How to Sink a Major Web Site with a Single Ad

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob Frankston <bob2-39 () bobf frankston com>
> Date: November 27, 2009 10:15:42 PM EST
> To: dave () farber net, 'ip' <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Cc: 'Lauren Weinstein' <lauren () vortex com>
> Subject: RE: [IP] How to Sink a Major Web Site with a Single Ad

> Even worse when they appear in secondary tabs and you can’t figure o 
> ut where the sound is coming from. This can happen you fire up a bro 
> wser that restores the old tabs. You can’t localize the screen sourc 
> e for the audio. Worse if it’s just audio without any visual clues a 
> nd you get background music or multiple audio sources fighting each  
> other. SO much for clueless designers who don’t know how to share wi 
> th others.
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Dave Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Friday, November 27, 2009 21:24
> To: ip
> Subject: [IP] How to Sink a Major Web Site with a Single Ad
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: November 27, 2009 9:18:21 PM EST
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: How to Sink a Major Web Site with a Single Ad
>
>
>
>               How to Sink a Major Web Site with a Single Ad
>
>                http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000642.html
>
>
> Greetings.  As I've noted previously, I am generally not a fan of
> ad-blocking software.  I want as much Web content as possible to be
> free to viewers, and widespread blocking of ads potentially risks
> pushing more sites to try pay-based models that will probably not be
> viable.  The likely result of large scale ad blocking could be a lot
> of useful Web sites vanishing entirely.
>
> But if Web site viewers become seriously disgusted with specific ad
> formats, the sites that use them may be hammering nails into their own
> organizations' coffins.
>
> Web ads are a tricky business.  There's a vast gulf between an
> unobtrusive text ad and a giant "blot out" display ad (the latter
> sometimes seen these days even on the home pages of some distinguished
> news sites -- they take over most of your screen at least briefly).
> Deciding what's eyeball catching without being utterly revolting is no
> simple task.
>
> There's one ad format though -- which has recently begun appearing on
> some major media sites such as ABC News over the last few days
> (including right now as I type this) -- that I suspect will drive away
> Web users faster than a concentrated squirt of mercaptan in an
> enclosed area.
>
> I'm talking about embedded "auto-play" audio ads -- an audio (or
> usually video with audio) advertisement that fires up loudly as soon
> as an associated page is loaded.
>
> There are various ways that Web ads can be distracting, but none that
> I'm familiar with can equal the sheer obnoxiousness of reaching a news
> story page and having a commercial come blaring without warning out of
> your speakers, surprising everyone in the vicinity (including that cat
> who was sleeping soundly in your lap, and awoke abruptly with fully
> extended claws!)
>
> This isn't the same situation as navigating to a page where you expect
> to receive an audio playback and are appropriately prepared.  It's
> also very different from video ads that auto-play -- but with their
> audio silenced until the user specifically activates the audio or
> otherwise clicks the ad.
>
> Playing ads with enabled audio content automatically and unexpectedly
> on conventional Web pages -- and in some cases this will occur
> repeatedly each and every time you return to those pages -- is taking
> ads into a zone that I believe most Web users will not tolerate for
> long.
>
> I'm all in favor of creative Web ads, including ones that "push the
> envelope" in interesting ways.
>
> But ads that push past creative into seriously annoying are taking
> major risks of disturbing and alienating viewers (and their families
> and pets in the vicinity) who may be very difficult to attract back in
> the future.
>
> Until a Web user indicates in some clear manner that they wish to hear
> any audio, embedded Web advertisements, especially on
> non-audio/video-oriented Web pages, should always be seen and not
> heard.  Otherwise, those ads -- and any other content of such sites --
> are likely to increasingly be not heard *nor* seen at all.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, NNSquad
>   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
> Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
>   for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
>
> Archives



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