Reg in flash ad clampdown

With dotcoms increasingly desperate to turn over a profit, and hungry advertisers demanding more and more in-your-face animated gifs, it was inevitable that ads would eventually appear in the middle of stories.

If you have a quick look at CNET, you're likely to have your reading pleasure interrupted by some preposterous flash graphic extolling the virtues of one processor over another, etc., etc.

We at Vulture Central know that our readers are becoming increasingly weary of over-excited advertising. Accordingly, we have just declined an enormous suitcase bulging with readies from a client who wanted nothing more than his ad to spring forth whenever the word 'boffin' appeared on the Reg.

A quick search revealed that this would disfigure no less than 327 stories - most written by Lucy Sherriff. No, we said, tearfully waving goodbye to a three-week jaunt to Rio de Janeiro.

So there you have it. We hereby declare that we will never run ads arbitrarily

halfway through a story. You have our word on that. ®