Ads for Giantbomb on other sites

So I saw a banner Ad for the Giant Bombcast while perusing MIT's Technology Review. Highlighting reveals that is from Google (so I'd probably see it eventually somewhere else) but it just struck me as so out of place that I had to show it and ask if anyone else has examples.

MIT's TR is a technology-focused business and news site who usually has ads that betend to be important reviews or business recommendations (in the below image on the bottom-right, you'll see one for an Abu Dhabi investment company). So Giantbomb's Ad sitting in the centre with that stupid amazing luchadeer really caught me off-guard.

Maybe companies should start give themselves crazy mascots (as if they were a new cereal) and place themselves in the middle of serious business magazine websites - it caught my attention!

It's probably happened before (and I've forgotton), but I feel like this is the first time I've actually seen an Ad for Giantbomb on a non-affiliated site. Anyone else got examples?

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It might be Google using your web history to feed you ads that might interest you. Good to see that Luchadeer still has a place on the site though!

Interesting. Didn't know GB had ads out there. Considering the combination of the old site logo and the prominent Luchadeer, I wonder how old this ad is. It's certainly not bad or anything, but the content in it suggests that it's maybe a few years old.

Google ads do this thing where it knows where you go online and tries to cater ads to your tastes. So, that would explain why it's there.

I believe you can also set them to a specific... I can't think of the word so for the sake of discussion... you can set it to a certain "genre (?)". Giantbomb is maybe listed under "tech" advertising. I make that assumption as the site seems like it would use "tech" rather than "gaming."

Speculation aside, though, ya that's pretty funny. I didn't know Giantbomb had ads for the site out there in the abyss. That's smart, though.

Wow, I didn't even notice the logo has changed... but you're right!

@cornbredx said:

"Verticals" is the word you're looking for. (Christ, I hate marketing lingo).

@conmulligan: Wow. I'm not sure if I feel better knowing that haha

Thanks, though. =)

@thunderslash: @cornbredx: Oh I know (that's why I mentioned highlighting it showed a Google link - I meant to say that it was clearly one of google's tracking Ads that I could have seen anywhere and this was just a rare occurance where it was so out of place).

@conmulligan: Thanks for the "marketing lingo" (I'll be honest - I've never actually witnessed someone not on TV/movies use the world "lingo"). I like seeing these lists, they always point out tiny biases I have on how things connect (for instance, it seems odd to me that Books are in their own section independent of "Arts & Entertainment"). It's also interesting to see that they categorize Nintendo, Xbox and Sony Playstation individually.

I actually look at my own ad preferences once in a while to see how they changed. For instance, it currently has "Golf" mentioned - despite the fact I have never seen anything on Golf and "Vehicle Shopping" despite the fact that I cannot drive and aren't planning to. Advertising is weird.

Boom. Yeah, now that you point it out, it probably is an old one. Just makes me wonder why I've never seen it until now then. And if your curious, it was a direct link to the podcasts page on here (and not a broken or old iTunes link or something) showing last weeks bombcast.

@dixavd said:

Yeah, the new logo popped in around February 2013 when Giant Bomb got the big redesign. If memory serves, the original logo was Dave Snider's work, while the redesign was done by Alexis. I recall Dave having some very kind things to say about Alexis's work. So the ad is probably at least that old. Still, that Luchadeer makes me think that this is probably from 2009 or 2010. The whole ad just has that early Whiskey feel to me. And that's certainly where I would expect the link to go, but I appreciate the clarification. Maybe @rorie knows a thing or two about Giant Bomb's advertising strategy and can give us some further info. This behind the scenes stuff is fun.

It is weird that it is advertising the bombcast when it should have been VinnCo.

I look forward to the Giant Bomb advertorials in The New York Times.

My new wallpaper.

It's google, so it's using browsing data to determine you like video games.

Luchadeer is everywhere!