How Old Does This Match.com Girl Look?

I have advertising on my website. I had added one advertiser that ended up posting questionable ad content. I gave them a chance to remove the questionable content. When they said they cannot, I sent notice that I was removing their ads and ultimately did.

When I get on MySpace, I usually ignore the advertising that I see. However, there has been an ad that has been popping up that is really annoying me. The video ad has what I believe to be questionable content. The worst part - this is a major company running the ad.

The company? Match.com.

Of course Match.com is a online dating site. And you have to be over 18 to participate, although I have no doubt there are a couple people on the site that are underage. So to increase subscribers, Match.com uses advertising, just like any other company would.

Their ads work like this: It reads your personal information (whether you are male or female, straight or gay), then it puts up a video ad of a person that is supposedly sitting in front of their computer. The person is twirling their hair, laughing, removing clothing or doing something that will get you to watch the ad until you click.

For the longest time I have ignored these ads. Yes - From time to time I watched to see where the splice mark happened. But when I first noticed  this particular ad, I became really irked.

The ad stars the young lady in the pictures to the left. She seems to do the same things that most of the other people in those videos do.

What’s the problem? Well, I don’t think this woman looks 18. The mannerisms she is going through makes me wonder if Match.com wants people to feel like they are looking at an underage kid.

There are a few versions of the same ad featuring different girls and guys. They pop up on various websites like MySpace and annoy us until we click to another page. But should I feel like I am doing something wrong simply for going to check my Social network site?

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I understand you have to try and get people to your website. You buy advertising to help. Ads on a page get very little click-through rates, so you dress it up. Moving ads will do it, but video is the ultimate enticement. You advertise on MySpace because there are Millions on this famous social networking site.

I am not upset at the idea of the ad itself. There are some pictures below of Match.com people that I don’t really question. However, when I see a ad that makes me feel uncomfortable - And I am a pretty liberal kind of guy - I think that Match.com has gone too far. What’s worse is they are not taking any action on it.

I sent a message a couple months back to Match.com about the advertising. I told them about my feelings on how this ad depicts people under 18 might be on the site. I have yet to hear an answer.

I really hope that Match.com re-thinks the ads that they publish. I am not sure what their click rate is, or even if people are sitting and actually watching the ads. If anything, let’s be aware of how something looks out on the internet.