This commercial began airing shortly after my brother-in-law and I found ourselves in this very predicament. Funny but true, a truly great ad.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Advertising doesn't pay the bills anymore?
I came across this piece in the New York Times. It's about the decline of print media and the inability of online advertising revenue to support online newspapers. Here's an excerpt:
For a long time, newspapers assumed that as their print advertising declined, it would be intersected by a surging line of online advertising revenue. But that revenue is no longer growing at many newspaper sites, so if the lines cross, it will be because the print revenue is saying hello on its way to the basement.
As a report by Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research stated last year, “The notion that the enormous cost of real news-gathering might be supported by the ad load of display advertising down the side of the page, or by the revenue share from having a Google search box in the corner of the page, or even by a 15-second teaser from Geico prior to a news clip, is idiotic on its face.”
You can see the whole column here.
What Carr is saying basically is that online newspapers will need to find some sort of pay-as-you-go method in order to be financially viable. I disagree. I think advertising is still the key to making money from newspapers, be it online or otherwise.
Here's the rub. The reason that online banner and pop-up ads don't seem to be as effective at regular newspaper print ads is because there is actually a way to measure them! With old-school ads, you really had no idea how many people saw your ad, just how many people bought the newspaper. Now, we are measuring the effectiveness of banner ads by how many people click on the ad. This is not the same thing. Just because a web ad doesn't get clicked, it doesn't mean that it is not effective. It can be just as effective as any other print ad simply by being on the page.
I don't know. These people just don't get it. The Internet is the last bastion of free shit, and the untold masses are not going to give that up without a fight. No one wants to subscribe to an online newspaper when they can get the information for free from countless other online sources, Google news being the first that comes to mind.
For a long time, newspapers assumed that as their print advertising declined, it would be intersected by a surging line of online advertising revenue. But that revenue is no longer growing at many newspaper sites, so if the lines cross, it will be because the print revenue is saying hello on its way to the basement.
As a report by Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research stated last year, “The notion that the enormous cost of real news-gathering might be supported by the ad load of display advertising down the side of the page, or by the revenue share from having a Google search box in the corner of the page, or even by a 15-second teaser from Geico prior to a news clip, is idiotic on its face.”
You can see the whole column here.
What Carr is saying basically is that online newspapers will need to find some sort of pay-as-you-go method in order to be financially viable. I disagree. I think advertising is still the key to making money from newspapers, be it online or otherwise.
Here's the rub. The reason that online banner and pop-up ads don't seem to be as effective at regular newspaper print ads is because there is actually a way to measure them! With old-school ads, you really had no idea how many people saw your ad, just how many people bought the newspaper. Now, we are measuring the effectiveness of banner ads by how many people click on the ad. This is not the same thing. Just because a web ad doesn't get clicked, it doesn't mean that it is not effective. It can be just as effective as any other print ad simply by being on the page.
I don't know. These people just don't get it. The Internet is the last bastion of free shit, and the untold masses are not going to give that up without a fight. No one wants to subscribe to an online newspaper when they can get the information for free from countless other online sources, Google news being the first that comes to mind.
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