This is a rant. Not a full-fledged rant. Just a tiny bit o’ one.
You will not walk away feeling all kick-ass like some experts say your readers should feel after reading your post. I doubt you do that anyway.
Ok, so, disclaimers finished....
Doncha just hate it when you visit a site and you lock on to the article you want to read. You’re in 3-4 sentences and then....and then... their advertisers push that article down 1/4 of the page.
And now you’re looking at their ad. The ad you weren’t interested in. No, the article you wanted to read is displayed now at the bottom of the screen.
Ok. We scroll down...start reading again because maybe you’re like me: we remain interested in that content...and presto...3-4 more sentences into reading that same article and now that same ad generously scrolls itself back up and now we’re looking at more content, links and more ads and pictures. Content we had no interest in consuming.
Now, the article we did want to read is scrolled back up to the place where we first started to read it.
That means we were interrupted twice....Not once now. Twice.
Interruptive advertising has moved into Phase Two: Wear Us Down. Advertisers will keep interrupting us until we surrender and sit passively while they spoon-feed us their content.
Ok, that was a bit hyperbolic. But not by much, really. I guarantee there are advertisers that think that quietly to themselves, sharing it only with a few closest friends who nod their assent, but without interrupting their friend's fantasy.
There are even a few bold enough to include in their client presentations. Maybe have a big powerpoint slide that says...
WE WILL KEEP INTERRUPTING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE UNTIL THEY READ OUR MESSAGE, BUY YOUR STUFF.
AGAIN and AGAIN.
And their client cheers and thinks:
Very bold idea. They’re on to something here.
Otherwise, why would the client, these big media enterprises, sign on for these back-to-back interruptions? Of course, that assumes logic and a willingness to consider data. So...there we go again with assumptions.
Here’s what I do: I leave the site. Actually, it is more honest to say the site drives me away. Either way, I consume neither the content I wanted nor the content they tried to force me to consume. (And it’s sites, now. Plural. This tactic is going viral....)
Sad.
Is this the state of digital advertising?
Doncha just hate it?
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