Re: NYT/WSJ Staff cust | Online Adv. doesn't work

From: Michael Martinez <Michael_at_xenite.org>
Date: Thu 19 Apr 2001 08:58:26 -0600

RAMON RAY <ramon_at_smallbiztechnology.com> WROTE:

>People are so down on the online adv biz model, and I do
>agree that content sites should do more than just rely
>on adv revenue (do conferences, sell products, and premium
>content). But let's use the 'net as a TOOL not as a whole
>new type of business.

What sort of tool do you have in mind? Mirroring the
content of the paper publications might be just the right
thing for news organizations to do, but what about
everyone else.

If you stop to think about it, the Internet HAS created
whole new industries. They are probably more like
cottage industries now but they are growing and becoming
more sophisticated. I'm not talking about e-tailers,
but about the companies (and contractors) who provide
services to everyone else trying to use the Internet.

There are programmers, promoters, entrepreneurs,
information peddlars, consultants, and undoubtedly even
data entry operators who depend on the Net for their
income now (and that may just be the tip of the iceberg).

But how can you say that online advertising doesn't
work? I think you mean it doesn't pay the bills for
large organizations very well. But does it work?
Doesn't that take us right back to the discussion about
what people hope to accomplish with online advertising?
And doesn't that, in turn, take us back to the
interminable "branding" argument?

The people who have pulled their online advertising made
that decision for a reason. What was the reason? Did
they run out of money? If so, they failed to build a
self-sustaining revenue stream. But that in itself isn't
an indictment of online advertising so much as of the
failed business models. Or what if some of the former
advertisers didn't like the results they were getting?

It wasn't all that long ago people on this list were
debating in (what appeared to me to be) a muddled state
what the benefits of online advertising really turn out
to be. What, exactly, can you achieve with online
advertising?

It's not like people click through on print and broadcast
media ads. So, why are companies in an uproar over
click-through rates on banner ads?

If advertisers REALLY want to do things just like in
the print and broadcast world, then why not create and
place advertisements which don't encourage interactivity?

Is that the kind of tool that the Internet should be?

Michael Martinez
 Science Fiction and Fantasy info_at_xenite.org
  Visualizing Middle-earth, a book for all Tolkien fans
   http://www.xenite.org/



Received on Thu Apr 19 2001 - 09:58:26 CDT