Apologies

Two quick apologies…

Earlier today I was notified that AdBrite, the network we use for text ads, was displaying an inappropriate text ad at Wizbang. I’ve been with AdBrite since 2003 and have never had a problem with their service. I’ve been working with AdBrite founder Philip Kaplan to try and figure out exactly what happened in this case. As near as I can tell the text ad zone at Wizbang (which has been in place and working fine for over three years) got “transfered” into a related ad network owned by AdBrite that focus on ads for adult sites. Obviously that should never have happened, and how exactly it did happen is what we’re investigating. Both Wizbang and AdBrite are sorry for the error, and want you to know that the problem has been fixed.

Second, I would like to apologize to anyone who has seen “the bunny” when attempting to comment or trackback at Wizbang. Due to our size, we’re a favorite of spammers. Our spam filters are set very high and contain customize code which not only removes spam, but denies access to the comment and trackback functions for those identified by the filters. This is done to reduce the load placed on the server by 24/7 spamming. The number of false positives is exceedingly low, but every so often someone or some site is mistakenly banned by the system. That’s when you see “the bunny.” I’ll be revising the comment policy (linked on every page) and include information on the bannings and ways you can alert us if you feel the system has banned you in error.