Tag Archive for 'advertising'

RWW’s got it wrong…

Published by Ben Kepes on August 6, 2008 in Business, Design, IT, Strategy and Web x.0. 7 Comments

Firstly I have to say that I greatly respect ReadWriteWeb. Partly because anyone who can build a global media empire from a Lower Hutt suburban home deserves kudos, but also because RWW founder and editor Richard Macmanus is a genuinely nice guy and a web visionary. But sometimes that vision gets a little distorted from the powerful effects of the Web 2.0 kool aid that Richard and the gang drink plenty of. One case in point is a recent post where Richard denied the claim that the end is nigh for the free model of Web 2.0.

In reviewing a blog post about DEMOfall08 that calls for an end to the free model, Richard says;

Where I disagree is the notion that the ‘free’ model of the Web has ended or will end soon. Online advertising has been a very powerful business model for many, including of course the master of this Web era, Google. While I do agree that consumer apps should explore alternative business models too, in my view the statement by Chris that "free isn’t a business model" just isn’t true. Clearly ‘free’ has been a business model for many - and will continue to do so as long as the online advertising portion of the total advertising pie keeps growing

While people often cite the example of staggeringly successful businesses run on "free", such as Google, the fact is that these businesses are not in any sense free. As described in a previous post, Google monetises their "free" services via advertising revenue. This is a markedly different story from, for example,  Twitter who has no real monetisation path.

I find it hard to understand how anyone can argue that services that are truly free (ie are neither charged for or paid for indirectly by a third party advertiser) are in any way sustainable. Business sustainability is about earning at least the same as you spend. Engineers, bandwidth and cool brand t-shirts require cash - no matter whether or not it’s coming in, it continues to go out and there is only so long that direction can be maintained.

In terms of the contention that online advertising is a pie that is going to continue to keep growing - given the economic environment we’re currently facing and the emergence of new technologies that could prove the end for the need or utility of online advertising, this is a pretty brave contention to make.

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On ad-blockers and free content

Published by Ben Kepes on July 29, 2008 in Blogroll, Design, Efficiency, IT, Society and Strategy. 3 Comments

David Risley posts about his feelings upon discovering that some of his readers are using ad blockers. David’s blog, PCMech, is a professional deal that costs significant amount of money to run, ads are the way he does this. David contends that by blocking those ads the user is in fact stealing.

I’m not so sure….

I read the local broadsheet most mornings, I also get a number of business magazines. All have advertising but I chose whether to partake of that advertising or not. Now no one would argue that by taking the classified section of the newspaper and binning it without opening it constitutes stealing - and this action isn’t entirely dissimilar to using an ad-blocker to avoid annoying adverts (that no one ever acts upon - but that’s for another post altogether).

Sure sites need to pay their costs - but if advertising provides a wholly unnatural, annoying and intrusive addition to their experience, surely they’re justified in finding ways to do without those very ads - just like my disposing of the classified section.

Over to the readership…..

Is blocking ads on the web;

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