NONE: RE: ONLINE-ADS>> Creative
RE: ONLINE-ADS>> Creative
Mike Pooler (pooler_at_pcgame.com)
Mon, 9 Jun 1997 22:49:09 -0700
Alan makes some excellent points about the artistic match between sites and
their banners (or lack thereof). I wish more people in this business
thought like he did.
I have been meaning to make a few points about the evils of "ad networks"
which fit right in with what Alan is saying.
A couple of game-related "ad networks" have asked me to join them. One
requires me to put their logo, a glowing head, next to every banner at my
site. The other insists that my banners must appear inside a frame, so that
they can push a new one every minute from their server. Each requirement
has ruled out any chance of me doing business with them. I will not have a
glowing head. I will not have frames. I do not like them Sam I Am!
Each of these networks expects me to destroy the artistic continuity and
integrity of my site in ways that will certainly help me to lose traffic.
Obviously there's not a lot of thought going on here- just a blind drive
for banners, banners, everywhere. This is bad.
There is also a problem with ad networks concerning the match of the sites
and ad campaigns. I would assume that in making an ad buy, the buyer
evaluates potential sites on their look, feel, attitude, style, etc, (as
well as on their hard data), and picks a site or two that is a good match
to the campaign in question. The right site has the right vibe to match the
campaign. In an ad network, it's impossible to try to make these style
judgments. The ad simply gets spammed across a large group of small,
amateurish sites with a wide range of styles and designs- it's like flying
blind, and it's unwise.
The members of the ad network have a similar problem- they are stuck with
whatever banners get inserted into their pages. What's worse, since most
networks can't seem to sell anything, the ads often just advertise the
network itself. The worst example was Commonwealth- they had this horribly
annoying ad for themselves that appeared absolutely everywhere. I felt
sorry for the owner of every site at which I spotted it.
When the site owner or the advertiser does not care about the synergy
between the two, you get ugliness. I agree with Alan that the site designer
needs to work with the advertiser to make sure that the site and the
campaign support each other in ways that benefit both.
What it comes down to is this- banner advertising is more than just
numbers. The more of us that keep this in mind, the better this business
will be for it, in my opinion.
Mike Pooler
pcgame.com
http://www.pcgame.com - Smart Players Start Here! (tm)
