404: Please buy our product

[monkey0506]

You know TVLand, you really don't have to quote the post directly above yours every single time.

I guess knowing that you're only 12 helps to explain why you think it's completely inappropriate for websites to include information about themselves on their 404 pages. Though you're probably right. 404 pages should be as vague as possible. In fact...they shouldn't have anything on them at all. That way you know you definitely did something wrong instead of just having to guess that amongst all the advertisements there might be an error message. You are smart TVLand.

P.S. You'd be a lot more likely to stop getting ridiculed so much if you would stop saying/doing such absurd things.

For example, consider the differences in these two statements:

1) "In my opinion 404 pages shouldn't be used as an advertising front. Just because someone clicked on an invalid link or typed the address wrong doesn't mean they should automatically be presented with advertisements. The 404 page should be used to let the user know they have accessed a non-existent page."

2) "Companies shouldn't advertise on their own 404 pages because it's a problem page and is totally inappropriate to advertise on there."

Also, consider the differences in these two actions:

1) "WTF? My thread got locked? But why? Oh well...I'll just go create another one!"

2) "My thread got locked. I probably should have put more thought into it before I created a thread saying that really what I wanted was a forum where I could spam. Next time I'll think things through a bit more...that one probably wasn't a very smart idea."

[Akatosh]

...but there is also a difference between "Oh, TVD opened a new thread again, I should use the opportunity to shout him down" and "Oh, TVD posted,  should use the opportunity to shout him down" 

Now, back to topic everyone. The thing I personally am objecting to is "Coupon code: 404Page". Just as you said, "We'll give you hosting for 1 cent for finding our hidden 404 page! You are the winner!" seems a little cheesy to me.

[monkey0506]

Thanks Akatosh...I've been spoken to by the mods. I'll have to remember my place in the future.

But yes, back on topic. I meant for that quote there to sound cheesy, but realistically there's lots of free hosting on the internet, so hosting for 1 cent isn't unheard of. And for the hosting companies to thrive they have to have customers (even the free hosts have to have users or they will fail).

I think that if you have the choice where to place advertisements, it really just comes down to personal preference if you would want to place them on the 404 page. As has been noted, the 404 page is supposed to be a place where the server in question can inform the user in question that they have attempted to access a non-existent page (whether by their own mistake or someone else's).

However, does it really take away from that message for the host to advertise on the 404 page? To me it doesn't really make a difference. I ignore most of the ads I see on the internet. If it wasn't something (such as the hosting in this example) I was already looking for, I'd probably just click back (if I'd clicked a link; check the address if I had typed it in myself).