Why do all podcast ads seem sketchy?

Has long as video games podcasts don't take video game adds I am happy, kinda funny took adds for the game volume, and it rubbed me the wrong way, I like the stuff they do but that's just always in the back of my mind and I can't trust them anymore

Crunchyroll has advertised on the Giant Bombcast. Everyone knows that Crunchyroll is the official source for anime or drama. It's literally watch anime anytime.

I used Crunchyroll before they hopped on the bombcast train and I'll continue to use them.

I was kinda sketched out when Jeff said build it, beautiful. Cause the way he read it sounded like he was staring at a anime chick with a hammer. Creeper Jeff.

@bisonhero: I had the same thing with Mr Robot

There's some sketchy ads I've heard mostly from that Fantasy Football service, Draft Kings. "Last week some random guy in Colorado won a MILLION DOLLARS just by using the service!!!" Sounded no different than when comment bots reply with 'My Cousin made $90,000 just from working at home. Go to this random website!"

Never mind that I heard that exact same ad read for many weeks after this supposed person won a million dollars 'last week'. You'd think if they were giving away a million dollars to a new person, you would hear updates, now wouldn't you?

Also what's sketchy are ripoff companies advertising the exact same way. "Want cheap razor blades mailed to you? Go to Harry's-no wait, Dollar Shave Club." "Want cheap mattresses mailed to you? Go to Leesa-no wait, Casper.com!"

Some of the ads deliberately mislead you, such as Blue Apron. The ad says 2 free meals, but what it doesn't tell you is that you must first pay for SIX meals up front, and the two of those will be 'free' but you still have to pay for four meals. And none of it is cheaper than just going to the grocercy store yourself.

Casper Mattresses charges $500 for a memory foam twin, but I found a local mattress store selling memory foam twins for just over $200. So much for that 'Industry Average', the ad always says it's 'undercutting.'

With that said I have used Dollar Shave Club and have no complaints.

Roosterteeth is the worst at ads. It's so dry, and its the exact same ad copy they've had for years, read verbatim. And then a bored "I use this service all. the. time...they're so great..."

I think they make more podcasts purely as a venue to have more ads read. That disastrous Screenplay podcast was nothing but ads and 8 people having three different conversations.

Check this one out: Daily fantasy football sites being probed for insider trading - an investigation has started after a Draft Kings employee won 2nd place and a 5-figure payout at competitor FanDuel's daily fantasy football thingie.

Podcast ads are sketchy because they are often for sketchy companies, and I've always found these two to be the sketchiest.

I'm still confused as to whether I should be using fanduel or draft kings. Should I just pick based on what podcast I like the best? And I don't really like football, but if Vinny or Jeff tell me to buy something I HAVE to buy it

I don't think the ads themselves seem sketchy. For me, it's just the products. Why the fuck would I order a mattress online? That's something you should try out in person.

With that said, I totally used the podcast code back when they were hustlin' Pro Flowers around Valentines day...

It may just be the freedom with which Jeff/Brad/whoever features in the ads record those ads. I think Jeff is the sort of person who knows that no one really enjoys listening to someone giving a sales-pitch so he does his best to sound like he's well-aware no one gives a shit.

I don't have a problem with it though, because it's a bit freeform in how they're conducted, I've never downloaded a single one of the ad-free bombcasts as a result, even though I'm a subscriber. Now, speaking of shady, those DraftKings ads are a bit suspect with this recent scandal going on, but we'll see if they continue doing them in the future.

You might be mistaking your feelings of "unnerving/sketchy" for "unusual/foreign." Typical ads you see and hear outside podcasts have a very rigid structure and studio polish. Ads found in podcasts now these days are part of a somewhat new form of advertisement called "native advertisement." The podcast form of this kind of advertisement typically doesn't pay much, but allows the host(s) to present it their way, which immediately comes off as "amateur" effort compare to the top-dollar ads. Plus, in the case of folks like Jeff taking on the job for ads, they often deliver them with the kind of self-aware humor/tone that screams "We sure as fuck know this ad, and so do you!"

I don't think the ads themselves are sketchy, more the increasing frequency of "breaks" seemingly only to fit in an ad.

The only ones that sound "sketchy" to me are the fantasy sports gambling ones, and that's more due to the service than the ad read. It doesn't help that they're straight reads of advertiser written copy rather than delivered by the Giant Bomb crew in their own style, or that the same ads are on every podcast out there.

I've generally been ok with the Bombcast ads, as they were entertaining and had personality. I presume they get pressured to read copy as supplied by advertisers, as recently they've been less interesting. I find myself considering using the premium feed to get the podcast ad-free more and more these days just to avoid the Draft Kings/Fan Duel ones.

This isn't Giant Bomb's fault, but as someone who listens to several different podcasts, I get really bored of hearing the same ads with the same script read on all of them. As a non-US listener, it's doubly irritating because they're never applicable to me.

I think some of my favourite ads were on TESD, where they'd start with the script and within a few seconds it would deviate onto all kinds of tangents. The first time they got an ad for Naturebox and ended up describing it as snacks for douchebags had me cracking up.

I don't think I've enjoyed a single Netflix exclusive comedy special, and have never been able to make it through an entire one either.

I actually find Podcast commercials to be kind of fascinating. Obviously the advertisers give the presenters some skeleton of a copy to gloss over, but the way that they all seem relaxed enough to let the Podcasters do them in their own styles is a bit refreshing in a world where every other advertisement is meticulously designed and written.

(also I could use some new underwear)

I find all ads sketchy. "As Seen On TV" is a fucking joke because most shit sold on TV is a joke. If I hear another fucking Beezid commercial on TV I'm gonna fucking kill myself. (Note: I said hear, not watch, closest I come to watching TV is hearing it from another room.)

Radio ads are the same way. Just because they polish them up to trick people who are probably really dumb (Because they associate a well produced ad with not being sketchy, which makes them the biggest fucking sucker of all) doesn't mean that they're on the up-and-up.

Wow. This thread got me thinking. I'd forgotten that there was a time when the Bombcast didn't have ads. I miss you, Ryan.

I'm guessing that many podcasts will reduce their promotion for Fan Duel other commercial fantasy sports after the recent news about employees using insider information to win.

At the same time Kinda Funny advertised Volume, they also said that they wouldn't give it any coverage beyond that. It was explicitly stated on their shows that they were disappointed that Volume asked them to advertise because they actually wanted to talk about it.

I like it. It's like old timey radio, no overproduced drivel.

For me, I find podcast ads very fun... but that's based mainly on the Bombcast/Beastcast and Joey Diaz's Church of What's Happening Now. The skits on the GB casts are really entertaining, and the energy and enthusiasm on the Church pods is great (the interplay between Joey and co-host Lee is hilarious).

It's always hard to know how much the people giving the adds really believe in what they're saying, but in these two cases, I enjoy the ads because they go with the flow and tone of the wider podcast.

So Draft Kings has been revealed for the scummy business it is. Who's next?

Will this be addressed? Okay sure they are a sponsor but (in a perfect world) we are supposed to trust our hosts and want to use the products that they sell us. Now that this one has been revealed to be a scam will Jeff continue to sell it to us knowing it's staffed by dirtbags out to get rich on suckers?

+Crunchy Roll

"What are 10 services I'll never use?"

@lordjezo: I looked up the company that matches podcasts to companies wanting to advertise. They're called Midroll. If I'm Draft Kings, I buy an ad campaign on Midroll. I can select how long the campaign lasts, if my ad goes at the start, middle or end of a podcast, what podcast I want to buy onto, how many episodes I'm buying into and how many ad spots I get in the campaign. So as Draft Kings, I run a campaign for say four weeks, I buy 4 midroll ads on the Bombcast and 4 postroll ads on the Beastcast so that I get an ad a week on both of those.

That would suggest to me that Jeff and Vinny don't really have much of a choice of who to advertise and when and in order to get money from the ads they're going to have to complete the contract put in place between them and Midroll. I'm sure @jeff could correct me on this if I'm wrong, but that's how it looks from the Midroll site. Podcasts offer up a number of spots per episode and companies like Draft Kings, Shave Club, Crunchyroll etc buy those spots.

So it'd be up to Midroll to step in and void the deal between them and Draft Kings and Fan Duel (who I assume use them too).

that jen kirkman special was great. dont be crazy.

Jim Jeffries had one that was amazing. I also thought Chelsea Peretti's was pretty good too because it was fun parody of stand-up specials themselves.

I guess Giant Bomb don't give a fuck that Draft Kings is corrupt.

I think this betting on games slightly disguised as "one week fantasy" is the worst thing to come to sports in years.

saying that I dont really care if they pay giant bomb to read about them. its also something that hasnt been really settled yet. if it turns into a big scheme (Which draft kings is denying) then maybe just drop them but its up to the company to defend themselves not giant bomb.

if we're just airing grievances about ads- i do wonder about the business and economics of all this. it's been mentioned in the thread already, but the advertising pool seems alarming small- i hear the same ads in a different rotation on nearly every podcast. it's getting stale, and it leads me to think we might be in something of a bubble- the past 1.5 years has seen a uptick in interest surrounding podcasts, but i have the gut feeling that this will all subside once people get over 'serial' and the ad dollars are no longer justifiable.

i mean, how many razors is harry selling (as a direct result of podcast ads) anyway?

I'm definitely a little disappointed they're still reading Draft Kings ads when not even ESPN will touch that shit anymore. I'm hoping they're just ignorant to what's going on.

@mellotronrules: It's just down to those companies having lots and lots of money and buying up as many slots as they can on every podcast they can. And they're getting feedback when every time someone comes along and uses a code that it works.

I really don't understand this logic... They don't seem sketchy at all. And I either knew of or have used in the past most of the services/products that are advertised on podcasts and have never had a bad experience with any of them.

@bones8677: are you implying Rooster Teeth might not be totally on the up and up and actually has no idea what they're doing? Nahhhhh

Deadspin: I Tried Daily Fantasy Sports and It Is Evil (10/01/15)

NY Times: In Fantasy Sports, Signs of Insiders' Edge (10/12/15)

Wondering if the people in charge of ads have considered dropping some of the fantasy betting ads. The FBI is apparently investigating fantasy betting websites, as reported New York Times today (October 14, 2015): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/sports/draftkings-fanduel-fbi-investigation.html

Ads pay for the site and salaries, so I know this is a tricky situation. But I think once things get into putting ads for companies with bad business practices operating in a legal grey area, the guys should put their foot down and simply go for another ad. I think long-term, this is the only sustainable option.

Nothing sketchy about it. Unless you think hot loot crates delivered to your door and filled with all sorts of Geek Gear is sketchy

The people i know who have used Draftkings have always been paid out properly and their money has never just vanished without being bet.

It's the same as if they started running an etrade ad or something, the stock market is just as (if not more skeezy) than something that tells you on the nose it's a gambling site

No one is sayinhg they are just up and taking money what we're saying is that what they are doing is gambling that is only legal through a loophole and that as it exists in a loophole there is no oversight and therefore no accountability so it was a matter of time until either someone took advantage of it or it was discovered it was all a sham just like all those old internet poker sites from the mid aughts (oughts?, 00's, how do I type mid 2000s shortly?)

Could you give examples of how?

@hypnotoadbrwowrowrow: Employees from Draft Kings where winning big money on FanDuel and vice versa. Both sites opperate the same way. There's an investigation going on by both the FBI and Justice Department. The accusation is that the employees of Draft Kings used the data available to them to game the system on the opponents site, under the idea that the employee at Draft Kings knows what customers are putting their money into and thus can use that data to figure out where the best place to put money into is on FanDuel's pools because more than likely (and they where correct), customers are putting their money behind the same players on both sites.

So if I worked at Draft Kings, I know all the customers are putting money behind Tom Brady, so my value for him isn't going to be great. So instead I'm using my insider knowledge of how my system works to game FanDuels players by picking a better valued player.

@jesus_phish: but that "better valued player" still has to perform at a high level, so while your potential profit rises with less people taking x player, the better cannot guarantee that Brian Hoyer is going to go 36/42 for 412 yards and 4 touchdowns.

"Hey, small businessman. Seriously. You are like 4'10."'

because all the products seem like they are from the same cut of cloth as "as seen on tv"

seriously... monthly snacks mailed to your house? monthly razors? monthly underwear? All seems shoddy as F

@ottoman673: Not really, he has to perform at his standard level and you'll be alright because everyone else is ignoring him. The point really is that employees are using in house data to game the system and making a lot of money. I believe the cost of players depends on their popularity, so someone like Brady is going to be an expensive pick, taking up most of your salary cap and leaving you with bad picks to fill out your roster.

Employees have won serious money on their competitors site and the investigation is to determine if the system is fair or that those people have an unfair advantage compared to other players. Bloomberg had a piece about how something like 0.5% of the players at Draftkings account for 98.5% of the winning line ups.

That's my understanding of it anyway. Also when approached, the CEO of Draftkings said he didn't think they needed regulation. Make what you will of that.

Yeah its a bit dodgy because while employees might have access to the data - pretty much anyone who follows football knows that people are gonna back Brady and other big star players, driving up their value...meaning you could possibly get more total points in a week from an assortment of B-tier players.

Inflatable Crown

@nodima: Now I'm even less surprised!

@bartok: That's how the advertisers want it. Having the personalities do the ads instead of just running pre-recorded inserts is believed to produce a better connection to the product for the consumer.

They don't tell the personalities what to say (merely what not to say) and hope that also gives it a more personal feel.

So the first domino may have been pushed over.

Nevada Regulators have stepped in and legally decided that daily fantasy sports drafts are a form of gambling and if they wish to continue they have to buy a license to operate in the state. So as of now, a bunch of daily fantasy sites (there's more than just FanDuel and Draftkings) no longer operate in that state because they're desperate to not be seen as a form of gambling because that would ruin their image.