scrumpy jack

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paulrandall:

Don’t you love it when ads on websites take up 75% of the space

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I know I rant about online advertising occasionally. That’s mainly because:

1. In most cases it looks terrible,
2. It’s irrelevant to what I’m looking for, and
3. It takes up far too much of the page I’m on.

But when it’s done well and has some relevance to me I’m quite pleased to see it. Like on Forrst.

As a paying member of the Forrst community, I have the option to turn ads off. But I choose not to, because I know at some point the ad may be relevant to what I’m doing and I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity. Strange behaviour!

Lesson: If you’re going to put ads on your site, go with something relevant to your visitors. Put a few or just one and make it look great!

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I Hate Adverts

Hate is a strong word. In fact, just last week I saw hate lift a whole elephant into the air. But when I say hate, I really mean it.

Well… there are some ads I like. They tend to be smart and not overtly trying to sell me something and so technically I feel they slip themselves out of the category of advertising (maybe).

Thinking about it though, I don’t know anyone who likes ads. On the radio, on the TV, at the cinema, on your DVDs, on Spotify, on the bus shelter… whenever they “appear” there’s always a disenchanted sigh… Sometimes it’s audible.

So I was quite shocked yesterday as I was watching/listening to the Apple “Fall” event, when Stevey J asked the audience if they wanted to see the ads for the new iPod range… I think the answer was a resounding “Yes!”

These people actually WANTED to watch some ads!

I would love to see Steve’s face when everyone just goes: “Actually, mate, can we give it a miss. Ta.”

I mean, who WANTS to see ads? Do you?

This is one of the reasons I’ve vowed to myself never to show ads in any of my apps. There are much better ways to make money in my view.

Unfortunately advertising does sell. Despite my view on matters, an amazing number of people still give in to ads, including me at times - clicking through, preferring one product over another, utterly convinced that Cillit Bang is better than soap and water. So it still works! Boo-hiss

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