[Ads-l] chumbox

[Andy Bach]

> The term derives from fishing terms such as chumming – referring to the use of (fish) meat as a lure for fish.

We called bait slicks, bait poured on the water to attract fish,
"chumming" in Alaska.  The ground-up frozen herring, used as crab pot
bait, was referred to (once ground up) as chum.

On Fri, May 10, 2019 at 12:29 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/8/18537279/chum-box-weird-sponsored-links-gut-doctor <https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/8/18537279/chum-box-weird-sponsored-links-gut-doctor>
> A mysterious gut doctor is begging Americans to throw out “this vegetable” now. But, like, which?
> Kaitlyn Tiffany
> 8 May 2019
>
> ——
> The gut doctor’s desperation pops up over and over, on websites like CNN and the Atlantic (and as I said, this one), in what are known colloquially as “chumboxes.” These are the boxes at the bottom of the page that have several pieces of clickbaity “sponsored content” or “suggested reading.”
> ——
>
> 2. Not in the OED or Merriam-Webster, chumbox has citations back to 2014 on Wiktionary:
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chumbox <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chumbox>
>
> ——
> A grid of clickbait advertisements on a webpage.
> ——
>
> 3. Wiktionary's 22 April 2014 citation by Alene Vincent (https://twitter.com/alenevince/status/458656349136900097 <https://twitter.com/alenevince/status/458656349136900097>) has no context, no likes and no retweets.
>
> ——
> ctrl+f "chumbox" http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/22/5639892/how-weaponized-clickbait-took-over-the-web … zero results :(
> ——
>
> 4. Word Spy (https://wordspy.com/index.php?word=chumbox <https://wordspy.com/index.php?word=chumbox>) has 11 July 2014 as the earliest unambiguous citation by Mig Greengard (@chessninja), but the citation indicates that the word was in use before then:
> https://twitter.com/chessninja/status/487719152765771776 <https://twitter.com/chessninja/status/487719152765771776>
>
> ——
> @tomgara I learned that area is called the "chumbox" the other day. Excellent.
> ——
>
> 5. Here is another 2014 citation
> Um, Is Your Facebook About To Get Less Dumb? Wow.
> John Herrman
> 25 August 2014
> https://www.theawl.com/2014/08/um-is-your-facebook-about-to-get-less-dumb-wow/ <https://www.theawl.com/2014/08/um-is-your-facebook-about-to-get-less-dumb-wow/>
>
> ——
> (Also, know that for every high-profile new viral site there are probably five spammier knockoffs with names you’ll never remember, and content created as much for chumbox advertising arbitrage as for actual humans.
> ——
>
> 6. Wikipedia
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumbox <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumbox>
> ——
> A chumbox (or chumbucket) is a form of online advertising that uses a grid of thumbnails and captions to drive traffic to other sites and webpages. This form of advertising is often associated with low quality 'clickbait' links and articles.
>
> The term derives from fishing terms such as chumming – referring to the use of (fish) meat as a lure for fish.
> ——
>
> 7. Wikipedia has two citations providing this etymology, but neither provide citations proving the relationship to the fish. The following provides chum porn:
>
> https://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-internet-chum/ <https://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-internet-chum/>
> A Complete Taxonomy of Internet Chum
> 4 June 2015
> John Mahoney
>
> ——
> This is a chumbox. It is a variation on the banner ad which takes the form of a grid of advertisements that sits at the bottom of a web page underneath the main content.
> ——
>
> 8. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/330-reality-isn-t-real-utopia-is-creepy-1.3792237/diving-into-internet-chum-yes-it-s-as-bad-as-you-d-expect-1.3794213 <https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/330-reality-isn-t-real-utopia-is-creepy-1.3792237/diving-into-internet-chum-yes-it-s-as-bad-as-you-d-expect-1.3794213>
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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Andy Bach,
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