This morning I arose to find a tweet with a link to Cllr Chris Irvine's blog post (here) about Cllr Osborne's shiny new website having an advert for a Legal Loan shark company on it.
I found this most intriguing and entertaining but felt I should dig deeper and not just jump on the bandwagon. After all truth is the one thing that should be strived for and attained in these matters.
Cllr Osborne's defence is that the website, in this case Google through its subsidiary Youtube, checks your cookies (as he so condescendingly put it to me this morning) and applies an add accordingly.
This is indeed true, and Cllr Osborne is innocent in this case... Or is he?
I took a quick look at the link on Adchoices... (if you look under the ad you'll see the link marked "Adchoices") and it says;
While Google often shows you ads based on the content of the page you are viewing, we also show some ads based on the types of websites you visit, view, or where you interact with an ad or other Google product supported by Google's advertising services.
So... it is based on what is on the page you are currently looking at and what is in your cookies so it is indeed possible that it isn't just Cllr Irvine's Internet cookies... Especially that I have looked at the site and got a similar link and have never looked into a loan website in my life!
Ultimately though it is a battle of semantics and I care not one Iota either way.In fact if I hadn't been spoken to like some sort of Lackwit I wouldn't have even bothered writing this...
The point is that it may not be his fault entirely but Cllr Osborne should take the following into consideration:
1. The Cookie policy of his website which he claims is clear on his site is about as clear as the Medway under Rochester bridge.
Firstly it is under "contacts" which I'm sure is not where many would look for it and I would suggest to end further confusion that it is put under "Disclaimer"
Secondly the language, which is used is hardly clear to those of the Internet community that can run the thing but aren't able to tell you how it works.
2. There are plenty of other video programs other than Youtube online. It would be wise for a future PPC with designs on Parliament to think about all possible outcomes and possibilities. Esepcially one who has reported other's for similar lapses...
The media, especially the real of the Internet, is a vast uncharted minefield - one false step can bring untold chaos and criticism and there are plenty of people watching and waiting.
