While sitting around the breakfast table with my family this Thanksgiving weekend, my dad pointed out something shocking to me that he found while reading the Lansing State Journal’s (our hometown newspaper) editorial page. There was an advertisement for the soft porn videos Girls Gone Wild. (see screen shot above)
I’m shocked that a newspaper would promote something that is so flagrantly offensive and degrading. The publisher of the newspaper should apologize for allowing this to take place.
Oatmeal Stout - Justin Thorp's blog 
I’m curious if they’re using a ad network instead of selling and placing the ads themselves. If so, that would definitely explain this instance.
they are definitely using an ad network… I suppose the same crop of ads would also include PG 13 movies that could also be offensive to some people..
the question could be.. what control do the ad networks have in censoring ads? and in the future with more targeted ads and the technology for user controlled selection. You could opt out of the sexy ads in place of a viagra ad. I guess we would need a system similar to the movie rating system for ads?
Most ad networks have just that feature. However it not only takes the network offering it but the site setting up correctly. Looks like both have failed here. Then again I bet if you look in the classified ads section of this paper you will find “escorts and date lines”
On the flip side, a local paper interviewed me a few years ago because a VERY conservative college purchased distribution through an online ad network.
The Christian college unwittingly placed their banner ads on all kinds of XXX sites. They paid for “impressions” – but didn’t specify the quality of impression they wished to garner.
Whether you’re an ad purchaser or a publisher: You gotta be careful about these things!
Sleazy is easy: quality control takes discipline.