This morning 3 of the 5 new featured posts were clearly advertising. One appears to be for some sort of drug sold illegally. Does anyone look at these before listing them? If not, is there no way to code in the common language used in ads that would filter them out automatically (as I;m sure happens with obscenity and hate language)?

I've mentioned this to the Editors a few times and got no email response. The editors seem more concered about certain popular posters and banning them.

They also highlighted one where a guy was looking for a hooker. No it was not mine.

I encourage everyone to hit the yellow triangle and report abuse. michele 369 and james 24 are two that I've asked the Editors to check out.

I don't know about this issue, but I have the impression that Katie has left and whoever replaced her is in over his or her head.

I asked why there have been no Word-of-Mouth awards lately and somebody wrote the office is behind and that it will get back on track in a few months.

HTTY

Sorry, but posting a thread isn't a very effective way to get the monitors attention. You need to flag ('triangle of death') either the thread in question or the profile. Otherwise -- how will the editors be expected to know about the problem??

I think the featured threads is an automated function- not sure about that though.

It must be automated, given some of the posts that get featured - especially on the weekends.

Lee Ann

I reported several this morning, maybe 5 or more. I finally told the editors I felt like I was shopping in a mall because there were so many ads.

I always report abuse - eery time I see it. And have also sent a note to editors - but got not response. Agree that the listing may be automatic - but they must have built-in certain "key" words that prevent the post from being listed - since we don;t get them with obscenity or hate language (which did happen at times in the past).

I think they should be able to come up with a list of words that would prevent the post being listed.

Just so everyone knows, the "featured" posts aren't chosen by a person. They are chosen by software and posted automatically. We take down spam as soon as we are told about it. You can report a specific post as spam by clicking on the report button on the post, and then it will be taken down as soon as someone can get to it. You don't get a response when you report a post as spam. But I'll tell the powers that be to see if we can figure out a better filter.

And Katie has been gone now for over 2 years.

Thanks Doug, but maybe Fodor's should not wait until someone tells them about it but whomever is responsible for censorship on the boards should check the automated features as well.

Just a thought.

I report obvious advertising as soon as I see it, and sometimes add a taunt to the person who tried to put it past the editors here. In every one of the dozens of posts I've reported, the ad was removed in a matter of hours -- in one case, in less than five minutes! That's good enough for me.

I can't imagine any algorithim that could separate an ad from a legitimate question simply on the basis of words.
"I'm looking to purchase abc, where can I find it in this city?" is a legitimate posting.
"If you want to purchase abc in this city, you can find it at yyy." is advertising.
No matter what 'abc' is, there's no way to say whether its usage in a post is legitimate or not.

We're kind of stuck with us regulars being the eyes for advertising. If you see it, report it.

Well said, Paul! My sentiments (and experience) exactly!

What PaulRabe said.

There are filters for that, but they are expensive and would probably mean that we would have to pay for access.

In the same way that I have to put up with "lower your credit card interest" calls to my cellphone (I have never carried a balance) as the price of having a phone in 2011, we have to put up with a very, very small number of illegal posts, mostly in the very early morning or on the weekend as the price for using this forum.

We have a mechanism to report problems and that mechanism seems to work.

Commercia agents trolls spammers abound on the boards

the mods here are the best I have seen at getting it down.

Another board appoints spouses of agents as "experts"

to scam the clueless for commercial motives that is truly sad.

Mods over there sanction this so I personally am greatful for

Fodors Mods...we must help them by triangling suspects.

Quo that is your form of poetry.

Or try working on the phrases so they can be haikus.

I never look at the features, but always report spammers.

Well I guess there's no choice but to just keep reporting those breaking the rules.

As irritating as it seems, I agree. Keep calm and carry on!

It's a pleasure to hit the triangle for advertisers. Imo, it's the only reason to hit the triangle.