. I held out on this for a very long time - years, actually.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience but the ads allow me to keep the boards available and free for everyone.

XXOO
Heather

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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!

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