If you are an independent web producer and you want to earn revenue from your internet endeavors then it is mighty tempting to use an advertising service like Google AdSense to help make a bit of money. If you decide to go down this path then it is a good thing to remind yourself that the majority of internet ads are terrible. Most web advertising programs will deface websites with the most base, lowest-common-denominator, puerile, bottom feeding, scare-tactic-using, offensive and back alley ads you could possibly imagine and then some. Even Google like to get into business with these purveyors of snake oil.
The internet banner ad industry is the new late night TV infomercial, only much worse. The worst that could happen with a late night purchase of a ‘Super Chop Chop 2000′ or some such technological marvel is that it wouldn’t work. With the new banner ads I get the distinct feeling that if I engage in business with those offering me techniques to lose weight, kill an attacker with my bare hands or make billions of dollars a day while i sit by the pool that it will end with my credit card/identity/kidneys/all of the above being stolen.
I just can’t see how anyone more than half awake could take them seriously. take a look at this gem I pulled from the Failblog. I hope and pray that the ad was just a joke to fit in with theme of the website.
“Calm down”, you might say, “such things are surely for amateurs only and the main media players must be able to do better.” That’s true, in Australia the big websites have managed to eliminate most of the offensive and replace it with annoying. Case in point are the damn video ads that keep appearing on skynews.com.au and the fairfax network. These pesky buggers sit in the corner of your screen and play videos with the sound on by default. That means you have to look at the damn thing to find the mute button. At least they have the semi decency not to connect a pop up ad to the mute button, but it can only only be a matter of time. Thanks guys for wasting my bandwidth and slowing down my browser. For an added bonus, open multiple tabs at once and enjoy a mix of different ad soundtracks at once. Top tier American websites appear to have discovered pretty fast that audio ads are a turn off for users. They have video ads but audio is off by default and the user can click for sound if they are interested . I am now strongly considering removing skynews from my news feed because of these ads. They are so annoying that they even pop up over other ads.
Did I claim the professionals were lacking in the offensive department? TheAustralian.com.au has proved me wrong.
Doubly offensive when you consider this recent story on the Australian’s own website
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