Guardian.co.uk screws up on-line ads

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If there is one thing I’ve learnt from going to numerous social media conferences, including Ragan and Web 2.0 summits, is that this industry has and continues to pin its hopes on advertising. If there’s something else I’ve learnt simply from surfing the web, is that advertising online is so wrong. It still amazes me how this industry spends so much money on trying to get the largest audience possible and spends so little (or obviously not enough) to at least ensure that if you are serving up ads that they at least be a little relevant. Am I asking too much? 

As I was reading an article in the Guardian.co.uk site, something was obviously wrong. When I looked at the banner, I realised then that advertising online really does suck. How can a prestigious newspaper with such a notable following permit that its readers abroad be subjected to a banner ad in the most prominent section of the site, to advertise a farting machine of all things! 

There are so many examples that I am beginning to worry where this is headed. If the most reputable newspapers claim to understand the intersection of traditional and non traditional and if politicians pay the head of Obama’s campaign to lecture them on best practices, how can they suffer from the same problem? How can our shadow prime minister have adwords with sexy girls chat and madonna's IQ? 

And what do these advertising companies actually do? It’s mind boggling