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Etology Removes All BitTorrent Sites From Their Ad Network

Etology, an online advertising firm based in the U.S. announced that it will stop serving ads to all BitTorrent sites in their advertising network on December 1st. They argue that they have no other choice because of the legal implications involved and the potential risk to their advertisers, whatever that may be.

Etology Kicks Out BitTorrent SitesIn the email sent by Etology to their BitTorrent site customers they write: “Due to the legal implications involved with sponsoring torrent sites, our management team has made the decision to remove from our network torrent sites that promote copyrighted content.”

They probably mean “promote sharing of copyrighted content”, but that’s a minor detail. According to Etology this move is needed in order to to minimize risk for their advertisers. It is not sure what the risk is, but apparently some of their bigger clients don’t what their ads to appear on BitTorrent sites. At this point it is not clear if only BitTorrent sites are affected, or also the huge list of warez sites in their ad network.

Most companies don’t want to be associated with sites that offer links to copyrighted material. Others see it as a great outlet to advertise their products, last year Wal-Mart placed targeted ads for DVDs of popular TV-shows such as “The Sopranos”, “Smallville”, “Desperate Housewives” on The Pirate Bay during the holiday season. The ads appeared on pages that linked to corresponding torrents.

Etology served ads for Demonoid, Torrent-Finder, TorrentReactor, TorrentPond, BTScene and several other sites. There are still some options for BitTorrent site owners to monetize their websites, with Adbrite as the leading ad provider. Other alternatives are CPX Interactive, AuctionAds, ShoppingAds and unfortunately plenty of adult and gambling related programs.

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  • Jo Mo

    wow big deal, so we lose some banner ads, does anyone really care? less ads the better all round

  • James

    Well.. for advertising companies to fear the MAFIAA. Goes to show RIAA and anti-pirate mobs are a cartel that should be stopped.

    Illegal acts by the RIAA etc. seem to be accepted now days. What gives?

    Entrapment, Spying, I.P harvesting.

    Governments need to stamp out this Illegal mob of gansters.

  • Skullflower

    To Jo Mo –

    The reason this is a big deal is because the ads give the torrent sites money. Take the biggest ad site out of the picture and the torrent sites have less money for server upgrades or whatever else they may need the money for. And really, I would rather not have Adult ads. =P

  • Jo Mo

    To Skullflower –

    there are other ways to “ad” and a lot more adproviders, and not just adult ones ;) who will be there to take the place. just because we lose one, it’s no big deal. only people taking a hit on this is etology

  • JuanAndOnly

    I’m starting to suspect Ernesto is being paid by a 4 letter American group. The articles he’s been writing for a few months now only help them.

    If any other ad network on the little list he posts at the end of the article starts dropping p2p sites, he is going to be part of the reason.

  • FUCK YOU TORRENT FUCKER

    HAHAHA, you will lose more and more advertising sources you scamming fucks.

  • James

    Has everyone else met the resident Troll here?

    Prob. a fat middle aged recording exec.

  • FUCK YOU TORRENT FUCKER

    You better obey the law we paid for. It’s cost us all a lot of money to pay politicians etc.

    Now we can sit back and control all you bastards again and take in all the money.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAH

  • Axel

    [quote comment="225464"]wow big deal, so we lose some banner ads, does anyone really care? less ads the better all round[/quote]

    yes its better for the user.. how ever with out advertising no revenue.. no revenue no site.. so in the long run advertisment IS better for the user.

  • FUCK YOU TORRENT FUCKER

    hahahaha

    We won. We can now control all of you sub humans.

    Power to the businesses !

    All the scummy workers of the world will now be under our control

    hahahaha

  • LukasS

    ShoppingAds suspended my account some time ago, was serving their ads on my torrent search engine, never got answer why.

  • lolwut

    Will they be removing ads from TorrentFreak for linking to sites which link to the sharing of copyrighted material?

  • Media Defender

    Remove everything off the internet that’s not business or shopping related.

    Internet is business only. Forums should also be banned

  • x

    i luv saft on my mac

  • Joe

    Well I think they are protecting the people clicking on the links more then they are protecting the advertisers. Get used to this kind of behavior in the industry, people don’t want to be sued! And you do you mean: “They probably mean “promote sharing of copyrighted content”, but that’s a minor detail.” this is no minor detail you morons!

  • Media Defender

    That’s right, you are all morons.

    I’m going to be laughing big time now i’m getting my massive fat cheques coming in again.

    hahahaha

    Business owns all you morons.

  • laim

    [quote comment="225558"]Remove everything off the internet that’s not business or shopping related.

    Internet is business only. Forums should also be banned[/quote]
    WRONG: the internets is serious business.

  • Media Defender

    No. The internet should be for business only.

    If private workeing class citizens want to access it, they should require a licence with monthly fee.

  • Dave

    Lately, it’s been bad news after bad news. After the latest posts, I’d like to see a summation of the status of torrent sites. It seems bittorrent is disappearing fairly quickly at this point. I’d like to know if that were true.

  • Zoness

    Bittorrent is disappearing for n00bs maybe. Most people will get content if they want it by one method or another. And whats the deal with the guy pretending to be Media Defender? Aren’t they like some ice cream shop or something?

  • Media Defender

    It is true.

    All you scumm will have to leave the internet.

    Business should have taken over long ago. The internet isn’t a tool for scum communicating garbage to each other and wasting bandwidth.

    Internet is for business and rich people like myself are taking it back and making you slaves of the system the way it should be.

  • bittrucker

    How shall I put this delicately? Fuck you, “Media Defender”, you worthless piece of shit.

  • b

    The Pirate Bay have an awesome new music section (it’s not officially live yet, but you can guess the URL if you think hard).

    It’s quite cool, allows you to browse music by tags. There’ll probably be a good-news article here on TF when it launches.

  • Media Defender

    Worthless? I’m the one who’s wealthy not you!

    I have plenty of money thank you, and it’s about time people like me take back what is ours.

  • SuperSeeder

    TorrentGeeks.com

    Good Invite Codes

    D8pZw5nl

    5PcFc17p

    Dont Get me Banned!!!!

    PEACE!!

  • JollyRoger

    Thanks SuperSeeder :)

  • Roflcer of the Lawl

    OH LOOK ANNOYING AD FUCKS HAVE A CONSCIENCE!!

    Good riddance.

  • Free Pirate Allaince

    although i hate ads and want them gone, many torrent sites need them in order to keep up and running.

    @media defender
    go fuck yourself.
    the rich will not survive what is coming.

    once capitalisim is dead, man will be free.

  • Media Defender

    Capitalism will not die.

    This is the way it should be. We can’t have anarchy here or in the streets.

    The internet should be and is now being controled by the coporations to keep all the morons in line.

  • cc

    there still plenty of ads company to fill up the hole

  • SockPuppet

    If that’s media defender for real I bet they, the people who employ you, would love to know how much time you spend “working” on their content protection harassing people who visit this site.

    However unlikely that really is, so stop using someone else’s character you shallow shitbag.

    ==
    eee first comment!
    ==

  • Anonymous

    WTF can they do against ad companies??????
    THEY DONT DO ANYTHING WRONG OR ILLIGAL!

    fucking extorsions!

    America can go to hell tbfh, they break their own laws and constitution over and over yet whine like pigs when laws in other countries are different.
    had it with america, going to “steal” as mutch i can from dollywood..

  • George W. Bush

    [quote comment="225716"]WTF can they do against ad companies??????
    THEY DONT DO ANYTHING WRONG OR ILLIGAL!

    fucking extorsions!

    America can go to hell tbfh, they break their own laws and constitution over and over yet whine like pigs when laws in other countries are different.
    had it with america, going to “steal” as mutch i can from dollywood..[/quote]

    Well go ahead hate America until I, err I mean we put u in Guantanamo Bay for hating America.

    Go to hell fighter against freedom!

    oh and Chaney told me to tell u to go f*ck yourselfs.

    Also U are all a bunch of terrorist combatents.

    I am in charge, I Rule the LaW, A dictatorship can be a heck of a lot easier, and Michael Moore can goto hell since he supports terrorism, he is a P2P Pirate Terrorist in support of Insurgents.

    I will make sure the FBI arrests you all and without a search warrant, heheheheheheh HAHAHAHAHA I Win, Bush u amaze yourself, I am the Winner, I am the champion, I mean we are the champions.

    have a good day terrorist killers.

  • Anonymous

    [quote comment="225716"]WTF can they do against ad companies??????
    THEY DONT DO ANYTHING WRONG OR ILLIGAL!

    fucking extorsions!

    America can go to hell tbfh, they break their own laws and constitution over and over yet whine like pigs when laws in other countries are different.
    had it with america, going to “steal” as mutch i can from dollywood..[/quote]
    Without America all the rest of the world would have is The Beatles and James Bond movies.

  • Dave Grohl

    Anyone else think we’re losing this war?

  • just another human

    Less banner ads the better, have huge lawsuits against them ads and their makers….now that is an idea….

  • Anonymous

    No we are definatly winning big time MAFIAA is just an annoyance, they will die off eventually and p2p will only get bigger and better

  • Minime

    [/quote]
    Without America all the rest of the world would have is The Beatles and James Bond movies.[/quote]

    I think I could live with that!!!

  • Fransw

    Hmm, is it just me or is there a get-out-of-jail-free card involved. If a siteadmin does not say that users can upload torrents to copyrighted material (but doesn’t say that they can’t either!), then he clearly does not PROMOTE the sharing of copyrighted material. And such, he would fall outside the definition that Etology put up….

    ~Fransw

  • The Bad English

    I would very think that will loose out at the end of the day.

  • Roel

    [quote comment="225647"]Worthless? I’m the one who’s wealthy not you!

    I have plenty of money thank you, and it’s about time people like me take back what is ours.[/quote]

    I have friends and get laid everyday. Who need’s to be wealthy.

  • Rosco .P. Coltrane

    [/quote]
    Without America all the rest of the world would have is The Beatles and James Bond movies.[/quote]

    Hey thats not fair……..what about Coronation Street, Eastenders, and……..erm, and….Amy Winehouse…(?)…….

    I’m English (and proud), and it really pisses me off seeing all these US haters. While GW Bush obviously has his faults, at his core he is a good man, and the US is a good country. No country can ever be perfect, but our culture & lifestyle (by our I mean Western), is the fairest in the world. We have the fairest laws, and the US & UK genuinely do try to make a better world. Anyone that can’t see this we will drop bombs on…….No, kidding.

    Most people would agree with me, apart from the religious Zealots and Lunatics of course >_>

  • whatever…

    i think its funny that media defender thinks hes fooling anyone…

    actually it looks like he has fooled some idiots…

  • santa

    Big whoop… who gives a rats ass. Its not like were short on online advertising companies.

    This only has one real result:
    Etology’s revenue will be smaller next quarter, and might even piss off thier shareholders

  • Fransw

    [quote comment="225928"][/quote]
    Without America all the rest of the world would have is The Beatles and James Bond movies.[/quote]

    Hey thats not fair……..what about Coronation Street, Eastenders, and……..erm, and….Amy Winehouse…(?)…….

    I’m English (and proud), and it really pisses me off seeing all these US haters. While GW Bush obviously has his faults, at his core he is a good man, and the US is a good country. No country can ever be perfect, but our culture & lifestyle (by our I mean Western), is the fairest in the world. We have the fairest laws, and the US & UK genuinely do try to make a better world. Anyone that can’t see this we will drop bombs on…….No, kidding.

    Most people would agree with me, apart from the religious Zealots and Lunatics of course >_>[/quote]
    Ohh, cool! I’m running out of ammo to throw back at those yankees!

    ~Fransw

  • Anonymous

    TORRENTFREAK = RIAA/MPAA

  • oneplusone

    [quote comment="225593"]No. The internet should be for business only.

    If private workeing class citizens want to access it, they should require a licence with monthly fee.[/quote]

    Hey doorknob. I pay that already. It’s called my bill. However, the notion that someone could want to “Licence” what my eyes are looking. You’d jave better luck gouging my eyes out in person.

  • The Bad English

    Being greedy is one thing but bigoted like Etology is another one thing.

  • Alex Jones Supporter

    [quote comment="225928"][/quote]
    Without America all the rest of the world would have is The Beatles and James Bond movies.[/quote]

    Hey thats not fair……..what about Coronation Street, Eastenders, and……..erm, and….Amy Winehouse…(?)…….

    I’m English (and proud), and it really pisses me off seeing all these US haters. While GW Bush obviously has his faults, at his core he is a good man, and the US is a good country. No country can ever be perfect, but our culture & lifestyle (by our I mean Western), is the fairest in the world. We have the fairest laws, and the US & UK genuinely do try to make a better world. Anyone that can’t see this we will drop bombs on…….No, kidding.

    Most people would agree with me, apart from the religious Zealots and Lunatics of course >_>[/quote]

    George W. Bush has a heart, sh** he is in the Builderberg group, he is a loser that wants us all to be slaves, think next time b4 u say he is a good person, Hes a piece of s***.

    HES A BUILDERBERG GROUPIE.

    HES A SKULLS AND BONES MEMBER.

    Think next time b4 u think he is a great president.

  • George W. Bush

    Don’t listen to Alex Jones Supporter, hes a terrorist, Alex Jones is a terrorist, he is a freedom fighter, fighter against freedom.

    I love Dictatorship, and you should too or else I will kill, er I mean arrest you not kidnap you.

  • Moo, I’m at UCF

    hey, person calling him//herself media defender. the devil’s advocate thing really gets under the skin of some of the people here, huh?

    (a lot of you guys need to relax and think before posting)

  • octave

    oh my… that bashing and utter nonsence going on here is amazing!
    some people just lack everything.
    thanks for the story, sad about the ads. never really payed attention to them though!

  • Anonymous

    [quote comment="226251"][quote comment="225928"][/quote]
    Without America all the rest of the world would have is The Beatles and James Bond movies.[/quote]

    Hey thats not fair……..what about Coronation Street, Eastenders, and……..erm, and….Amy Winehouse…(?)…….

    I’m English (and proud), and it really pisses me off seeing all these US haters. While GW Bush obviously has his faults, at his core he is a good man, and the US is a good country. No country can ever be perfect, but our culture & lifestyle (by our I mean Western), is the fairest in the world. We have the fairest laws, and the US & UK genuinely do try to make a better world. Anyone that can’t see this we will drop bombs on…….No, kidding.

    Most people would agree with me, apart from the religious Zealots and Lunatics of course >_>[/quote]

    George W. Bush has a heart, sh** he is in the Builderberg group, he is a loser that wants us all to be slaves, think next time b4 u say he is a good person, Hes a piece of s***.

    HES A BUILDERBERG GROUPIE.

    HES A SKULLS AND BONES MEMBER.

    Think next time b4 u think he is a great president.[/quote]
    Don’t taze me bro.

  • Pingback: Etology to Torrents: No Ads for You! « NewTeeVee

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  • aXXos mom

    The last time i saw an ad i forgot to turn ad-block back on. I almost had a heart attack and then i remembered what was wrong.

    gg adblock and fu ad companies.

  • The beauty of sharing

    The truth about copyrights:

    It is to screw the rest and benefit the few who will serve as their master.

    Why should we respect someone who has no respects for others who have no money to buy what they need?
    Why should we respect nazi, dicatator propaganda? used to milk the population that it cost them next to nothing to reproduce what they have
    with internet it cost nothing to copy 0 and 1′s

    Its all about control and enslavement
    If you don’t see that or are brainwashed then you’re retarded and need a reality check.

  • Anonymous

    [quote comment="225484"]HAHAHA, you will lose more and more advertising sources you scamming fucks.[/quote]

  • BTGuard - BitTorrent Anonymously

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