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Seriously? Ads?

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171–180 of 229 posts

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#171
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was aware of that. But parent did raise an interesting point. Google Wallet isn't doing too great. Why?

the sheer number of possible answers is overwhelming, but pretty much everything Google does fails, except for search and email. (I can't be the only one who's afraid to find out what their cars are like.) so I'm going to say the reason Google Wallet failed is because it was neither search nor email. I guess you could say Android is only half a failure, because the constant catch-up game they're playing with Apple is…

Android half a failure? You must be joking, it's one of their greatest successes. Look around you, for sure you will see at least one person using an android phone.

And what about the ads? They were probably the first company that started making real money with them online.

Google Maps? When I want to find a place I use it, are there any other products that provide a good coverage of almost the whole world (and my little village)?

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#172
post #12

I've been on FB since the beginning. And I've never clicked on an ad. What makes you think I will to actually buy something? I barely trust Paypal, you think I'm gonna trust FB with my CC details. You gotta be kidding. There are a few steps FB must do before I'll trust them with anything other than bs about what games I'm playing now: 1. Convince me they take my security and privacy seriously. 2. Convince me they are…

I'm definitely not gonna trust FB with credit card or anything private. It is a company built on sharing, with repeated history of privacy issues. It's one thing posting there about my vacation and what I think of latest Hollywood blockbuster and quite another to give them a line to my bank account. For the latter I would rather have some company that has better privacy traditions.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#173
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was aware of that. But parent did raise an interesting point. Google Wallet isn't doing too great. Why?

Because internet payment is a solved problem. Here's my credit card number, click click. It works, it's easy enough, and I'm not sure I want it to be any easier.

You obviously haven't had the pleasure of using 3D Secure...

I tend to always use Paypal or Google Checkout (sorry... 'Wallet'...) if given the option as I don't have to fish out my card and go through several screens of slow badly implemented web forms. Often I don't even have to enter my address whilst with a credit/debit card option I always do.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't click on ads, but the minority that do can generate billions of dollars of revenue. The minority that do follow the ones that don't.

A recent report showed that the minority that click ads at facebook is pretty close to half. Not a bad minority to have using your site.

Could you please provide a link to the report? 50% click rate is insanely high, nobody has that. It would be very interesting to know how Facebook achieved such miraculous performance.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#175
post #12

I've been on FB since the beginning. And I've never clicked on an ad. What makes you think I will to actually buy something? I barely trust Paypal, you think I'm gonna trust FB with my CC details. You gotta be kidding. There are a few steps FB must do before I'll trust them with anything other than bs about what games I'm playing now: 1. Convince me they take my security and privacy seriously. 2. Convince me they are…

>I barely trust Paypal, you think I'm gonna trust FB with my CC details. You gotta be kidding.

Trust isn't as big of a deal as you might think. People think it matters a lot in business because it matters in your day-to-day life with in-person interactions. The fact of the matter, however, is that many people who don't trust things still use them.

I don't trust my government, but I still pay my taxes and use the clean water they pipe to my house. I don't trust most banks, but I still use their CC processing networks. Plenty of people don't trust BP (and oil companies in general) but still drive internal-combustion cars. More and more people every day don't trust Foxconn, but still buy all the gadgets they produce.

Trust matters when you are dealing with something non-ubiquitous; you don't need to use it, so if you don't trust them you don't use it. However, if something goes main-stream (like credit-cards), and the interaction is practically forced on you (like taxes) then people use it without trust. Facebook as it stands right now is testament to that. I don't trust them _at all_, but am forced to use it because friends, family, and groups I personally value use it in a way that requires me to as well.

If they launch a payment processing system that even only a quarter of their users are willing to use, that is enough market share for websites to start using it, which is free advertisement for the system, gaining more users. How long before sites that _only_ take facebook pay crop up (in the same way that some sites _only_ use paypal; a company plenty of people don't trust, but are forced to use)? How long before some site that provides a service that you depend on?

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#176
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was aware of that. But parent did raise an interesting point. Google Wallet isn't doing too great. Why?

Because internet payment is a solved problem. Here's my credit card number, click click. It works, it's easy enough, and I'm not sure I want it to be any easier.

It's not a solved problem. 66% of the world does not have a bank account (much less a credit card).

However, 90% have access to a cell phone.

That was the basis for my failed micropayments project :)

It didn't fail because of a lack of demand, but because it's hard to tackle without significant resources. I still might resurrect a less ambitious version (being a middleman here in Uruguay).

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#177
post #57
post #12

I've been on FB since the beginning. And I've never clicked on an ad. What makes you think I will to actually buy something? I barely trust Paypal, you think I'm gonna trust FB with my CC details. You gotta be kidding. There are a few steps FB must do before I'll trust them with anything other than bs about what games I'm playing now: 1. Convince me they take my security and privacy seriously. 2. Convince me they are…

> I've been on FB since the beginning. And I've never clicked on an ad. What makes you think I will to actually buy something? FB has several billions of revenue from ads. What makes you think you are not an insignificant outlier and that this move or any other doesn't concern you? Just think people, if everybody did what I do on FB, would FB still exist? If the answer is no, then what you might or might not do, does…

     FB has several billions of revenue from ads.
Groupon is also generating "billions" in revenue.

So far I haven't seen statistics or proof to indicate that advertising on Facebook is effective, although I've heard anecdotes to the contrary.

If advertising on Facebook proves to be ineffective, then they are in big trouble.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're wrong. Ever had to buy stuff you didn't want to meet a minimum spend on cards? Cause over here many shops have a minimum of £5. And this is why. Oh yes, the consumer cares, they just blame the shop owner instead of the cartels.

At least in the US, every major credit card has rules against minimum transactions. Reporting a minimum transaction requirement will cause the CC company to investigate the retailer and possibly punish them. Many small businesses still do it, of course. What keeps people from reporting them is a mixture of not knowing the regulations and wanting the small business to stay afloat. But regardless, minimum payments actu…

Please see http://blog.visa.com/2010/09/02/minimizing-confusion-over-mi...

Minimums are now allowed on CC

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#179
Just plain silly. People who see a big user base and jump to the conclusion of "payments!" as a future business don't have the slightest clue what they're talking about. Facebook isn't competent at tackling that problem, they don't have the expertise, experience, or relationships.

It makes about as much sense as looking at facebook with their billion users and saying "You know what all these people have in common? They eat food!" And concluding that facebook should become a grocery store.

Payments is a non-trivial business to enter. Paypal has a nearly 15 year headstart, 100 million active accounts and does a tremendous amount of business in a great many countries, yet it is still only a $4 billion a year company.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're wrong. Ever had to buy stuff you didn't want to meet a minimum spend on cards? Cause over here many shops have a minimum of £5. And this is why. Oh yes, the consumer cares, they just blame the shop owner instead of the cartels.

At least in the US, every major credit card has rules against minimum transactions. Reporting a minimum transaction requirement will cause the CC company to investigate the retailer and possibly punish them. Many small businesses still do it, of course. What keeps people from reporting them is a mixture of not knowing the regulations and wanting the small business to stay afloat. But regardless, minimum payments actu…

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