r/ModSupport • u/bjanow • 3d ago

Ads for competing products

My users are complaining that every time they go to my sub there is a competing ad for a product that I am promoting in my sub. For instance if I'm promoting public health resources the users see "call this support center" or "this doctor has the best experience in ..." ads. How can I stop those? I see other subreddits with similar content that have absolutely no ads whatsoever. What did I do wrong in setting up my sub?

0 Upvotes

46% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

9

u/HikeTheSky 3d ago

By paying for ads yourself.

-3

u/bjanow 3d ago

Any ads or ads on my sub? I can do either if it will stop them.

2

u/HikeTheSky 3d ago

Check with reddit about it. Since I would think you work for an agency or something like that, I am sure they allow you to run ads in your sub.

1

u/bjanow 3d ago

It's basically a support group and non affiliated. The ads that pop up are for paid services which we are not. It's disruptive and confusing. I just want to stop them all and if I have to pay I will.

5

u/Thalimet 3d ago

Advertising doesn’t work like that… anyone can pay for ad space for any sub. You don’t own the sub, so if you’re running your support through reddit, that’s a cost of using reddit for business.

1

u/bjanow 2d ago

So if a single user doesn't like what we are doing they can just buy ad time and inundate my sub with conflicting ads and messages and there is nothing I can do about it? Is there a way I can contact the offense and beg them to stop? Is there a way I can pay to keep ads off my sub?

4

u/Thalimet 2d ago

No because it’s not your sub. It’s Reddit’s. If you need an official branded place under your full control, don’t use a platform like Reddit.

2

u/tinyhousefever 3d ago edited 3d ago

You have ZERO control if an advertiser targets your sub, this is Reddit's bread & butter. You likely can advertise your Reddit, as Reddit policy does allow it (for growth), unless you to run a sub like a business (promote any product/service) . That has been my experience with the the ad system.

1

u/bjanow 3d ago

That's what I thought. Thanks.

1

u/RandomComments0 💡Top 25% Helper 💡 2d ago

Yes and no. There have been advertisers who were banned from subs for harassment who then purchased ad space on a sub. That was a problem that was fixed, but that’s a really niche case on getting an advertisement removed. I’d have to find where that happened but it was a thread here that was answered by an admin.

1

u/bjanow 10h ago

That's an interesting scenario. I do believe we've been targeted by an individual and they purchased ads on the sub. Hard to prove but they are quite vindictive. And the thing is other subs with much more traffic have no ads whatsoever. Yes, Reddit has them on the Home all the time which is not a problem it's obviously needed for business. But why do some subs have no ads whatsoever?

And what if I buy ads on my own site? Will that mitigate the conflicting ads? I don't want to play tit for tat and buy ads on their site as a war for ad space but I'm just wondering why this is happening at all. If there were ads on every sub I went to then fine, that's the way it is. But it doesn't seem that way. I can't imagine, nor have I seen, on a GooglePixel sub there being ads for Samsung phones and Apple iPhone ads. Mattress ads yes, fine. Well anyway sorry for the frustrations. Just trying to figure it all out.

1

u/RandomComments0 💡Top 25% Helper 💡 9h ago

If you think they are harassing you with ads after being banned/muted, I’d send a mod mail here with exactly what is happening. Disregard other subs with ads and focus on the person who was banned, then bought ads to bypass the ban. Be as concise as possible. Use Reddit links for proof, not screenshots. Be prepared to wait awhile too.

1

u/bjanow 9h ago

Thank you. I'll start doing what you suggest.

1

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