Why Web ads just don't work

c. 1999

[HughMungus]

Thought some of you might get a kick out of this article from 1999.

Why Web ads just don't work

[web.archive.org...]

Excerpt:

"You can only sell out once. So keep your skirts clean. A site that blurs the line between content and advertising--calling the relationship "sponsorship"--hopes to exude the pedigree of National Public Broadcasting or some such. Seven idiots in America will buy into this hokum. Everyone else will recognize the site as an Internet hustler."

And I was asking about this a few weeks ago (namely, the concept of letting visitors never see a particular ad ever again):

"Bandwidth will bedevil you. TV viewers will click out of a McDonald's jingle faster than you can scratch your armpit. Then they click back when programming resumes. Given the dilatory pace of the Web, Net surfers click away forever. Why not let your site's repeat visitors turn off an ad for good once they've seen it?"

[gopi]

1999? - Many people thought selling Pet Food online was a genius idea too :)

[UDaMan]

Do everyone a big favor--pop the purchase form directly onto your site, rather than forcing said surfer to click away. With the sale cinched, the surfer continues to browse your site. You and your advertiser both win.

TeeHee,

Had they not invented content sites 5 years ago?

[blaze]

Well, the suggestion is good. However, what the writer doesn't recognize is that even if you are selling on your site you're still going to need to take up space to get the buyer to buy.

If you're advertising yourself or someone else, it's still an advertisement.