Ad Feedback - Explicit Ads

[Jvjohnson82]

I am not sure where this is supposed to go but why on earth does Pandora allow ADs that talk about abortion and death penalty??? Is this supposed to be family friendly?? Does Pandora just let any AD run before vetting?? I dont care what side of the conversation you are on

[Spencerbeale]

Advertisement - Boogieman on Children’s Lullaby

We use Pandora with advertisements for free at night for a baby lullaby station. My wife walks in and the new Boogieman movie ad is playing with someone screaming while my baby is trying to sleep.

Are you kidding me, Pandora? Do better.

Now I can't trust you.

[MissVao]

How do i report this?? It was an advertisement for the bogeyman and it played in a baby station!

I walked in the room to check up on my baby and pandora was playing this bloody murder scream of an ad! That is NOT safe to children, especially a BABY.

I might be just 1 mom, but HOW MANY BABIES HAVE LISTENED TO THIS BLOODY MURDER SCREAMING???

[AdamPandora]

@Spencerbeale @MissVao Thank you two for reporting this.

I have passed your message along to our Ads team for further review.

In the meantime I will also be sending you a private message with additional details, so please keep an eye out for that.

We appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us about this!

[Sunrise11]

I have explicit content off and I still get ads the contain cursing, which is ridiculous. Can this be fixed?

[emcclenn]

Hello, I play Pandora in my classroom and have to quickly mute it when the "Wheatley American Vodka" ad comes on. It'd be awesome if there was a way to censor ads like this that aren't appropriate for certain ages (or when people who don't consume alcohol are listening). 

@AdamPandora , @AlyssaPandora 

[AdamPandora]

@emcclenn I moved your post over to this existing thread: Ad Feedback - Explicit Ads

Blocking explicit ads on your account:

I do see you recently upgraded to Pandora Premium - doing so will prevent all ads from playing on your account, so that will immediately resolve the issue for you.

However, if you ever revert back to an ad-supported account, I recommend restricting Pandora from playing songs with explicit content. When you do that, you not only remove songs with explicit lyrical content, you also remove some ads that are not intended for people who have demonstrated an aversion to explicit content. As a result, this option may remove some advertisements that might offend you.

To disable explicit content from our website on a computer, click the icon (initial or picture) on the top right corner of the page, select Settings, and then Content Settings.

There, you should see an Explicit Content toggle, which indicates whether you would like to allow explicit content or not. Set this to Off.

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Playing Pandora in a classroom setting:

As a general rule, any time you play music in a public place, you must have the proper licenses and pay the required royalties. This license requirement helps fairly compensate artists, authors, composers, publishers and other rightholders. Pandora is only authorized to grant you a license to use the Pandora service for personal non-commercial purposes, as stated in our terms of use.

However, under the U.S. Copyright Act, the performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution may, in certain, limited circumstances, be exempt from certain license requirements. You should consult the venue in which you are speaking, the institution which is conducting or sponsoring the conference or workshop, or your own attorney for advice on whether your use of the Pandora service might qualify under this or some other exception to the licensing requirements of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Use of Pandora in a commercial setting is also available via hardware sold by Mood Media. To learn more about this or to sign up, please visit their website.

[Bookackhannah]

Butt Naked Ad

I have to stop listening until this awful ad is no longer on Pandora. Plus it plays at least 5 times every 30 minutes. I have young grandkids and it's so awkward when I have them and their friends around. 

Moderator Edit: Format

[AdamPandora]

@Bookackhannah I recommend restricting Pandora from playing songs with explicit content. When you do that, you not only remove songs with explicit lyrical content, you also remove some ads that are not intended for people who have demonstrated an aversion to explicit content. As a result, this option may remove some advertisements that might offend you.

To disable explicit content from our website on a computer, click the icon (initial or picture) on the top right corner of the page, select Settings, and then Content Settings.

There, you should see an Explicit Content toggle, which indicates whether you would like to allow explicit content or not. Set this to Off.

Let me know if any other explicit ads continue to play on your account after making this change.

[pgb0517]

Alcohol, abortion, scary movie ads

Any way to restrict inappropriate ads? I only listen to uplifting Christian music and I don’t mind ads. But I do NOT want morally objectionable and adults-only ads. My grandkids are sometimes in the car. You don’t run tobacco ads so far as I know. And probably not guns. So why the rest? 

[AdamPandora]

@pgb0517 I do see you have your explicit filter enabled, so that should prevent those types of ads from playing on your account.

The next time an alcohol, abortion, or scary movie ad plays on your account, can you please reply to this thread with:

• a screenshot of the ad
• the date and time the ad played

Thanks for working with me on this.

[GenreLeap]

I also support this motion. I usually play Pandora while playing certain games, which my young children enjoy watching with me. I have explicit content turned off, and yet I still get ads with Ryan Reynolds dropping F-bombs and creepy diaper ads rapping about infant genitals. Surely Pandora can do better and be like every other platform that lets you tailor your ads by upvoting/downvoting? 

[AdamPandora]

@GenreLeap I moved your post over to this existing thread: Ad Feedback - Explicit Ads

I do see you have your explicit filter enabled, so that should prevent those types of ads from playing on your account.

The next time either of those ads plays on your account, can you please reply to this thread with:

• a screenshot of the ad
• the date and time the ad played

Thanks for working with me on this.

[GenreLeap]

Unfortunately there's nothing that can be gleaned from a screenshot. It's just a black screen and the word "ADVERTISEMENT" while audio plays. No brand logos, no links, no way of telling what ad was playing if you didn't hear the audio yourself. In this case it was Ryan Renyolds for Mint Mobile, letting off a long string of poorly-censored profanity. This occurred 1545hrs Mountain Time this day the 25th of March (The Year of Our Lord 2024).

[AdamPandora]

@GenreLeap Thanks so much for sharing your feedback.

I have passed your message along to our Ads team for further review.

We appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us about this!

[cwarfield73]

How do I get rid of the inappropriate Pandora ad that claims you can have more control over the ads?  I keep clicking on "leave this ad," trying to get a different ad, so I do not have to keep looking @ the inappropriately dressed person @ the end of the ad?

[AdamPandora]

@cwarfield73 The next time that ad plays on your account, please send over:

• a screenshot of the ad where it shows you the option to "leave this ad"
• the date and time that ad played on your account
• the name of the station or podcast you were listening to when that ad played

Thanks for working with me on this.

[TP4U]

How can I report or block an ad? My children listen to Pandora with me and an ad for a horror TV show came on. Wildly inappropriate on a service used by families.

[MariaPandora]

Hi @TP4U , welcome to the Pandora community!

I moved your post to the correct thread: Ad Feedback - Explicit Ads.

I do see you have your explicit filter enabled, so that should prevent those types of ads from playing on your account.

The next time either of those ads plays on your account (or if you remember the information from the last time), can you please reply to this thread with:

1. What was the ad for? Do you remember the brand, product, event or show name?
2. How are you accessing Pandora? Are you on a computer, phone, tablet or in-home device (TV, Xbox, Blu-ray player, etc.)?
3. Was it a visual ad, an audio ad, or a video ad with audio?
4. Which of your station or stations did you hear/see it on?
5. When did you encounter the ad? Provide the date and time.

If you're able to get a screenshot of what's happening, please send that along as well.

[SC37]

Among other advertisements promoting immorality (sex outside of marriage, abortion, etc) there is one ad at this time that stands out as overly inappropriate.

Inappropriate Ad: The ad was promoting the Covid-19 vaccine

Problem: "I've got my sh*t together" was stated so many times.  That is foul language.  This isn't the only time I have heard foul language in ads.  Why is it alright now to advertise using inappropriate language? We will generally turn off the music after hearing inappropriate ads, but this time, I thought it best to comment.   

Possible solution?: May we please get back to rated G advertisements?  If not, I will be discontinuing my subscription.  I have had similar issues with YouTube....Foul language is everywhere, but we shouldn't be promoting it as a society.  Thank you for your time considering my concern.

[AdamPandora]

@SC37 I moved your post over to this existing thread: Ad Feedback - Explicit Ads

We recognize that certain material is sensitive ground, so we do our best to preserve the listening experience. All of our ads are thoughtfully vetted by folks across various teams at Pandora, to ensure they are free from speech or content that is hateful, illegal, false, misleading, fraudulent, inaccurate or unfair. While we respect the perspective of each individual, and while there are occasional judgment calls still required, we feel strongly that our advertising platform should not be in the business of censoring.

That being said, I have a couple of suggestions which you might find helpful. First, you might want to restrict Pandora from playing songs with explicit content. When you do that, you not only remove songs with explicit lyrical content, you also remove some ads that are not intended for people who have demonstrated an aversion to explicit content. As a result, this option may remove some advertisements that might offend you.

To disable explicit content from our website on a computer, click the icon (initial or picture) on the top right corner of the page, select Settings, and then Content Settings.

There, you should see an Explicit Content toggle, which indicates whether you would like to allow explicit content or not. Set this to Off.

You might also consider upgrading to Pandora Plus or Pandora Premium. These are our advertising-free subscriptions, which also offer a number of other benefits you might find attractive.

For instance, Pandora Plus includes unlimited skips, replays, and offline listening, while Pandora Premium boasts all of these features as well as a curated, on-demand library.

Of course, we're happy to have folks listen, whether they are paid or free.

I hope this is helpful, and that you can understand the approach we have taken.