Third-party serving?
I haven't seen this posted about anywhere, so at the risk of repeating somebody else, I figure I should probably post about this.
Did you know that if LiveJournal had stuck to their ad policy, none of the ErrorSafe incident would have ever happened?
Here's an excerpt from the relevant FAQ:
What are LiveJournal's guidelines on acceptable ads? Specifications and Additional Guidelines
[...]
- Simple rich media (HTML, .gif, .jpg, etc.) creative formats are permitted if we determine that they perform acceptably within the LiveJournal site.
- HTML formatting code (table tags, image tags, fonts, etc.)
- Forms (text boxes, drop down menus, radio buttons, etc.)
- Image Maps
- JavaScript (as used in some limited cases)
- Flash or Shockwave (non-third-party served) [note: Emphasis added by ciaran_h]
The ad in question was served by Yield Manager, not LiveJournal. I should point out, however, that I don't know how Yield Manager works. I assume that LiveJournal do still screen every ad, as they say they do. It's hard to know where to draw the line.
Another thing to point out is that the ad may not necessarily have been prevented from taking its toll even if it was hosted locally on LiveJournal, because the code to call home to kpremium is in the ad itself.
Just thought I'd throw this all out and see what everybody makes of it.
[update (2006-07-04): Ohhhh, blah. Ignore me, everybody. I was so hasty as to ignore the very next section of the FAQ, which says, among other things, that certain Flash and Shockwave 3rd-party served ads are accepted "if we determine they conform strictly to LiveJournal ad guidelines and quality assurance standards". Google's cache from June 21st shows that it was there before I posted, too. ACK. *hides in embarrassment*]