Do advertisements ruin the user experience?

[JLogan]

I don't think that they ruin the user experience if they are placed correctly. Video pre-rolls are pretty annoying, but that's the only one I can think of that ruins the user experience. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[rick]

ah ha!!
I never thought you "pro advertising, marketing, etc..." guys would ever ask this question. :allsmiles:
Advertisements absolutely ruin the internet as a whole!!

I don't think you have any idea how ads are despised by the general public.
I may be wrong, but basically the public needs to access info on the internet and they usually get inundated with ads they can NOT opt out of.
Ads do brainwash, so I'm sure it will only get worse.

I remember when cable TV first came out... no advertising on pay TV channels, but that didn't last too long did it...
IMHO if we could live without advertising dollars, everyone would be better off!! :wink:

 

[JLogan]

I have a few advertisements on my website. And I have to say I find it hard to believe that it ruins the users experience. I don't use an adblocker, and I'm not bothered by most ads that are displayed to me. There are sites out there that over do it with ads, but I think most sites these days do it alright.

 

[rick]

well, short of your website, I believe that advertising is the plague of the internet.
I was surprised that any one of you "pro advertising/marketing" types would make a post like this, so kudos to you.

The internet is an opportunity to share information between users for the good of humanity, but there are many
who will use it to advertise, corrupt, distribute propaganda, push an agenda, etc...

Users need to scrutinize every contact, so the claim that "advertising is the plague of the internet" is not extreme at all IMHO.

 

[Sam1]

If there was a way to earn from every site without showing ads then I would certainly go for it. In a freemium model this isn't possible. I haven't found the ads on most sites ruin user experience. When the site has had a lot of ads there is generally a reason for it- their costs are usually higher so they are forced to serve more ads.

 

[rick]

It might seem like I was ranting about evil advertising, but my gripe isn't with advertising per se, it's with the thoughtless, in your face, pictures and or video with no regard to the overall content. As I mentioned in my CMS post, we have come to accept a blog or forum in basically one format (yes there are many different styles, but basically the same overall format) and it's my belief that we need to break that format. No I don't know how exactly, but it has to happen.

There was an awesome TV show "Bar Karma" which only lasted one season because I believe it challenged the status quo.
The community (viewers, regular people) helped develop the episodes including the actors, settings, scripts, etc...
The reason I bring this up is because advertisements were incorporated into the story. Advertising was part of the content, so you never break away from the story, everything was coherent and you were never aware that advertising was happening. This concept stuck with me, what do you guys think??

 

[JLogan]

This concept stuck with me, what do you guys think??

So, basically you prefer advertising to be a coke can in a tv set instead of a blatant "Drink coke it's the best" type advertisement?

While that type of product promotion isn't bad, there's really no way to integrate advertising in a blog unless you are writing the content to explicitly advertise something. Advertising inside of a show is a lot easier, because you have video, text, effects, and a bunch of other stuff. When people read text, it transfers different so whether you put the advertisement in a paragraph or in the sidebar ... they know it's an ad.

But out of curiosity, what do you think of something like this?

http://www.patreon.com

 

[rick]

So, basically you prefer advertising to be a coke can in a tv set instead of a blatant "Drink coke it's the best" type advertisement?

Yes, or better yet, the person drinks a coke.

While that type of product promotion isn't bad, there's really no way to integrate advertising in a blog unless you are writing the content to explicitly advertise something. Advertising inside of a show is a lot easier, because you have video, text, effects, and a bunch of other stuff. When people read text, it transfers different so whether you put the advertisement in a paragraph or in the sidebar ... they know it's an ad.

Not necessarily...
Lets say I'm a food truck blogger, or recipe blogger, etc...
Within my content, I could work in a "name brand" Coke a Cola or "Gold Medal" flour.
The content provider could select product advertising to include based on standard agreements.
We're not trying to hide the advertising, but rather include it in coherent flow of the content.
I'm not sure how it would play out exactly, but the days of an obnoxious dancer happy about a mortgage rate
or a police red and blue flashing light advertising low car insurance while you're trying to log into email have to go!

But out of curiosity, what do you think of something like this?
http://www.patreon.com

It's a nice idea, I hope it takes off

 

[The IM Forum]

If it's nicely placed and not too many then it will not ruin user experience, most of sites on the web have ads so visitors are expecting to see them when they land on your site anyway, so don't be afraid to place ads on your site.

 

[Shole]

The internet is full of ads, but without those ads would there be so many great sites?

 

[JLogan]

The internet is full of ads, but without those ads would there be so many great sites?

Probably not.

 

[rick]

The internet is full of ads, but without those ads would there be so many great sites?

Well, that depends on your definition of "great sites".

Advertising increases the budget, not creativity, passion, etc...
I like to use TV and Movies as an analogy.

During your typical situation comedy on prime time TV, they cram anywhere from 5 to 16 commercials in about every 10 to 15 minutes (I may be slightly off, but you get the idea). I can certainly live without that situation comedy as there are no less than 25 others on different networks.
As for Movies... advertising, promotion and popular actors certainly increase the viewers and box office takes.

It's my opinion that, advertising, promotion, etc... does nothing to improve the content and in fact, in the case of TV is drastically degrades the enjoyment of watching.
I've been known to seek out obscure and or low budget movies and have been disappointed about 30% of the time.
If I go to a highly advertised, hyped movie, I've been disappointed about 60% of the time.
You do the math :whistling:

Would there be so many great sites without advertising? IMHO, you better believe it!! opcorn:

 

[Shole]

Well, that depends on your definition of "great sites".

Advertising increases the budget, not creativity, passion, etc...
I like to use TV and Movies as an analogy.

During your typical situation comedy on prime time TV, they cram anywhere from 5 to 16 commercials in about every 10 to 15 minutes (I may be slightly off, but you get the idea). I can certainly live without that situation comedy as there are no less than 25 others on different networks.
As for Movies... advertising, promotion and popular actors certainly increase the viewers and box office takes.

It's my opinion that, advertising, promotion, etc... does nothing to improve the content and in fact, in the case of TV is drastically degrades the enjoyment of watching.
I've been known to seek out obscure and or low budget movies and have been disappointed about 30% of the time.
If I go to a highly advertised, hyped movie, I've been disappointed about 60% of the time.
You do the math :whistling:

Would there be so many great sites without advertising? IMHO, you better believe it!! opcorn:

I agree on that that it doesnt improve the content but think about it the sites cost money to maintain, the bigger the site the more you need to spend. And you might think it doesnt increase the creativity, but many people get motivated and find great ideas on how to make profit out of their site.
I dont want to say I dont agree with you that it doesnt increase passion, because if you want to create something you will find a way to get the money in different ways not only from ads.
My start in the website world was really though, no knowledge , no money, not allowed to use paypal, not because I didnt have a credit card but because Serbia was and still is on the black list of paypal. So I had to start with a free host and a subdomain. To make money I wrote and changed my paypal weekly almost xD.
My point is that ad's revenue helps the owners of the site. Their creativity is influenced by it because 1 worry less equals 1 point for creativity open.
Dont you agree ?
Also there would be for sure great sites, but you would see donation buttons more often

 

[rick]

sites cost money to maintain, the bigger the site the more you need to spend.

So I had to start with a free host and a subdomain. To make money I wrote and changed my paypal weekly almost xD.

My point is that ad's revenue helps the owners of the site.

Great post thanks,
I'm starting to see why I"m at odds with most everyone else on this matter.

I believe it comes down to the purpose and or goal of one's website(s).

• To freely share information with no expectation of compensation
• To interact with others by any number of different ways
• To sell or purchase this could be information as well as physical things
• To make money as an middleman, affiliate, provider, etc...
• Any combination of the above

I have always fallen into the "freely share" category which can be seen via my usage of Linux and open-source software which probably differs from others here on the forum which fall into some combination of the other categories.
I quoted parts of Shole's post with references to "money" and or "make money" which made me realize that my perspective on advertising, websites or the internet for that matter may be drastically different than someone looking to make money or just break even.

 

[Shole]

Great post thanks,
I'm starting to see why I"m at odds with most everyone else on this matter.

I believe it comes down to the purpose and or goal of one's website(s).

• To freely share information with no expectation of compensation
• To interact with others by any number of different ways
• To sell or purchase this could be information as well as physical things
• To make money as an middleman, affiliate, provider, etc...
• Any combination of the above

I have always fallen into the "freely share" category which can be seen via my usage of Linux and open-source software which probably differs from others here on the forum which fall into some combination of the other categories.
I quoted parts of Shole's post with references to "money" and or "make money" which made me realize that my perspective on advertising, websites or the internet for that matter may be drastically different than someone looking to make money or just break even.

Trust me its not so much different than mine, I dont have ads on my sites and even though its hard to pay for the bills I still do some gigs and earn money to pay it because I love doing it . I use for now only open source software's (MyBB, SMF, phpBB) except one and that is WHMCS , that costs 15$ per week. Now I earn about 130$ per week from my scholarship and form that I pay about 30$ each month for my sites, while the rest I use for living.
This is why I would like to be able to add ads on my site, like buyandsell ads, to help me pay for the costs, so i can have 30$ plus for living. Now this may not seem much in America but in Serbia and Romania its really a lot, especially in Serbia. I can eat for about 2 weeks whit that money

I understand your perspective, but other people see it as me or have that theory that their site is only made to create an easy income. I have seen many sites fail just because the admin thought its better to have a lot of ads and do less work and earn money than to keep their community active.
If you go around and check sites, forums or blogs you will see that 80% for sure will have some kid of ad (Not Link Exchange or affiliate exchange)

 

[rick]

Good Post, I wish you all the best.
I believe my hosting company is out of Romania (IntoVPS) and while my actual physical hosting is in Dallas, Texas (US),
My PayPal payments go to Romania.
Thanks for seeing my side of the coin as I'm beginning to understand the other side.

 

[Travis]

I agree i hate video pre rolls advertisements ruin it for me if they are placed everywhere like a couple of forums i know of.