weeks - 8:55 pm on Oct 1, 2009 (gmt 0)

It would be interesting to compare this figure to the number of people who'd buy drugs from e-msil spammers.

Funny. Number of idiots on the web...

Those of us from the print side of the biz are not surprised at this. The vast majority of advertising has NEVER worked this way: "Oooo, look! I must buy/find out more NOW."

This is why many people thought Google, in the early days, would fail. They didn't realize that in the context of search, people were looking to "buy/find out more."

Most web sites, however...not so much. I worked in news for a while and learned quickly that people are not looking to buy Valentine's Day candy when reading about zoning for a new shopping center.

BUT, later, when they buy candy for Valentine's Day (as many will do), they might remember this retailer or that brand of candy. We do know this: With no advertising, they won't remember either the retailer or the brand because they never knew it to forget it. THAT'S how advertising works. And that is how ALL webmasters deserve to be paid--on impressions.

[edited by: weeks at 9:07 pm (utc) on Oct. 1, 2009]