Comments on: No, really why advertising is failing online…

By: un1crom

un1crom — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:06:32 +0000

Danny, thanks. After rereading the whole thing and my own argument, I’ve unlumped you. I still don’t consider you a “regular user” as you and I (and most the people reading these arguments too) study, research, play in… all this stuff and our behaviors are very different than most web users (the ones that click on all the ads!).

I am glad that someone of your authority took this argument on. And I saw Matt Cutts come in on the argument too. As a consultant to many large publishers and advertisers I was sent his argument at least 10 times in the last week. I’d rather not be defending the false notion that internet advertising is dead when it’s far more valuable to publishers and advertisers to be thinking through internet advertising that does work. Having your rebuttal has been very helpful to me. so thanks on that level.

Anyhoo. Good, healthy debate. onward.

By: Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:43:17 +0000

Russell, I am a publisher, and I mentioned that specifically as part of my arguments. I’ve also been an advertiser. And yep, I’m a real user, too. Reading your points, you actually seem to agree with things I was saying, so I guess I’m not sure how I got lumped into having a damaging argument

By: Dave Steinberger

Dave Steinberger — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:06:54 +0000

It’s true that the status quo has shifted and consumers are now in control. It’s also true that media companies have moved from a cartel-like perch atop the ad economy to hyper-fragmentation which is causing an erosion in their power. That’s what’s broken. What isn’t broken, as you poitn out, is that advertisers spend $300 billion per year to buy consumers’ time, attention and loyalty. Yet that’s what everyone is trying to fix. Is the only solution to reduce how valuable consumers are? Charge us to hide…DVRs, satellite radio, paid Internet experiences. Is the best option to cripple the ad economy and make consumers pay the difference?

The status quo that needs replacing is the flow of money in the ad economy. Media companies have been selling what belongs to others. Our time, attention, personal information. It’s a flawed economic model that has been maintained by the historical reality that consumers were fragmented…a sea of powerless individuals. The Internet changes all that. The only value media companies provide to the ad economy is audience aggregation. We can aggregate ourselves now. I address this concept as it relates to Professor Clemons’ on my blog http://www.OurSeatAtTheTable.com. Consumers provide the goods and services that advertisers are buying. Give them a slice of the pie and the question of consumers wanting/needing/trusting advertisers goes away.

By: Zazoo » Blog Archive » Is the Internet destroying advertising?

Zazoo » Blog Archive » Is the Internet destroying advertising? — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:49:17 +0000

[...] No, really, why advertising is failing online [...]

By: John Bentley

John Bentley — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:54:29 +0000

I once owned the largest ad agency and the largest billboard company in the UK. My experience was that many brand ads were of a prestige nature nurtured by ad agencies to extract large amounts of expenditure from their impressionable clients on phony measurements of ROI. The beauty of mobile devices is that ad responses are 100% measurable. They can also be used in a time sensitive and location based way with direct response interaction with a targeted consumer at far less comparable cost to traditional media if used as part of the media mix. My latest company offers one stop shop multi platform free entry games campaigns with imbedded brand images and a points win system to reward consumers with instantly redeemable rewards using electronic barcodes at local retail outlets. The consumer has fun and opts in to give data. This is the future of cost efficient ads to pull in targeted consumers.

By: byron Brown

byron Brown — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:51:38 +0000

and the point proved is????

By: dan

dan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:43:43 +0000

The article does have some validity. I think online ads have reached the point of diminishing returns, as peoples’ senses have tuned them out when browsing the internet, even the flash ads. But I don’t see them going away. Ads will just take different forms as technology changes; i.e. mobile phone ads, talking billboards, and, ads showing up on peoples’ GPS systems.

By: Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:35:56 +0000

The whole post is fairly evident of someone extrapolating a trend on bad data. Most advertising sucks, web or in print. When it doesn’t, it can be very effective.

I’m not quite sure what his point was frankly or how he thought he proved it.