Advertising dollars--typically stronger in the US than overseas--still aren't rolling in on social networks in the way many expected them to...
Surprise, surprise. Users want FREE uncluttered access to each other-- not an intrusive advertising campaign on their lives.
...and last month Facebook took out a $100 million loan to keep pace with growth.
This is only the beginning. Unlike MySpace, Facebook sought to incporate advertising INTO the user experience, and unlike MySpace, their model was built around that. Unfortunately, when they rolled it out, it caused such a backlash that they pulled the plug in short order, and now, have to revert to the traditional "placed" ad like all other web sites, and much like MySpace *already* does.
But here's the rub: eventually, users will start to buck the trend on sites with placed ads. And if that weren't a big enough threat to ad revenue, there are now browser ad-ons that target and BLOCK ads from appearing in their browser's content panes. Soon routers will be configurable to download lists of URLs where ads originate (like *.adclick.*) and those URLS will be blocked from the user experience, thereby reducing ad revenue to very little.
Give it time-- say...5-10 years? And you'll see the demise of ad-run sites, and all that will remain will be a select few with guerilla tactic ad URLs and legitimate SaaS sites.
Discussion on:
Message 1 of 1
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
