NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> VRML Banner Advertising
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> VRML Banner Advertising
Donna Dolezal Zelzer (djz_at_efn.org)
Tue, 23 Sep 1997 21:52:57 -0700
At 1:01 PM +0100 9/23/97, Carl Crisostomo made this statement:
> I would like to clear up a few things that have been said about VRML
> banner advertising.
>
> <snip>
> System requirements such as this would mean only the most
> sophisticated of Internet visitors will be able to view
> the ads...</snip>
>
>
> Both Netscape and Microsoft, have integrated VRML components into their
> latest browsers, therefore less and less users are having to download VRML
> plug-ins. Especially new users
Which versions are those, and which machines do they run on? How reliable
are they? (Do they cause the machine to crash or freeze, for example?)
I just tried the examples at http://www.mgl.co.uk/vrml , got the broken
icon (I have Communicator 4.03, which obviously doen't have VRML built in,
or it it does, its not working!) I followed the directions to the plugin
page and got this:
"Your plug-in type is x-world/x-vrml. Netscape doesn't have a plug-in
released for your operating system"
I have a 68040 Mac without an FPU.. but it turns out that none of the VRML
plugins that Netscape offers are available for any kind of Mac. There may
be others that are, but I wasn't about to go searching for them. And I
doubt if very many people encountering a VRML ad would.
> People will always have low spec machines is the old story of lowest
> common denominator, who do you want to see your ad.
And that's the big question right there: "who do you want to see your ad?"
Do you really want to cut out people who don't happen to have the latest
machines? Would you rather have them spend money on new computers so they
can see your fancy ads, or spend money on your product? For some us, its
gonna be one or the other.
And I really don't think you should necessarily make assumptions about a
person's interest in or ability to buy your product based on the newness of
their computer.
(An important side note: Assuming that you use the EMBED tag to place VRML
items in a page, you can write the html so that something else--probably a
plain or animated gif--can be loaded in place of the VRML for people who
don't have the plugin. This is a big help to overcoming compatibility
problems, if the site designers remember to do it.)
> As a format for Internet banner advertising it could work as it has so
> much to offer the advertiser.
Well, maybe. Granted its going to catch people's eyes for awhile (if they
can see it at all, of course), but how long will the newness wear off and
we'll have to go to something even more glitzy to catch people's attention?
Is all this eye candy really good advertising in the long run? By good, I
mean does it really make a difference in the bottom line of the companys
who are doing it? If I could see VRML, I might enjoy playing with the ads,
but that doesn't mean I would buy the product.
The ads I do pay attention to, even deliberately seek out and read,
sometimes before I read the content, are the ads in speciality print
magazines dealing with **topics I'm interested in**. And I read them not
because of their flashy design, but because I'm **actually interested in
the product or service being offered!** This can certainly carry over to
the web.
donna
---------------------
Donna Dolezal Zelzer <djz_at_efn.org>
The Online Birth Center (pregnancy, birth, midwifery, breastfeeding)
http://www.efn.org/~djz/birth/birthindex.html
Subscribe to the OBC News -- a free weekly newsletter!
Send a message to mailto:Majordomo_at_efn.org and put _only_ the words
subscribe obcnews
in the _body_ of the message
Write to mailto:owner-obcnews_at_efn.org for a sample copy
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's Online Advertising Discussion List sponsors:
Money Minded debuts Oct. 1 on http://homearts.com, the #1 Lifestyle
Site for Women. It's straight talk on personal finance and investing.
-------
Have the ClickZ Home Page is shipped directly to
your E-Mailbox every single day in HTML format.
Send email to: join-clickztoday_at_sparklist.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Advertising Discussion List To Unsubscribe send UNSUBSCRIBE
http://www.o-a.com/ to online-ads-request_at_o-a.com
