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LOMA : Tech
Talk : Articles
Web Ad Explosion
by John Anderson
Fueling this ad explosion is an estimated $9.6 billion that is expected
to be spent on Internet advertising in 2002.
Why the web?
Offline advertising is tough. Companies spend hundreds of dollars
placing ads to acquire new customers without being able to see results
until weeks later. With Internet ads they can tell, up to the minute, how
many people have seen their ad and how many times it has been clicked. If
an ad is not performing well they can immediately change it.
Online advertising is becoming more popular because of the increasing
size of the online population, a rise in time spent online, and increasing
Internet commerce revenues. But as more ads appear, the more distinctive
their ad needs to be. The battle is to capture the attention of online
users. Their tools are not limited to banner ads; their weapons of choice
are pop-up ads, e-mail marketing, affiliate networks, partnerships and
sponsorship.
The expected growth will lead to an explosion in clutter, like you don’t
already have to wade though a sea of pop-up ads. In order to outpace the
growing clutter, expect advertisers to take advantage of every new
technology available to them.
The Good
Websites that have Web advertising on their sites are able to provide
new and better content to their visitors with out having to charge or
increase fees for these services.
When asked about traditional "mostly harmless" banner
advertising, people understand that there is no free lunch and that
advertising does play a role, just like it does on every channel of your
TV. Advertising revenue will always be a powerful way to offset the
increasing costs of owning a website.
One of the real challenges advertisers face is to have ads that have
both entertainment and content. The increasing number of ads will force
interactive advertising to improve. Without sounding too much like Martha
Stewart, anything that gets rid of poor advertising is a good thing.
It all comes down to how creative is. If it’s captivating, people will
pay attention to it. In some cases, advertising can be great. Nike ads can
be inspirational, and Budweiser’s ‘Whassup’ ads have become a piece
of pop culture.
The Bad
I don’t mind banner ads and I tolerate most pop-ups. What is bad is
when any of these are taken to the extreme, when you feel like you just
can’t get away from it.
Then there’s the whole issue about turning cookies off in your
browser. This will prevent ad companies from tracking the sites you are
visiting, but cookies aren’t always a bad thing.
Disabling cookies can be more trouble than it’s worth because it
obligates users to accept or reject them on a case-by-case basis. And
without cookies, users must log in afresh each time they revisit a web
site, a trying task for those who have registered on a lot of different
web sites with different log-ins and passwords.
It is best to be asked if you want to accept a cookie or use a program
that will help filter ad cookies and let others through. To change the
cookie setting, select "Tools | Internet Options..." from the
main menu. Change to the "Security" tab. Click "Custom
Level...". Set "Allow cookies that are stored on your
computer" to "Prompt". Set "Allow per-session
cookies" to "Prompt".
The Ugly
Has your browser's home page changed suddenly in recent months? Does
your desktop sport a toolbar you don't remember asking for? Is your system
tray crowded with mystery applications? You're not imagining things:
online advertising is more cunning, aggressive, and infuriating than ever.
Perhaps you've experienced websites pelting you with pop-up
advertisements as you leave a site, or advertising that can cause software
to be downloaded to your PC after you move your pointer over a banner ad.
Then there are those pop-up advertisements that look like Windows' system
warnings.
Many online marketers are resorting to dirty tricks to take over your
browser.
If your browser security settings are too low, advertisements can
automatically download toolbars without you ever seeing the usual "I
agree’ prompt.
Many people have been going ape over pop-up ads that download Bonzi
Software's marketing mascot, an animated purple gorilla that pitches to
you whether you are online or off.
Other programs such as music search software will do much more than you
expected. After installing the program it will change your browser home
page, default search engine and add dozens of new bookmarks.
What can you do about it?
Here are some tips to help you cope with excessive advertising:
Read the license agreement carefully: Check for clauses about
software that seem unrelated to the application you intend to install on
your PC.
Check out freebies: Consult Spychecker.com,
which maintains an online database of software that bundles advertising
components.
Adjust your browser settings: Make sure that your Internet
Explorer security levels (select Tools, Internet Options, Security)
are set to Medium (or higher), which prevents automatic software
installations. Set the browser to prompt you before running programs, like
ActiveX applets, that can start automatically.
Learn the lingo: Don't trust an ActiveX applet just because a
dialog box tells you it's been "signed." This language just
means the applet is really from the site it claims to be from. It says
nothing about what the applet does.
Remove any unwanted ActiveX applets: To do so, go to Tools,
Internet Options, General, Settings, View Objects. Right-click any
questionable programs and select View Properties to see where they
came from. If you want to uninstall one, right-click it again and select Remove.
Get uninstallers: Some adware can't easily be removed through
Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs window. If this happens, check the
adware company's website for an uninstall program that can eliminate it
completely.
Get software that fights adware: Ad-aware, AdSubtract,
PestPatrol, and Spybot-Search & Destroy can remove offending software;
ZoneAlarm lets you know when your PC tries to send data to the Internet.
Obviously, there are advantages to these technologies for Web users.
Web pages load faster without ads, and fewer ads mean fewer distractions.
Turning off ads also adds an extra measure of privacy by blocking
ad-serving companies from collecting personal data.
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