Google contextual ads: working for humanity

Letters special This is a one off. A Friday special, prompted by a couple of delightful examples of how one can use Google's contextualised advertising to brighten one's day.

Regular readers will remember the rumour causing panic in Lagos, spiritual (and fiscal) home of 419 scams, that picking up the phone is potentially fatal.

As Lester says, we've lost original email, so have to apologise to the reader who alerted us, but basically, as soon as the Nigerian killer number piece came up, every 419 story had ads offering cheap calls to Nigeria. Perhaps a helping hand in the war against 419ers?

This week's Flame of the Week column also had a beauty:

We must be clear about this: we view Google as offering a useful service to humanity here, despite the occasional unfortunate juxtaposition of content and ads. Also, this is not a request for screengrabs. So don't send 'em in. Eyethangew. ®