Poll: Ads On The Internet = What???

[Lilani]

-snip-

Marketing has always been aggressive and manipulative (vintage ads before the days where they legally couldn't lie are fantastic), but the problems advertisers are dealing with now are saturation and distractions. I work in the TV/video productions department of a retail company, and one thing we do is make TV ads. One thing we worry about is viewership dedication--these days with the Internet and Netflix and such, not only are people watching less TV in general, but when they watch it they are less dedicated to the task of watching TV. People are on their smartphones or laptops, not making eye contact for minutes on end and not dedicated to listening. TV has become background noise, and while TV ads are still effective, they aren't what they used to be. And creating an effective ad requires a different approach than just 5 or 10 years ago.

As for the saturation problem, this is more clear on the Internet. There are ads everywhere, and people are doing their best to avoid them. And then things like adblock exist. So advertisers on the Internet are just concerned about being SEEN, and getting a lot of initial glance appeal. This is where you get clickbait and splash screens--clickbait tries to entice you with some alluring information being dangled like a carrot (49 Problems Only Dudes With Busty GF Will Understand, Top 5 Foods You Should Never Eat Ever (#3 is a shock!), Dentists HATE Her!) and splash screens try to just completely hijack your attention and hope you're impressed with what you see. Good Internet ads tend to be very visual as opposed to wordy, and rely upon voluntary interest rather than hijacking the viewer. Though the best ones go viral, something which many marketing teams are trying to get their heads around, but can and never will really get just because going viral is usually unexpected and not always positive. The most recent successful viral campaign I've seen is Arby's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv5StAv77Dg].

Ironically, one which I think attempted to go viral but failed because of its own insufferableness also featured Pepsi. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCXr7ECpGQg] They've got the references, they've got the energy...but it goes on for so long and is so contrived and just FEELS so much like an ad it just didn't earn the goodwill something truly viral earns.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Banner and Flash ads have become the next best thing to "blipverts [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blipvert]"= they're vying for your subconscious attention, not your conscious attention. Just being there in the corner of your eye means they've made an impression, and even if you hate the ad with a passion, that impression remains. With the Internet practically drowning in advertisements, any impression is deemed better than none at all.

 

[Jiggle Counter]

Just being there in the corner of your eye means they've made an impression, and even if you hate the ad with a passion, that impression remains. With the Internet practically drowning in advertisements, any impression is deemed better than none at all.

"How are our numbers looking, Jim?"

"They hate us, sir"

"Fantastic! Our plan is working. Soon we'll be rolling in money"

 

[MeatMachine]

Yes, internet ads have worked on me. Once in a blue moon, I actually see an ad that proposes something that directly appeals to me. Domino's, for example, had an online coupon for a large 1-topping for like 6 bucks (carry-out only), when the usual price is like 14 goddamn dollars the sleazy bastards.

That being said, if I go on a Youtube watching spree, and get subjected to the same 30 second pre-video ad for every 1 minute video I watch ABOUT THIS TOTALLY SEXY BRAND NEW CAR DONT'CHA WANT IT NO WELL HOW ABOUT THIS TIME? ad ...I want to crucify my computer and live the life of a humble Amish farmer.

As far as the SOLVE media bouncer that The Escapist forum seems so fond of... I tolerate it. These people have to pay for site upkeep I understand, but... yeah. Tolerate it.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Completely off-topic, I apologize, but how do you pay for internet in USA? I mean, here in Sweden you pay for your bandwidth but not your data. I have a 100/20 broadband and pay a quarterly fee for it, but I can download and upload without limit. Do you have another system over there, I'm confused.

OT: Internet ads have worked for me sometimes and doesn't really bother me, although I'm pissed at the NFL at the moment for playing their ad for Gamepass every damn time I use their site. Especially since I already HAVE Gamepass, I won't buy a second account you dolts.

Many countries have internet plans based around download limits. Especially ones where there is little way to distinguish services by speed. (because the connections everywhere are bad, and probably all about the same in a way the provider can't control)

What you end up paying is a plan with a certain monthly download allowance (sometimes uploads count too, sometimes they don't). This could be 20 gigabytes, 100, 200, 500...

If you're particularly unlucky, when you run out, they charge you a fee per gigabyte! (which is usually quite painful because it's hard to check how close to the limit you are.)- (if you're lucky your connection just becomes unbearably slow instead...)

- These plans were also very, very common pretty much everywhere in the days that dial-up modems were still in use. (but dial-up was so slow it was usually quite hard to hit your download limits unless you had some really silly thing like a 20 megabyte a month plan...)

Now, personally, that kind of plan annoys me so much I avoid it like the plague, but it can be difficult to get around.
The country I live in does have some ISP's with unlimited plans, but there's only about 2 or 3, while most providers don't do 'unlimited data'... And I personally don't care if the limit is 20 gigabytes or 2000, the mere fact that there is a limit, is very stressful, so that's why I go out of my way to avoid it.

On topic, internet ads are annoying. Especially video ones that play without warning, or ones so full of bugs they crash your browser.

On the other hand, nobody pays attention to TV ads either, so in that regard the OP's argument is a little strange. Most people I know mute the TV during ad breaks, and even go off and do something like go to the toilet, or get something from the kitchen. (or talk) while the ads are on.

Few people intentionally watch or look at ads no matter how they are presented...

But advertising Does still work.

And it covers one very basic question I have some personal (albeit limited) experience with... It makes people aware you exist.

I have a youtube channel... But, it doesn't matter how good (or bad) my videos are, few people look at it.
Why? Because few people even know it exists.

The only way I've been able to get anyone to watch anything I've made is effectively by using a form of improvised advertising. That's not because I'm trying to shove it down their throats, but simply because nobody will ever find it unless they come across something by accident that tells them it exists.

(Getting them to come back and watch more is a different matter, because that actually requires good content - But the quality of the content doesn't matter if nobody even knows you exist...)

 

[kurupt87]

It probably has but not something that I remember. But then that's what adverts do, speak to your subconscious.

However, ads on the radio are in my opinion the best. Most of the listeners to radio are trapped in their car listening to them, with TV and the internet being what they are the ability to skip them is pretty trivial.

Plus, radio jingles are maddeningly memorable.

 

[Estarc]

I've never bought anything as a result of an internet ad, and I've only rarely bothered to watch one to completion.

The only ads I really hate are like, video ads when your browsing a webpage. So you have this ad in the top right, whatever, its normal, but instead of being static, it plays a video, complete with sound. Those infuriate me.

 

[CrystalShadow]

That reminds me... Nothing is quite as frustrating as 'targeted advertising'

Really google? You're going to show me ads of stuff I looked up to see what was available?

Oh, wait! How about ads showing the thing I bought on a website yesterday! Because showing me stuff I've already bought it SO helpful... XD

 

[FillerDmon]

-snip-

Why is it that your message makes me feel -really- bad about my stance? Because it makes me feel -really- bad about my stance.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Nope. That might be, though, because I just say 'okay' and move on when I see something like "Dentists hate her!" and whatnot. Oh, that, and I use Adblock plus.
Whitelisting sites that deserve it, which so far only includes the escapist.
This is the way the internet should be.

 

[visiblenoise]

I block ads and tracking services, so most of the internet ads that do manage to sneak through are amusingly irrelevant to me.

I've been swayed a bit by ads elsewhere, but I'm pretty stingy with nonessential purchases.

 

[Kl4pp5tuhl]

Ads can die off for all I care. It doesn't work anymore, the marketing branch might as well give up. If I want to try out something new, its not because somebody throws it in my face in any way.

 

[Atmos Duality]

*shrugs*
Ads effectively pay for most of the internet, so I tolerate them.
...At least until they become a serious, known security risk, then that shit is getting blocked.
Sadly, that has occurred with alarming frequency in recent years.

Though I know better than to ever act directly on ads, even for stuff I may want. Because chances are good, that if someone is advertising their product, someone else is undercutting it or offering better elsewhere.
(doesn't apply to everything, obviously; for example, brand-name medication is almost certainly sold under a time-limited monopoly, but I do my best to stay off of drugs PERIOD, nevermind ANY pills from the internet)

 

[FPLOON]

*had a porn ad-related anecdote*
*remembered the ad was on a porn-related website*
*disregards anecdote altogether*

Anyway, if there's anything I've learned from internet ads is that, outside of the ads that are actually related to the content in question, they seem to think I need either a date or a fuck-buddy "at moment's notice"... I somehow blame Google for all this, but I don't know why... With that said, the only ads that have swayed my judgment [positively] were either the ones I found myself or through first-hand experience... otherwise, I'm just using the ad to find whatever song was used in said ad...

Other than that, the last ad I would think of seeing on an anime-based website is an ad saying that I could date/fuck an "ugly person" "at moment's notice"... and it's "free" with "no sign-up" required...

 

[babinro]

Not consciously.

I've never seen an internet ad, clicked on it and actually went on to buy the product. In fact...I can't even remember the last time I've clicked on an internet ad. That said, when it comes down to needing a service or product that I'm wholly ignorant about, ad marketing shines. I'll often default to brand awareness.

The only truly effective marketing comes from content creators I frequent and super discounts. So when the Escapist talks about how amazing Dragon Age Inquisition is over several programs (or Defense Grid 2 before it, Hearthstone, etc) then they've typically sold me on either buying the game or keeping an eye on it.

The ultimate example of this is actually Shovel Knight. This is a game that would have gone under my radar as just another nostalgic cash grab. But thanks to here, normal boots, TGWT, and others I'm eagerly awaiting a price drop to pick this sucker up. I ALMOST picked it up at full price which is unheard of for me when it comes to a new game I wasn't already anticipating.

Likewise, Steam/Humblebundle/Origin/GoG,Indiegala, Bundlestars and the like could do the same with extreme discounts. I won't buy a game site unseen but it often leads to me researching a product I previously had no intention of considering.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I had completely forgotten about Dragon Age Inquisition until an ad on Youtube reminded me it was coming out. The ad itself stood out for having a haunting cover of "What A Wonderful World" that at first made me feel goosebumps but soon started to get on my nerves for reasons I can't explain. Still it grabbed me.

In contrast to that example is the Ad for Guardians of the Galaxy, which had me swinging from "meh" to "I got to see this" in it's runtime and it was almost entirely down to it's exquisite use of "Hooked On A Feeling".

These are the only recent ads that I can think of that actually endeared me towards a product. Most ads put me off things, though that is still an influence even if it's not the intended outcome.

Ads are potent if done well or even poorly though oftentimes the ads themselves take on a life of their own outside of the product (or even at the expense of the product). The Boot Monkey ads come to mind, I know it's for a car but don't ask me what car... I just fondly remember a monkey clubbing a carjacker and then dumping the body off a bridge.

 

[RandV80]

Most people probably don't think these ads work on them, even though they do. Simple awareness and familiarity have a big impact on purchases and ads create that. It's not just a theory, companies can measure and quantify the benefit of ads, and do so, otherwise I doubt they'd be willing to spend money on them.

Basically, if you're a human being, in a relatively normal mental state, these ads will affect you somehow, and typically in a manner that will increase you're probability of buying the product. Anyone who thinks they're immune to it is fooling themselves.

Personally I think that's a load of bullshit, not that the adds actually work but rather that they work as intended universally. I have no idea how much it actually works, but it would be a simple truth that if you can get your commercial to subconsciously effect 25% of it's viewership you can make significant profits.

For example think of Black Friday for example. Is all of America consumerist pigs that shrug of their humanity and go wild at Walmart on this day? Hardly, it's probably a very small percent of the population that actually does this, yet that small percent is enough to trigger massive profits and publicity and be counted as a huge 'win' for Walmart.

Back to adds I really think there's a lot of circumstantial factors. Like how would a Pepsi branding I see effect me when I'm being equally bombarded by Coke, and don't really like either? Or if I had to drink one I already know I like the taste of Coke better, even when consumption may be an annual thing at best (and never a personal choice) whenever those Pepsi taste test booths show up I can actually tell the difference. So it doesn't really matter what they do, apart from the most generic interpretation that everything has a cause & effect their adds and constant branding aren't going to have an effect on me.

But I did say these are circumstantial factors. At best maybe something like dish or laundry detergent the 'branding' could work on me. An area where I have no expertise in, but little conscious thought towards, couldn't care either way probably won't actually notice any actual difference between products, and am not bombarded with enough adverts and branding to notice. That one may slip past me, when I'm at the store to get laundry detergent I may deter to an ad create familiarity to Tide. Maybe... since the first time actually living on my own when I bought laundry detergent I leaned towards Tide but grabbed the Arm & Hammer brand instead because it was a few bucks cheaper.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Never worked and never will.

When I wanna buy stuff I go to the specific site I always buy my things from.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I know that if I switch to Geico, I could save up to 15% on car insurance... but F*** Geico.
Their commercials are stupid and annoying.

Also, I just love all those ads for luxury cars that I'll never, ever be able to afford; not that I would waste my money on one even if I could.

On the other hand, it's been a long time since I saw an ad for toilet paper, and I use that all the time. Charmin's competitors need to get on the ball.

 

[Rowan93]

Actually, statistically speaking, there's approximately no evidential basis for any advertising being a good idea. Sales of whatever products you name are so high-variance, and confounded by so many variables, that getting a p-value below 5% for your "this advertising campaign increased the number of units moved" hypothesis is basically impossible unless yours is a ridiculous outlier among advertising campaigns like The Man Your Man Could Smell Like aka Old Spice Guy. So even the kind of television advertising that you think plausibly does work, is really only a thing companies do because all the other companies are doing it and it "seems to make sense".