While it is good to see display ads getting more sophisticated and rich these days, I am still waiting for the day when ads served on news sites are done with complete tact. I loaded the NYTimes.com this morning and as I read the headline “As Haitians flee, the dead go uncounted,” I was interrupted by an expandable banner ad that loaded and took over half of the page. As my brain was thinking about the poor victims in Haiti, I was interrupted by a new TV show called “White Collar,” the ad unit literally taking over and pushing down on the photos of the victims. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I wondered where the disaster tag was on the NYTimes today and why they are serving ads that seem very punishing against the content.
Display ads need to be more sensitive to news content
