Obviously Ad Age is going to defend advertising. But their main point is valid.

Marketers are expected to spend $189 billion on advertising in the U.S. this year and $592 billion worldwide, according to eMarketer. Picture the human cost within just the ad industry alone if that spending went away -- all the creative-directors-turned-Uber-drivers, for starters.

And the Geico Gecko having to panhandle to support his cricket and mealworm habit. (Did you know 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance? No, you didn't know that, and no one else knows either.) And Flo from Progressive having to wait tables at IHOP -- until she loses that job too when IHOP revenue plummets as consumers collectively begin to forget the very existence of Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity Pancakes.

[adage.com]

---

Cool, with all those extra drivers, maybe I will finally be able to get an Uber ride at 6 am Sunday.

---

In tha 360. MRF User Map



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2015 09:57AM by Filliam H. Muffman.

Advertising affects content in some unpredictable (read: unintentional?) ways however.

Lack of it can all but kill or severely hurt the product (newspapers ... and by the way the Time's print product must cost a LOT more than their digital version, 'cause paper and presses are NOT cheap)

Excessive amounts can turn the product it supports into something that only exists to gain advertising (TV channels that used to be commercial-free (think AMC and other cable channels), or end-user fee-free (broadcasters now live off of cable fees ...) "no longer" can be.

And it's funny (not) how Ad Age disparages people who use web browser ad blockers, as if there's no decent reason for sometimes using them.

...if that spending went away -- all the creative-directors-turned-Uber-drivers, for starters.

They can always apply for the position of Personal Irritant. Although not a growth field, there is always room for advancement as the current Director Irritants are shot.

---

- Jack D.




New tasteless sig coming soon!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2015 10:43AM by Jack D..

If the online-ad industry would just realize and accept that we are perfectly willing to put up with SOME advertising, but when we are pushed too far by (for example) ads that pop up in front of content, or so many banners on a page that just FINDING the content is difficult, our reaction is not "we want fewer ads", but we will either leave the site forever, or find a way to block ALL OF THE ADS (end result being the same... zero ad revenue).

Want to know why the Print media business died? Partly due to the internet, but when we had to bounce around a magazine filled with ads, on 20 different pages "continued on page xx" so they could make us scan past 20 pages of ads to allow us to read a 500 word article... we threw the magazine away and cancelled our subscription.

---

Paul F.
-----
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

--

--
Eureka, CA

The way I see it: we pay for those $189B spent in the US. if there were no ads, we would have 189B more in our pockets, and those people would need to do something else, hopefully something PRODUCTIVE, like service, manufacturing, teaching, voluntary work, etc. Right now they bring no value to us, the consumers. They only bring value to corporations.

If my car insuarnce company spends 20% of their revenue on ads, they would reduce my rate by 20%. Same with my morgage bank. Same with the car I buy, food, clothes. etc.

yeah, not going to happen, LOL.

Quote
Paul F.
If the online-ad industry would just realize and accept that we are perfectly willing to put up with SOME advertising, but when we are pushed too far by (for example) ads that pop up in front of content, or so many banners on a page that just FINDING the content is difficult, our reaction is not "we want fewer ads", but we will either leave the site forever, or find a way to block ALL OF THE ADS (end result being the same... zero ad revenue).

Want to know why the Print media business died? Partly due to the internet, but when we had to bounce around a magazine filled with ads, on 20 different pages "continued on page xx" so they could make us scan past 20 pages of ads to allow us to read a 500 word article... we threw the magazine away and cancelled our subscription.

Well said! Keep it to simple panel ads with no animation or tracking and my attitude about Web advertising will change.

Quote
Paul F.
If the online-ad industry would just realize and accept that we are perfectly willing to put up with SOME advertising, but when we are pushed too far by (for example) ads that pop up in front of content, or so many banners on a page that just FINDING the content is difficult, our reaction is not "we want fewer ads", but we will either leave the site forever, or find a way to block ALL OF THE ADS (end result being the same... zero ad revenue).

Want to know why the Print media business died? Partly due to the internet, but when we had to bounce around a magazine filled with ads, on 20 different pages "continued on page xx" so they could make us scan past 20 pages of ads to allow us to read a 500 word article... we threw the magazine away and cancelled our subscription.

That's an interesting point I hadn't thought about. I still get some dead tree periodicals (most converted to digital but I still read the PDF mag-type layout) and none of the magazines I currently read do that, though I certainly remember other ones (since cancelled) doing that with abandon in the past.

Quote
Article Accelerator

Quote
Paul F.
If the online-ad industry would just realize and accept that we are perfectly willing to put up with SOME advertising, but when we are pushed too far by (for example) ads that pop up in front of content, or so many banners on a page that just FINDING the content is difficult, our reaction is not "we want fewer ads", but we will either leave the site forever, or find a way to block ALL OF THE ADS (end result being the same... zero ad revenue).

Want to know why the Print media business died? Partly due to the internet, but when we had to bounce around a magazine filled with ads, on 20 different pages "continued on page xx" so they could make us scan past 20 pages of ads to allow us to read a 500 word article... we threw the magazine away and cancelled our subscription.

Well said! Keep it to simple panel ads with no animation or tracking and my attitude about Web advertising will change.

Yeah, I hate having to bob and weave through a page in order to read around ads. There are are couple of Mac sites that I visit infrequently due to the amount of ad content. And if they accept MacKeeper ads and the like, I really question their apparent goal of providing useful, non-harmful information.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2015 12:18PM by ka jowct.

I think a world without ads would mean more focus on actual substance, but also we'd be more prone to word-of-(e)mouth info.

I find I do not mind ads in programming like baseball games.

But I CANNOT handle CBS all-access; the ads seem interminable.

Most half or full page ads in magazines - not two page spreds - are on the right hand page, and the content is on the left hand page. If you're right handed, and you're flipping through a magazine, you're being fed a steady diet of right hand pages - advertising. If you flip through a magazine the way a left handed person would do it, you get to read the content, and you're reading from front to back as a bonus...

If it weren't for ads how would you know what to buy?

Quote
DRR
If it weren't for ads how would you know what to buy?

Mark Z LOVES you!

What space-time said: WE pay for those ads in higher costs.

I wonder how much of an Internet advertising can (and will) pay for.

The ad-supported Internet model seems to be coming unraveled, as advertisers realize how many of the "hits" they pay for are from bots.