Warning to Rescues whose web pages use Google AdSense

[madkittyrescue]

Have sent you a message Carol.  There are settings we can take to tweak the categories and sites that are blocked and I have updated the filters since getting yourmessage however the problem is also in the fact that a lot of ads are served based on your previous searches, that we can't do an awful lot about however we have most settings off.

[Tiggy's Mum]

This is why Tan chose this particular forum type when she first started Purrs off, a lot of forums do the same with the adverts and you could find g*mtree animal ads at the top of a rescue forum 

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

When I was at the vets a few days ago he mentioned in conversation that a friend of his in Scotland wants to give a home to a couple of kittens so I've just been browsing the Sunny Harbour web site to see if its in the right area.  It isn't 

However, I was shocked to see an advert for one of the free-ads sites inviting me to rehome my cat through them.  It occupied  a prominent position on the home page and I know this is the last thing any rescue would want to promote.  It was in the Adchoices column and when I clicked on the  AdChoices button for further information it appears that Google chooses what ads appear there based on the known search histories of the user and cat rescues being one of my common searches it decided I would like to know about this ad site.  .  Presumably anyone else looking to home or rehome a cat/kitten will have a similar search history to mine and will also see that advert.  I'm no computer expert but I assume that the web page owner has no contol over what ads appear there but I find this worrying.