This is just a quick post. There was news today about malicious ads in reputable1 ad networks that can "surreptitiously hijack" computers. Though the Google ad network, the network used by this site, was not one of the networks reported to have been exploited, I decided to pull all syndicated advertising from my blog. Google may never be affected by this issue, but I don't want to wait to find out.
As a result of the changes I have made, I have also updated my cookie and privacy policies to reflect the changes, so please review those.
I did not want to take this action2, but I feel it is warranted given the seriousness of the possible outcomes. The nature of advertising online needs to change; consumers need confidence that the sites they visit are safe, advertising networks need to vet the ads they syndicate, and browsers need to empower their users. For more information on the malicious ads, I recommend reading the article on Ars Technica; for more information about online advertising and what needs to change, I recommend reading "The ethics of modern web ad-blocking" on Marco.org.
Finally, if anyone out there is interested in sponsoring my humble blog, please let me know. All the best and safe browsing.