Will Plain-Text Ads Continue to Rule?
Jakob Nielsen,
Alertbox,
Apr 28, 2003
Jakob Nielsen examines the phenomenon of text-based ads. They have been a success on Google and are beginning to infuse blog-space. I think there are two sides to this story. The first is that, since text-based ads load quickly and don't distract the reader, they are more tolerable. But equally importantly, the Google ads (at least, though not the blog-space ads) are contextually relevant. This, plus a clear message, is what encourages readers to follow the link. I have toyed with the idea of text-ads for this newsletter (more as a mental exercise, not with any intent of actually doing it). What would work? They would need to be differentiated, otherwise they will cost the newsletter trust. And they would need to advertise items of direct (though commercial) interest to readers that I do not otherwise cover - things like conference announcements, course announcements, and (to a lesser extent) products. I think they would work - but they will work only if subscribers read the newsletter, rather than merely receive it.
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