[JohnHawk]

When I was going to the Macworld website today, I was faces with an ad page selling HP computers that I had to pass before getting to the Macworld home page.

Does that mean Macworld is selling advertising space to HP? Does Macworld have to allow advertising from any source for legal reasons - i.e. do they have to be an equal opportunity advertiser? Why would a magazine who's existence depends on Apple's success, be promoting the competition?

[Jason Snell]

I thought the HP ad campaign was for printers, not PCs.

However, it is Macworld's policy to accept ads from competitors to Apple. We've done it before and we'll do it again. HP, Dell, Lenovo, Sony, and many others have advertised on the site or in print.

(Funny, nobody ever seems to write in to complain that Apple advertises on lots of web sites, but almost never on Macworld.com.)

[bernardb]

I am deleting from my favorites the link to MacWorld. Since a few days ago when I click to come here I am first ASSAULTED by a huge animated ad for HP which is too much for me to handle on top of the other ten of thousands of freakin ads on the MacWorld website proper.

This is just ridiculous and going too far to bypass my desire NOT to be accosted by ads, spam, phishing, banners, etc.

ALL I WANT TO DO IS READ ARTICLES AND NEWS RELATED TO APPLE AND MACS!!!!

Goodbye MacWorld!

Bernard

[ZeroGravX]

You know... I understand why people hate ads. I dislike them too. But what I can never understand is the fact that there are people out there who refuse to understand the fact that ads pay the website bills. Without them, a website this large would be in a world of hurt if they didn't receive support form advertisers.

As someone who used to work for a company on a rather large website, I know what posts like these feel like (well I used to receive e-mail complaints as said website didn't have a forum such as these). On one hand you brush it off, but on the other hand you can't help but think how ungrateful these people are.

[Peter Cohen]

JohnHawk said:

Why would a magazine who's existence depends on Apple's success, be promoting the competition?

We are not promoting HP. HP is promoting HP by buying advertising space on our site. Advertising that helps to pay for the content you read.

I find it absolutely mind-boggling that Macworld readers take umbrage with whom we sell advertising space to. If it were politically or morally disreputable organizations I could understand, but HP? HP's one of the biggest providers of Mac-compatible business and home printers out there. And they don't, coincidentally, compete with Apple in that space. Apple stopped making its own printers years ago.