This ad makes me angry

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by SurfDoctor, Jun 2, 2010.

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  1. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Here is a Yahoo "news" report that lists degrees that will reportedly land you a good job. A few degree titles, especially the general business degree, are not an easy track to a well compensated job as the ad implies. Then, when you look more closely, you realize that this is just an advertisement for online schools disguised to look like a legitimate news article.

    This kind of thing really rubs me the wrong way. I believe that this form of advertising will give distance learning a bad name because it's deceptive and, IMO, cheesy.

    http://education.yahoo.net/articles/six_in_demand_degrees.htm?kid=12X5N
     
  2. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    That "article" is from Hotjobs, which is basically a data-intensive veritable billboard. Truth be told, there is nothing about Yahoo that I like, and you just reminded me of why.
     
  3. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    They do one of these a week it seems. I like the "earn 80K with just an Associate's degree" one. I am also fond of the "jobs that you can make 55K per year with no college" articles too.

    These "writers" (and I use the term loosely) seem to think its still 1999. These are articles for people who believe BLS numbers.
     
  4. Fortunato

    Fortunato Member

    Yahoo! has for years run PRNewswire press releases completely unedited as stories on their news sites. I'm surprised they thought enough to come up with the idea of charging to run promotional material disguised as stories, seeing as they do it for free for a lot of companies right now.
     
  5. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Yahoo! typically makes me ill. It isn't just their articles on education; their articles on sports, politics, world events, business, etc. all have these things in common:

    - Using esoteric terms incorrectly.
    - Mistaking one person for another.
    - Heavy bias.
    - Appalling grammar.
    - Emotional appeal as opposed to reasoning.
    - Including every piece of information imaginable EXCEPT for Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.
    - Finding a way to write an entire article, sometimes several pages worth, without including a single, minuscule, absolutely microscopic fact.
    - If somehow a fact finds its way into the article :eek: it is usually wrong, outdated, skewed, or presented to support an idea that it, in fact, does not support.

    They do, however, often have stories from the AP posted on their sites. Those articles are usually more worthwhile to read, however sometimes even the AP makes me scratch, shake and bang my head. It seems very few news sources are still dedicated to providing the W.W.W.W.W. and H.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 3, 2010
  6. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    It's scary to think that many are getting their basic news from the Yahoo site. Yikes!
     
  7. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

  8. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

  9. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I think the same thing. Unfortunately, many people are also getting their basic news from the Daily Show, The National Enquirer, Weekly World News, the Daily News, the Sun, the Star, and even worse... FoxNews :eek:

    Sorry to take this a bit off-topic (you must admit, a BIT off-topic is an improvement for me :D), but I absolutely love NPR. They spoil me, and make most other news providers seem pathetic in comparison. I am also a fan of BBC and USA Today.
     
  10. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    It's sad that many of our news sources are not truly factual. Many are skewed toward a certain viewpoint. This Yahoo ad being the worst I've seen in a while.
     
  11. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    I know! It's cheesy and discreditable when what could be legitimate content about degree programs are hijacked for revenue-generating links. I'm happy for places we can discuss education without this intrusive link-farming business.
     
  12. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    LOL!!! Your post is a work of sarcastic genius! This one really made me laugh.

    Let me say this though, you can't blame these guys from trying to make a profit from this board, they might even just be trying to break even. My brother-in-law started and runs COMBATSIM.COM and he has educated me on how difficult it is to make a profit with a website that doesn't really sell anything. Advertising really doesn't pay the bills and just the bandwidth alone is very expensive. He has actually been forced to charge a membership fee just to keep it going, and people were livid when he did! I am grateful for this site and I'm willing to put up with the automatic links in the same way I'm willing to put up with TV commercials. You gotta pay the bills somehow.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 4, 2010
  13. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    John Ashworth would have climbed Everest with his baker to finance counseling on a legal education in teaching psychology void of this link-farming business and its management.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 4, 2010
  14. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    You are the link farming king.
     
  15. nycrican2

    nycrican2 New Member

    I could not agree more, sounds similar in style to an infomercial.
     
  16. Mitchell

    Mitchell New Member

    I agree; however, Yahoo is just one of many well known news sources that could fit that description.
     
  17. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    No doubt. However, Yahoo is the only one that takes over as my browser's homepage anytime I update anything on my computer :(
     
  18. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Switch to Firefox!

    -=Steve=-
     
  19. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I have been using firefox ever since Netscape stopped being relevent.
     

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