Stop the Ad Overkill
It's no secret that current genres of Web ads don't work. And don't forget that many fast connections charge for bandwidth gobbled up by animation, blinkers, pop-ups and their ilk.I know there's an unwritten law somewhere that says ads need to be intrusive. But it's time to evolve.
Web ads make me dysfunctional. I won't look at them because I'm offended by the inference that I'm stupid enough to be mesmerized.
The only people panicked by ad-blocking software are the folks at the agencies. But what really scares them is that they don't understand marketing. Agencies are good at spending an advertiser's money, but clueless about how to sell a product.
Want proof?
The agency solution for the Web is more of the same, but bigger and more expensive ads. At the current rate, a Web page will become a junk mail advertisement with a little bit of content stuck in a corner.
Thwarting the evolution of Web marketing is the fact that the only ones more clueless than the agencies are the companies that hire them.
Anyone with a brain would have realized a long time ago that to get around ad-blocking software you simply build the ad into the page. I don't say that's the definitive solution, but it's better than what we've got.
I use an ad blocker. It's not perfect. It removes some images and things that I want to see. But I'll take that instead of the ad overkill.
Here's what everyone is afraid to say out loud: The only people making money on the Web are those telling others how to make money on the Web -- and they are becoming extinct.
Time to evolve, people.
Thomas Amshay, Marketing/business development director, Exposure-PLUS.com, Austin, TX
TAmshay @ exposure-plus.com
