Will AOL deal corrupt Google’s clean ads? |
I’ve noticed Google starting to explore more aggressive non-text advertisements.
Hopefully this continues to remain an option for Adsense affiliates to turn off (disclaimer: it is currently turned on here, but I’m keeping an eye on the situation). I sure hope that this AOL deal doesn’t mean soon we’ll be seeing intrusive flyovers and ads with video and sound auto-playing.
Users of Google’s search engine will soon see something they are not used to on the notoriously spare site: advertising with logos and graphics. And the advertisers will not be limited to America Online, whose talks with Google prompted the change in policy, according to two executives close to the companies’ negotiations.
Generally speaking, logos and graphical ads I don’t have a problem with and it’s a good idea I think for Google to mix up the text ads with graphics, but readers (and me) will definitely get annoyed by stuff that interferes with browsing/reading or that blasts sound on auto-play through our speakers.
Maybe I’m in the minority on this one (am I?). I’ve been experimenting with the Amazon enhanced ads lately and have received primarily positive feedback. I think the big difference with the Amazon rollover ads is that they contribute to the surfer experience where most autoplay audio/video ads and Flash flyover ads are seen as disruptive.
This can be a slippery slope, Google, please realize you are playing in a mine field. Could letting AOL in the door be like letting the riff raff into the party? Billionaire investor Carl Icahn sure doesn’t want this deal to go through, but for different reasons.
Did this post make you go hmm?
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If you’re in a minority, I’m also a member. My speakers and screen real estate are my property, to populate with information and stimuli of my own choosing. I don’t mind a few ads on the periphery, but when they stomp all over the content I’m trying to access, it annoys me to the point of hoping to remember not to buy their product.
Comment by Sterling Camden — December 20, 2005 @ 3:49 pm PST
[…] Despite Carl Icahn’s deal squashing attempts, it’s now official: Google owns 5% of AOL. The best deal in this situation goes to AOL, whereas Microsoft seems to have gotten the shortest straw. Depending on how much Google had to give up, this could be poison in the barrel for them at least on the ad front as it seems like a lofty concession to allow ad policy changes. […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Welcome to 5% of our nightmare, Google — December 21, 2005 @ 12:44 pm PST