Comments on: The Stats Explain Why We Don’t Read Banner Ads (And What We Can Do)

By: Ian Kemmish

Ian Kemmish — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I doubt that merely placing adverts in the middle of paragraphs will fool my ad-blocking software (which I use not merely to be contrary but for speed and security too).

Economies based entirely on subsidy never survive and even while they do survive aren’t worth the candle. They are, after all just “theft economies” where the theft has been thoroughly institutionalised. People who want to write for a living need to wean themselves of subsidies based on advertising and learn to write stuff other people actually might want to buy,

By: centernetworks

centernetworks — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

speed and security my ass

By: Michael Cohn

Michael Cohn — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You’re leaving out one important factor. Online ad targeting is getting more and more sophisticated. As ads become increasingly more relevant to the users who see them, the users are more willing to give the ads their attention, even if they know they’re being advertised to.

This is really the essence of Google’s business model. Text ad position next to Google search results is based primarily on the ad’s performance in the context of that search. In other words, if you have an ad that keeps getting clicks in a certain context, then those clicks will become cheaper and cheaper, even to the point where you’re paying less per click for the top position than a competitor who is willing to pay more, but has a crummy ad. In this way, Google rewards advertisers for ads that users want to click on, which in turn keeps users aware that ads next to Google searches are actually worth looking at.

And Google search advertising is just one piece of the puzzle. The whole industry is moving this way.