When Sedo.com introduced themed domain auctions, it was clear that they are targeting a particular segment of the domain market. For example, their Geo Auction was about geographic domains, the Jobs Auction was related to domains pertaining to the employment industry, and so forth.
Themed auctions allow for a group of sellers to attract a particular group of buyers, interested in the specific domain auction theme. Sedo advertises these themed auctions that usually last for a week on its network of affiliated sites and on their pages under Sedo.com, by displaying related prompts, text and graphics ads.
Sedo is having an Adult Auction starting August 6th and for that purpose they created this adult banner ad (view at your own risk) right here. The ad is displayed with at least a 40% “weight” – in other words, 4 ads out of 10 impressions would show the adult banner; the rest would be unrelated banner ads.
The problem lies with the way that this ad – which features a semi-nude blonde seen from the back – appears on any Sedo.com page, without regard to the audience that might be viewing it. For example, it appears on offer pages for domains listed at Sedo for sale. Anyone with the intention to place an offer on a domain, stands a chance of seeing the ad, which also contains three domains from the adult inventory up for auction: DirtyVideo.com, Pornos.net & SeePorn.com
With thousands of visitors viewing “offer pages” of domains parked or listed with Sedo daily, almost one out of two viewers would face the adult themed ad without any warning or preparation of any kind. For example, someone might be browsing for a domain that is about kids’ toys, or books or medical supplies and will see this ad alongside the offer page for this non-adult domain.
Since I reported the consequences of such a thoughtless promotion at a DNForum thread yesterday, a Sedo representative responded with the following statement:
Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We apologize for any offense that was taken to the banner advertisements; it was not Sedo’s intention to offend anyone with this campaign. While we understand our users’ concerns, this image does not contain any explicit adult material. Also, this specific advertising banner is cycling through the offer pages and should not appear on every offer page viewed.
Your concerns regarding this have been shared with the appropriate people for review; a response with more information will be posted shortly.
Almost five hours later, the ad is still visible without any changes made to where it is displayed. With the Internet moving faster than corporate bureaucracy permits, this blog post is now #2 on Google for the terms “Sedo porn“.
Perhaps this will be the catalyst in removing the ad before it causes additional financial loss and negative publicity, both to domain portfolio holders and the unsuspecting visitors of Sedo pages.
Update – 8 hours later:
It appears that Sedo has removed the image frames that displayed the porn domains. While not a fully satisfying solution, I am glad that Sedo responded to my justified reaction to this unwelcome imagery. Let’s see what Sedo will announce officially tomorrow.
“With the Internet moving faster than corporate bureaucracy permits..”
Cool line right there…
never thought of it that way.
In the time it takes a corporation to write memos and hold meetings, the Internet has already made it’s decision.
Again, good line 🙂
I fail to see the problem. A bare back is not “adult” and the word “porn” is neither unknown nor harmful to even the most sheltered child.
Bravo for your efforts… and I completely agree that porn is not good for you or anyone.
Did you see the one on their homepage recent sales section this morning ?
B i g C * * k s.c o m was listed – looks like they’ve now removed it and swapped it with a smaller one – enlargement.c o m LOL
I’m not a prude but I was really surprised to see that listed on their homepage.
Dan, that’s a very dangerous statement. In your own house you can make such choices, if you must. When it comes down to engaging in business by promoting one’s domains for sale via Sedo’s portal, there is no room for such erroneous actions.
Deals break at the point that an image which escapes one’s definition of acceptable is displayed. Otherwise, we’d be walking around in the streets with no clothes on.
Acro,
Will all due respect, if you find a banner showing a lovely girl’s back offensive that is your opinion and you are entitled to have it.
However, bringing this up and picking on Sedo like you are doing, that I would say is a very dangerous attitude. This is actually a very discreet and classy banner, probably chosen for the exact opposite reasons you are mentioning.
N o, it’s been 4 months since they were alerted and di nothing:
http://fragerfactor.blogspot.com/2009/05/sedo-sex-ads-just-click-in-nasty-place.html
Iridium, maybe you didn’t read my post carefully? The banner is not offensive to me, it’s the fact that it can be offensive to my clients who’d be facing the words “porn” plastered on a semi-nude image while browsing at my non-adult domains. It’s a thoughtless act by Sedo that disregards my business interests.
Owen, thanks for the link. That further proves my point that Sedo does not care about your business. It’s time that the FCC is alerted about this blatant pornograffitti.
Ack ol buddy… that image isn’t any different than one you would see in a catalog, a newspaper ad, or a magazine ad in Family Circle. I don’t understand what you’re complaint is, really.
Did they list porn ads on domains not having anything to do with porn? Because if they just showed this image, it looks like a piece of artwork any 10 year old would see viewing the Louvre or an encyclopedia of the most respected paintings in the world of art.
So, I don’t get it. Can you expound on it a little further?
thanks
I find it both interesting and sad that companies who wish to promote an upscale image also seem to feel the need to involve themselves in sleaze.
Libertarians and plenty of others may see little harm in promoting porn, but ask any of the company managers dealing in that stuff if they’d like to see their daughter on any of the sites for the domains they’re selling.
I’m no prude, but it makes me admire those who avoid bottom feeding.
Stephen – the argument is not what constitutes mild or hardcore porn versus art at the Louvre, but rather, whether it’s appropriate for a business to display visuals and words of adult nature to customers who are shopping for anything besides adult domains. It’d be similar to peddling pornography via an ice-cream van.
We notified Sedo that we’d stop sending clients to their marketplace as long as they’ll be promoting dirt.
To the majority of commenters that feel this image was severely objectionable:
Not to ruffle any feathers, but are you guys this conservative about…everything??
I respect your opinions – I truly do. But I am also quite troubled by what I am reading: this image is INTERPRETIVE to me – and NOTHING IN THE IMAGE SUGGESTS PORNOGRAPHY. For all we know, this is a woman in a strapless dress, peeking shyly over her shoulder. Or at its worst, perhaps she is covering up her front.
By the measure of your arguments, the ENTIRE AD – regardless of image – is inappropriate. If you have objection to the ad in general, that is more understandable. As Acro stated, he had mostly an issue with the placement. Perhaps there can be separate adult-domain channel on Sedo or something; would make sense for many reasons.
But arguing that this IMAGE is pornography is…mind-boggling.
Stephen made a great point about paintings & art. If Sedo was promoting art, and this image were a painting, would you (or your clients) have trouble with that, as well?
Domain Stacker – that’s old news by now but thanks for sharing your point of view.
It seems you missed out on the heat of the moment when this ordeal was going on, a month ago.
The idea is not about ethics or one’s tolerance of nudity, it’s about forcing the same amount of tolerance onto unsuspecting visitors and potential customers of one’s portfolio – especially when there is no distinction between adult and non-adult domains.
The mere fact that Sedo toned down the negative impact by removing the clearly pornographic domains listed on the ad, shows that they examined the issue paying respect to their clients – us.