Comments on: The Rise (or Fall?) of In-Text Advertising: Is It News…or Is It an Ad? http://bobcaswell.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/ Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and blogger Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:48:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Bob Caswell http://bobcaswell.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/comment-page-1/#comment-325 Bob Caswell Fri, 01 Dec 2006 02:21:36 +0000 http://www.techconsumer.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/#comment-325 Tom, Honestly, I'm torn. I'm all for the unobtrusive approach, but those middle-of-the-page ads do better (more click throughs) than any other ad zone on the page! I compare it to watching a really good TV show. When I watch The Office on Thursday nights, I actually sit through ads. Sure, I might mute them, but the show is good enough that I keep watching until it comes on again. The online experience is even better in that it at least it doesn't waste two minutes of your time for seven minutes of real content. Muting/skipping the ads is not very difficult at all. Here's a thought: Just think of the ads in the middle of the page as an incentive for Computers.net editors to be that much more interesting. :-) Tom,

Honestly, I’m torn. I’m all for the unobtrusive approach, but those middle-of-the-page ads do better (more click throughs) than any other ad zone on the page!

I compare it to watching a really good TV show. When I watch The Office on Thursday nights, I actually sit through ads. Sure, I might mute them, but the show is good enough that I keep watching until it comes on again.

The online experience is even better in that it at least it doesn’t waste two minutes of your time for seven minutes of real content. Muting/skipping the ads is not very difficult at all. Here’s a thought: Just think of the ads in the middle of the page as an incentive for Computers.net editors to be that much more interesting. :-)

]]> By: Tom C. http://bobcaswell.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/comment-page-1/#comment-324 Tom C. Thu, 30 Nov 2006 06:18:39 +0000 http://www.techconsumer.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/#comment-324 I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up with this article here we go... The WSJ has the right idea in not wanting to "interrupt the reader's experience." But right between the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of this article is a set of Google Ads. Now you might argue that that is "prime" advertising space, but I would counter that interrupts the flow of the article, and I am hardly in the mood to click on an ad when I am in the middle of reading an interesting article. So by placing ads in the middle of an article you are in a sense saying, "Don't worry about finishing this article. It's really not worth your time. Just go ahead and click on that ad instead." So which speaks louder, your ad placement or the words around it? Just a thought. I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you brought it up with this article here we go… The WSJ has the right idea in not wanting to “interrupt the reader’s experience.” But right between the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of this article is a set of Google Ads. Now you might argue that that is “prime” advertising space, but I would counter that interrupts the flow of the article, and I am hardly in the mood to click on an ad when I am in the middle of reading an interesting article. So by placing ads in the middle of an article you are in a sense saying, “Don’t worry about finishing this article. It’s really not worth your time. Just go ahead and click on that ad instead.” So which speaks louder, your ad placement or the words around it? Just a thought.

]]> By: Bob Caswell http://bobcaswell.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/comment-page-1/#comment-323 Bob Caswell Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:35:33 +0000 http://www.techconsumer.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/#comment-323 Davis, Well said. Bringing up the whole popup ad fiasco really helps put things into perspective. Though I feel similarly to you, I'm puzzled by all these "official" studies huge companies do that somehow reiterate their tendency to think consumers aren't bothered by this. Who are these consumers providing this I'm-not-annoyed-by-in-text-ads responses? Davis,

Well said. Bringing up the whole popup ad fiasco really helps put things into perspective. Though I feel similarly to you, I’m puzzled by all these “official” studies huge companies do that somehow reiterate their tendency to think consumers aren’t bothered by this. Who are these consumers providing this I’m-not-annoyed-by-in-text-ads responses?

]]> By: davis freeberg http://bobcaswell.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/comment-page-1/#comment-322 davis freeberg Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:17:40 +0000 http://www.techconsumer.com/2006/11/27/the-rise-or-fall-of-in-text-advertising-is-it-newsor-is-it-an-ad/#comment-322 These ads are really really tacky. When I see them, it makes me not want to return to a site. I think that there are big ethical questions because it does blur the line between content and advertising, but even more importantly the ads are just as annoying as the popup ads that spawned a whole industry dedicated to stopping them. Publishers should use these at their own risk because consumers are smart enough to learn what's quality and what's not and with so many news sources out there, they'll start ignoring the sites that rely on this. These ads are really really tacky. When I see them, it makes me not want to return to a site. I think that there are big ethical questions because it does blur the line between content and advertising, but even more importantly the ads are just as annoying as the popup ads that spawned a whole industry dedicated to stopping them. Publishers should use these at their own risk because consumers are smart enough to learn what’s quality and what’s not and with so many news sources out there, they’ll start ignoring the sites that rely on this.

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