Online Ad Prices Keep Going Up, But Is It Sustainable?
from the bubblewatch dept
Perhaps one of the bigger signs that another bubble is growing is the persistent reemergence of companies and ideas that didn't survive the first bubble, such as the "free stuff (with ads)" business model. Seeing this sort of thing become pretty commonplace again points to the growing strength in online advertising for publishers and content owners: plenty of technological and commercial advancement (like Google AdSense) has been made in the space since the last bubble, while advertisers are throwing more and more money at online ads. However, with ad prices rising, some are wondering if web site owners and publishers might overestimate that strength and jack up their prices even more -- a move that could presage a correction or collapse of the ad-driven business model. Questions are already emerging about the amount of traffic sites are claiming to advertisers, and without solid data to back up online advertising, ever-increasing prices may not be sustainable. In some sense, advertising is to this bubble what VC money was to the last one, and if the massive inflow of money gets cut off, for whatever reason, things could get ugly.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
Well...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I think...
Unless Google decides not to block "sponsored" ads.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hmm
These days there is real ROI being realized through current advertising, more dynamic and granular control of ad buys. I'm not sure you have a point here.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ad Block Plus
[ link to this | view in chronology ]