NONE: RE: ONLINE-ADS>> Interstitial webcasted advertising...
RE: ONLINE-ADS>> Interstitial webcasted advertising...
Donna Dolezal Zelzer (djz_at_efn.org)
Wed, 30 Apr 1997 19:22:39 -0700
At 7:59 PM -0700 4/29/97, Pat McCarthy made this statement of rare insight:
> Donna Dolezal Zelzer <djz_at_efn.org> wrote:
>
> >To me, they're very different. The TV is something I sit and watch, mostly
> >passively, occasionally changing channels.
>
> I fully agree here. Whenever I watch TV I find that I often tune out
> commercials, which is what I do with banners as I travel through the web as
> well. I can't even tell you what banners I've seen because I began to tune
> them out as soon as they started popping up everywhere.
I'm glad you brought this up. When banner ads first started to appear, I'd
often click on them just to see where they went. Now I've learned that I'm
rarely interested, so I rarely click.
What makes me click? If the product or service being offered is something
I'm currently interested in and if the banner is clear enough to let me
know what the product or service is. I hate banners that try to lure me by
being mysterious -- I'm rarely going to take the time to click and wait for
a new page and graphics to load unless I have a fair idea of what the page
is about. (I also hate software banners that don't mention platforms. I
have a Mac, and there are so many program for Windows only that if a banner
doesn't say Mac, I assume not and don't click.)
> I believe that these push ads, or "exploding ads" as Jeff Einstein of CMP
> spoke about at WebAd 97 will be much more succesful then banners, because
> they are pervasive and invading. From an advertising point of view I think
> they're much better then regular banners, but from a user point of view,
> they tend to make me angry. It'd be nice if there were some kind of in
> between, but I'd probably hate that too. :-)
>
Of course, if the invasive ads anger enough people the attention they
attract may not be what the advertiser wants.
I like the system that Ken Jenks of Mind's Eye Fiction explained recently
http://tale.com/
This site tells you upfront what to expect, so when you get half done with
the story and find out you'll have to pay or view an ad, it's not a
surprise. (Well, I suppose there will be a few people who don't pay
attention and are surprised, but that's always gonna happen.)
There are actually three beings in the calculation: the advertiser, the web
site and the person who is viewing the site.
The advertiser wants her ads noticed and acted on, the individual wants to
make use of the site without irritating and irrelevant interruptions, and
the site needs to please both (if you upset your viewers, you loose them
and then you can't charge as much for ads)
So, in a way, it's kind of up to the sites to work with their advertisers
to come up with ways to make the advertising noticible without detracting
from the value of the site. Better yet, find ways in which the advertising
can actually _add value__ to the site -- then everybody wins.
Donna
---------------------
Donna Dolezal Zelzer <djz_at_efn.org>
The Online Birth Center (pregnancy, birth, midwifery, breastfeeding)
http://www.efn.org/~djz/birth/birthindex.html
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