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Dear Titans of The Online Advertising Landscape,

Joe, Michael, Ryan, James, Elizabeth, Tim et al.

Please help us luddites. Us lowly consumers of your “free” online content. We don’t claim to know anything about your business, we simply are making observations as the very people you are aiming to market to.

Why, I ask is there such an adversarial relationship between many content providers and their consumers? Is there bitterness because it is so difficult to make a living in this business and the consumers should simply shut up because they’re “getting it for free?”

Wouldn’t it make sense to develop advertising methodologies that consumers actually appreciate? There was a time when pop-up and banner ads were thought by advertisers to be an effective method to reach customers, but we evolved. Is it that difficult to imagine that the reason it’s so hard to make money is because the models currently being used simply don’t work.

Are we supposed to believe Pushdowns and XXL Boxes are going to get consumers excited about the products your advertisers are paying you to promote? I suppose if you can keep getting advertisers to pony up, it doesn’t matter how obtrusive the ads are, but if the content isn’t compelling enough to make up for it, you’re going to have less pageviews to justify anyone paying for them in the first place.

But what do I know, I’m just one of your customers.

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  1. jdel reblogged this from spiers and added:
    Spiers pretty much nails it, but I’ll add my two cents, from a personal perspective: Gawker blazed this trail, back when...
  2. cattleprod reblogged this from michaelorell and added:
    You guys need to start a websides for this, scariously.
  3. web20morons reblogged this from brianvan and added:
    energy into finding...job or losing weight.
  4. mercurypdx reblogged this from brianvan and added:
    Bold: Dear Titans...apartment still available…
  5. brianvan reblogged this from spiers and added:
    Oh goody, it’s my turn to share an opinion! (Just for you, Ryan Brown) Soup is correct that advertisers seem to have an...
  6. geisen reblogged this from soupsoup and added:
    Spiers pretty much nailed it. Ultimately, we’re looking for ways to get your attention while you’re engaged with our...
  7. spiers reblogged this from michaelorell and added:
    I know, I know. shot not.
  8. soupsoup reblogged this from michaelorell and added:
    Not baiting. Elizabeth gave an excellent explaination. If it works, it works. I didn’t believe it did, I’ve admitted my...
  9. michaelorell reblogged this from spiers and added:
    Emailed Brown not to take the bait, totes forgot to CC you. Shot-not explaining Network Exchanges to Soup.
  10. spiers reblogged this from soupsoup and added:
    I don’t think any...the sites you regularly visit are really going overboard with...
  11. soupsoup posted this