Online Advertising Needs To Get Better

from the of-course-it-does dept

A column explaining to companies that advertise online that they're killing their own audiences. Since advertising is so bad, so annoying, and so intrusive, people are getting pissed off and ignoring the ads (or blocking them out completely). If the ads, instead, actually provided some sort of value to the end user, then advertisers (and companies that supported themselves on advertising) might not be in such bad shape. This makes sense, of course, but it requires some careful planning on the part of companies - and why plan stuff out when you can just buy annoying pop up ads and have a huge (but useless) traffic boost that you can show your boss?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Burghy, 17 Oct 2001 @ 1:05pm

    Counterpoint

    I think that you're over-estimating the sophistication level of many internet users. While those of us who stay tuned to the technology world view pop-ups as stupid, annoying advertisements, the sad fact is that many "newbies" appreciate pop-under advertisements and think they are "innovative".

    I don't have any hard data at all to back up my point, though. This is strictly from personal observance.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      mdr, 17 Oct 2001 @ 5:59pm

      Re: Counterpoint

      au contraire, i do user research for a living, and i have never once come across a newbie who believed pop-ups are 'innovative.' the general consensus among the novices i've studied is that pop-ups are stupid and interfering; the content of the pop-ups plays a large part in these perceptions.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.