Blurring The Line Between Content And Advertising
The classic Web site layout still dominates Web publisher thinking. In this model, content is stacked in the middle of each page and banner ads are placed on the periphery and linked to other Web sites for coveted referral money or click-through rates. These banner ads are visually distinguishable from the site’s content, both in their appearance (hence the term ‘banner’) and by their location on the page. Many Web publishers even label these reserved sections as “advertisement,” so they are easier for users and potential ad buyers to identify.
That’s changing.
The problem is that users have become so savvy at sidestepping banner ads that these ads have lost their effectiveness — the result being that for every thousand visitors to a site, only a few will click on the ad and even fewer of these convert into sales. This leads the Web publisher to ask himself: “how do I optimize ad space on my site?”
Increasingly, industry leaders are realizing that this might not be the right question to ask. The larger question is: “how do I optimize profitability of my site?” Banner ads have their function, but they should not be your only revenue stream. Some Web sites are learning that blurring the line between content and advertising can please ad-resistant users and increase revenue. The company I work for proves that every day attracting tens of thousands of new users through more than 100,000 pieces of ad-supported content, like videos and games, and generating hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Companies are beginning to pay to have their product featured directly in the content. For example, a character on Grey’s Anatomy drinks a Pepsi in a scene or talks about how she enjoyed her vacation in Prince Edward Island; is the viewer watching content or an ad? Well, both. Viewers can’t zone the product placement out like they could a commercial, and in many ways they don’t want to.
The same thing is happening online. YouTube began as a content-only site with zero revenue. Later, they began displaying traditional banner ads around the content but this did not provide enough revenue to support their bandwidth or impending lawsuits. Now, YouTube gives major studios prime placement for movie previews and TV commercials. Although these are ads, users embrace the clips as content. Furthermore, users then post their responses to these previews, creating grassroots buzz for the film. Are these ads or quality user-generated content?
Facebook is also blurring the line by allowing users to interact with and control many of the ads they see. For example, to help promote Spider-Man 3 for Sony, Facebook offered limited edition Spider-Man icons as “gifts” for users to share with one another. Are the users giving their friends content or helping to drive an ad campaign?
Amazon was one of the first online companies to tap the power of blurring content and ads. Early on, they allowed users to post reviews of their products. These reviews fill up whole pages and help to sell the products.
Remember, it’s all about supplying value to your users. Let’s be honest: your users don’t seek out your Web site looking to click on banner ads. Someone shouldn’t be able to look at your page and immediately point out the content and the ads. Content can earn money; it doesn’t have to simply be the means to an end! So get out that eraser and blur that line. Your users will thank you for it and so will your bank account.
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