Ice-9 wrote:I realize I may not be typical. But...
* 14 years using Hotmail - never once clicked on a banner ad
* 18 years on World Wide Web in general, never clicked on a banner ad until...
* 3 years using Facebook - so far have clicked on two banner ads relating to my "likes" and resulting in one purchase
I am a stick-in-the-mud who has trained himself to ignore advertising and has several browser extensions to block advertising, and the only purchase I've made in nearly two decades after clicking on a banner ad was from Facebook. If they got me to click, I have a feeling they have something valuable.
The interesting thing is that I pretty much ignore banner ads--I do click on truly awful ones because of intense curiosity to see the pitch, e.g. penny stock ads. On the other hand, I
frequently click on Google's paid search placement links. I hate myself for doing it, and when I'm being strong I will click on the unpaid link to the same site that's typically right below it on the first page. But what Google does is just so
useful, and they have found that amazing win-win sweet spot where they are genuinely serving me at the same time as they are serving their advertisers.
Places swear that I really want them to spy on me because it will help them show me relevant content, ads I actually want to see. Color me skeptical--except for Google, which
actually does show me ads I want to see.
And not to be difficult about it, but I can't remember even being tempted by a Facebook banner ad. I have been very tempted by many of their participatory online games, but have never been able to get myself past the page where I say that I'm agreeing to share all my information and
my friends' information with everyone in the galaxy...
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.