When Online advertising first came into the picture over 16 years ago in the form of a banner ad, there was a lot of promise behind the concept. It was a revolution in advertisement. Why? Because unlike Magazine ads and newspaper ads, where no one really knew how many people were being swayed to follow up on ad offers, online advertisement offered real-time clicks. These clicks began to serve as evidence that some ads were better than others, that some campaigns were indeed more successful, and companies could finally quantify their precious ROI for marketing expenses. It had so much promise that it became Google's primary source of charging their advertisers for search and display advertising because in the eyes of advertisers, publishers, and ad networks, clicks represented real proof that people showed enough interest to actually follow an ad lead.
Ten years after google AdWords first came onto the scene, it has become clear that clicks have lost their mojo. The industry was forced to put on a pair of beer goggles when viewing CTRs, bounce rates etc, because at the end of the day the numbers are abysmal. So what's a marketer to do? Aspiration. The magical word that has all of a sudden become the love term for all savvy marketers. While businessmen have their own snooty vocabulary with words such as synergy and ROI, marketers have aspiration. Aspiration relieves marketers of any real burden of proof for campaigns. Did the campaign work? Of course it did, people were aspired and even though the clicks don't demonstrate that, the brand was proliferated through social networks and a multitude of other marketing channels. Trust me.
I think that its not that the ads are bad, or that the clicks prove or don't prove a campaigns success, it's more that the way the entire industry is set up is topsy turvy. Advertisement is the only business where it is ok to "bite the hand that feeds you". The other day I was sitting in my car and I heard the DJ say, "Guys, we hate them just as much as you do, but they pay the bills! More music after these short commercial breaks". Wow. If you spoke this poorly about your paying customers, would they keep coming? But the ad industry is an exception, and this kind of mentally is pervasive. Why? Because EVERYONE knows that ads are annoying. Exactly why they are annoying, is another fun topic that I will discuss in more detail later. For now, my point is that the online ad industry is set up in a lose, lose, lose situation. The users lose because they get annoyed, the publishers lose because their content and their website becomes sullied with trashy ads that never fit organically, and advertisers have to hold on to the hope that aspiration made up for the 96% tangible failure rate of their campaigns (not to mention the negative emotions users feel towards them after having to put up with their annoying ads).
It seems like there has to be a better way. For everyone involved. Not just for the brands, but for the publishers and especially the users. This will be another post. But users are by far the party that suffers the most from online advertisement. Just look at the current industry set up we have, the priority list is clear: advertisers are first since they are paying the big bucks, publishers are second since they are receiving the money, and users are last and have to put up with terrible ads that more often than not are disruptive and damage a user's content experience.
I think I found a better way and for now its called adEvo. It will change how users experience brands through publishers sites, and it will in turn create a win, win, win situation for every party involved(at least that's the plan).
p.s. Does everyone hate online ads as much as I do?
p.p.s. I know it seems like I am being a huge hypocrite for having banner ads on my blog, but it's honestly just for competitive research.
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