Damn, Google. I get that it’s amazing they’ve been able to reinvent, monetize and dominate the search category without TV to help achieve this rarefied air they’re in, so I’m a little confused. Logging into the dashboard for the blog lately and 300 x 250 display ads have been running after I finish a blog post. Not, like Wendy’s, Dove or Ford. No, it’s stuff that’s more at home in the back of the Village Voice. No way they needed the money. Right? Eh, maybe they do. Looks like they’re experimenting with targeted ads for a future rollout.
Two problems here:
1) NOBODY I know using Blogger would buy anything advertised this way. Yes, we’re in advertising and blind to it all, but even we sometimes appreciate a well-done banner ad if it’s from a major brand. (Rare as THOSE are.) These however are worse than the ads masquerading as... um, ads on Facebook. Asian dating sites? Engineering firms? Bad 2.0 dating sites? Y’all just got suckered into buying the not so cold $11 beer at Google Field.
2) If the blog’s readers can’t see the ad, and the blogger is going to ignore the ad, who thought this was going to be effective? Facebook’s ads suck, but at least a user’s network of friends will see it too.
4 comments:
I actually think this is brilliant. Most of the ads I've seen inside Blogger are related to the content I've just actively written about -- the contextual placement is striking, and I bet they get a good response rate.
After all, if the trend is people creating content, why not ping them the moment they've created it. At least this format is honest vs. the sponsored stuff going on elsewhere.
And a Japanese dating site for you, Bill? How much more on-target could they get?
Yes, but related to the content you write about, but not related to what you need, and all for an audience of one who has no interest. Makes no sense.
Like Ben, I actually like the ads. When I first spotted them I couldn't resist clicking on them. You're not suppose to click on your own ads on the front end so being able to eat my own dog food was pretty interesting.
Since my blog is very targeted to a specific niche and rarely goes off topic the ads are pretty relevant to what I'm interested in and am, in theory, in the market for.
Here’s what I mean. Take any of these ads that showed up recently. I wouldn’t need any of that stuff.
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