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I've removed all ad network code from my blog

troyhunt.com

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Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#61

Post by coldpie »

JStanton617 wrote: post #50
croon wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It also doesn't solve the issues for most advertisers. I can't imagine that a large e-commerce site would want to make thousands of individual deals with sites that may or may not generate the desired traffic. Agreed. Idea: Is it possible to replace ad networks with ad brokers? The broker keeps a ledger of interested parties on both sides. Someone looking to buy ad space specifies relevant market segments (data ana…

This is exactly what an ad network is

Yeah. The problem with current ad networks is twofold. One is advertisers require metrics, metrics require some form of tracking or JS, and advertisers don't trust the ad networks to give accurate metrics, so they require the ability to embed their own JS. This is where you get the app store redirects and malware. Two, ad networks are scummy as shit and don't do any auditing so long as advertisers are willing to pay. You pay us, we'll put your code on client sites. No questions asked.

I think the solution is that advertisers will just need to give up the idea of having reliable metrics on ads, since that's the source of the problem. It's kind of a tragedy of the commons situation: no one would use an ad network that simply distributes JPGs because it has no metrics (malware), but users will block ads that have metrics (malware). There are two solutions: give up metrics, or install an ad blocker on every machine. Ad networks are rapidly pushing us towards the latter.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#62

Post by croon »

JStanton617 wrote: post #50
croon wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It also doesn't solve the issues for most advertisers. I can't imagine that a large e-commerce site would want to make thousands of individual deals with sites that may or may not generate the desired traffic. Agreed. Idea: Is it possible to replace ad networks with ad brokers? The broker keeps a ledger of interested parties on both sides. Someone looking to buy ad space specifies relevant market segments (data ana…

This is exactly what an ad network is

Well, the distinction I was trying to make was that instead of blindly iframe:ing the ad network, you as a blog hoster could have full control over how to implement the ad (because some metrics would still be there), yet have access to/be included in a large database of buyers/sellers.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#64

Post by notheguyouthink »

coldpie wrote: post #61
JStanton617 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly what an ad network is

Yeah. The problem with current ad networks is twofold. One is advertisers require metrics, metrics require some form of tracking or JS, and advertisers don't trust the ad networks to give accurate metrics, so they require the ability to embed their own JS. This is where you get the app store redirects and malware. Two, ad networks are scummy as shit and don't do any auditing so long as advertisers are willing to pay.…

What about a sort of metrics protocol? Ie, the ad network puts up it's own JS, the advertisers don't get to put up any code. The Networks JS will be configured to optionally call a custom metrics endpoint with some data - ie, the advertisers own servers.

Very little trust is needed, and customers don't get crazy JS on their pages. Is something wrong with this model?

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#65

Post by lmm »

fiatjaf wrote: post #4

Ok, you have a sponsorship model that works because you're probably very famous. That doesn't solve anyone's problem, because almost no one is famous. How can we replace ad networks with something better and saner?

The supply/demand curve is not in favour of getting paid to blog. Lots of people enjoy blogging and do it for free. Unless you can offer value that those people don't, I recommend finding another way to make money.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#66

Post by monatron »

yuvadam wrote: post #2

Kudos for removing all 3rd party scripts, not only ad networks. As builders of web systems, we need to be conscious of which 3rd parties are gaining access to private user data. There's no reason in hell any Google or Facebook widget should be embedded in my health care providers website, yet somehow that's a thing. Any other website is usually even worse. I personally use NoScript with whitelisted scripts when I kno…

I find a lot of value in federated login through Google and Facebook. I'd rather have the hardest parts of authentication handled by their services than relying on thousands of different developers rolling their own solutions with varying levels of sanity.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#67

Post by easytiger »

fiatjaf wrote: post #4

Ok, you have a sponsorship model that works because you're probably very famous. That doesn't solve anyone's problem, because almost no one is famous. How can we replace ad networks with something better and saner?

It's a blog.. stop trying to monetise it if you don't want to play the game. You don't have to get paid for it

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#68

Post by bazillion »

skykooler wrote: post #59
bazillion wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I built what I believe to be the most sane way to "advertise" something: Let people buy directly from an image. This solves the problem of people not interested in the content, because of its unobtrusive nature -- if they don't hover over an item within the image, it's as if the "advertisement" isn't there. Check out my demo (desktop only) at http://www.worldlifestyle.com/testpost My website which you can sign up for…

It also looks like a lot of extra work per image to set up all the regions.

It's extra work, but is more contextual. You could, for instance, link to wikipedia articles, imdb articles (for actors) etc. and not just link to ad content.

Really what it does is help define what is inside an image.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#69

Post by jameskegel »

bazillion wrote: post #41
fiatjaf wrote: post #4

Ok, you have a sponsorship model that works because you're probably very famous. That doesn't solve anyone's problem, because almost no one is famous. How can we replace ad networks with something better and saner?

I built what I believe to be the most sane way to "advertise" something: Let people buy directly from an image. This solves the problem of people not interested in the content, because of its unobtrusive nature -- if they don't hover over an item within the image, it's as if the "advertisement" isn't there. Check out my demo (desktop only) at http://www.worldlifestyle.com/testpost My website which you can sign up for…

Stunning, I'll admit, but this can't be an easy or lightweight solution to implement, I'd imagine. Kudos either way, there aren't too many things that immediately made me lean toward the screen like that.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#70

Post by ddebernardy »

notheguyouthink wrote: post #64
coldpie wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. The problem with current ad networks is twofold. One is advertisers require metrics, metrics require some form of tracking or JS, and advertisers don't trust the ad networks to give accurate metrics, so they require the ability to embed their own JS. This is where you get the app store redirects and malware. Two, ad networks are scummy as shit and don't do any auditing so long as advertisers are willing to pay.…

What about a sort of metrics protocol? Ie, the ad network puts up it's own JS, the advertisers don't get to put up any code. The Networks JS will be configured to optionally call a custom metrics endpoint with some data - ie, the advertisers own servers. Very little trust is needed, and customers don't get crazy JS on their pages. Is something wrong with this model?

> Is something wrong with this model?

Detecting fraudulent ad views and clicks.

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