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KIM BROOKS WROTE:
>I predict that advertising the way it is now will just plain
>die...consumers are getting too cynical and they are bored
>to tears... Doncha know that most of your visitors are
>mentally blocking those banners anyway?
Making a buck off banners with little or no thought to where
they appear is pretty shameless. Exploiting the Internet
with the goal of maintaining a certain approach to
advertising which consists of getting something for nothing,
that's just plain dopey. Manufacturers should know that
investing in online branding can be a waste of money.
Branding itself is anyway a bit of a jip, just a way for
managers to maintain high margins without delivering added
value, improving worker productivity or reducing waste in
the production processes.
Branding, as such, is counter to the interests of the
consumer.
Kim Brooks is suggesting that consumers may start reclaiming
some of 'choice quotient' involved in purchasing.
Conversely, we could start seeing Internet commerce
contributing to a widening of the distances between
individuals, on one hand, who use a credit card to buy that
new Maserati and, on the other hand, consumers who winter on
the footpaths in Phoenix. But that's a new debate. Opinion
about online commerce is strongly favors a view that broader
use of the Internet will lead to lower margins for goods and
services. That must mean reducing the power of brands. In
any case, banners do not help branding.
Banners can be idiotic. A lack of development by ad
merchants lets buyers ignore where they link the banner.
Specific search engine terms are ignored and surfers soon
start ignoring banners.
The problem with banners is that targeting is problematic.
Even search engines are prone to stupidity. In my own,
tiny, realm of existance, I often use the phrase "control
valve" (no quotes on) and search engine results include
links to human surgery sites (do not want) as well as
industrial flow control instrument sites (do want). This
demonstrates a highly-targeted search returning garbage. It
should be no surprise that banner targeting is about as
accurate as a five-year-old with a bow and arrow. One
solution may be for advertisers to only buy banners inside
vertical portals. But even then, some VPs are waaaaaaay
toooooooo broad (to VerticalNet: watch out, your days may be
numbered). Only other solution is to ride on the back of
specific terms--such as me paying for our company's banner
to pop-up whenever a surfer punches "control valve" into a
search engine. "Control valve" may be supposed a pretty
narrowly-defined term. But actually a lot of control valves
are ! not and it's going to be the same in every market.
Words like 'solution' and 'control' or 'automation' are
already about as effective as a homing pigeon in a flack
attack. What I call a control valve you may call an
automatic valve, or a check valve, or a trottling valve. At
least they're not mitral valves. Sheeesh!
In the meanwhile, surfers suffer, at their detriment,
poorly-tergeted banners.
Matthew da Silva
Online Solutions, International Business
Yamatake Corporation, Tokyo
mdasilva_at_ibd.yamatake.co.jp
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Received on Wed Aug 04 1999 - 15:52:19 CDT
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