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VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

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Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#281

Post by kup0 »

kerkeslager wrote: post #161

What it comes down to for me is this: businesses don't have some god-given right to exist. If you can't get people to give money to your business enough to at least cover your costs, then your business should go out of business. If we enter into a business relationship, I will pay you for a good or service that you want. I will be obligated to do so because we came to an agreement in which you provide me the good or…

Thank you for this comment. I have never been able to really articulate my position well on web advertising (even to myself, when debating over the sides of the issue) and this is it.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#282

Post by cwilkes »

I'm more angry that clicking on this link on my iPhone even in Safari's Private browser launches the Google Plus application.

Why not just go to the webpage? And why launch another app that can identify me from an app that is meant to not allow that?

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#283

Post by _ao789 »

nailer wrote: post #226
_ao789 wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is literally what HaloAds (HaloAds.com) aims to fix. We have been irritated with the state of online advertising for long enough now. We are looking for people to try it out once it launches. Show your interest at https://HaloAds.com

Since you seem to specialise in this, FYI: > Mixed Content: The page at ' https://haloads.com/' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure stylesheet ' http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lato:400,300,700,900' . This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. https://haloads.com/assets/img/favicon.png Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 404 ()

Thanks for the spot. The issue has been resolved.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#284

Post by bunderbunder »

grb423 wrote: post #262
spiderfarmer wrote: post #133

What I would like in a new kind of Ad network: - all ads are responsive HTML5 ads - all resources are loaded over HTTPS - ads are based on your content, not on a profile of the user - ads can be requested server side by sending the URL where the ad will be displayed through an API. The response contains the ad code, as well as the expiration date - if you want, you can even download a package with all resources so ad…

> ads are based on your content, not on a profile of the user Have we given up on relevance? I was always hopeful that one day in the future the sites I love could be supported by showing _only_ ads that interested their users. With our post-modern privacy fetish, though, I guess I'm becoming resigned to hygiene ads just so long as they're served over HTTPS.

I think it's worth at least considering that we should give up on relevance. As far as I can tell, nobody has figured out a good way to decide what ads are actually relevant to an individual. So personalized ads tend to come come in one of two flavors:

  1. A blast of ads for something you just bought.
  2. A blast of ads for something you just decided not to buy.
At best, ads like this deliver zero value to both advertisers and consumers. At worst, they creep people the heck out. Which means they hurt consumers by making them feel stalked, hurt advertisers because nobody wants their brand associated with creepy stalker behavior, and hurt publishers because it only accelerates the proliferation of ad blockers.

This doesn't mean relevance needs to go out the window. People were targeting their ads well before it became vogue to collect people's toenail clippings and feed them into collaborative filtering models. For example, if you're a high end diamond store then you shouldn't need a bunch of whiz kids from San Francisco to tell you that your ad would be better-placed on The New Yorker's site than on The Village Voice.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#285

Post by manigandham »

dave_sullivan wrote: post #248
thirdsun wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your insight. Maybe I'm naive but how are these ads of any value to the advertiser? - nobody wants them, everybody ignores them. How can ads that surely almost exclusively receive accidental clicks be so worthwhile for publishers like you?

Advertising is a weird business. There's different types of media: print, television, digital (banner ads). Print is dead (has been the increasingly accurate argument for 10 years now), television is expensive and untrackable, and digital is here to save the ad industry because that's where all your customers are and it's very trackable. The value to the advertiser is either direct-action ("click here and buuuuuy!")…

> So to answer your question: major brands have billions for branding and it's a bunch of people's jobs to spend that money and convince the people they work for that it's money well spent. And if it's not money well spent, they'll find someone who will tell them it is.

I'll be the first to say there's a lot of mismanagement, incompetence, politics, etc that leads to this but it's also one of the most data driven industries around and there's a lot of proof behind the results. It's not all just random guessing.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#286

Post by manigandham »

cantlin wrote: post #184

At the Guardian we needed our own video player, because we couldn't rely on a third party platform not to take down something that we published. Editorial independence was important. We implemented our player on top of video.js, and most of the developers who were there at the time still have nightmares about it. We finally got the thing working, looking good, embeddable, reasonably cross-browser. We shipped it. A fe…

As someone who's been in the adtech business for years, I admire the Guardian for being one of the better engineered sites out there when it comes to ads. At least you guys have fast loading content and try to optimize the experience as much as you can.

We built a brand new modern ad network[1] and it's amazing how few advertisers and publishers care or even understand how important a good user experience is.

1. https://instinctive.io

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#287

Post by ocean3 »

Someone1234 wrote: post #249
thirdsun wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your insight. Maybe I'm naive but how are these ads of any value to the advertiser? - nobody wants them, everybody ignores them. How can ads that surely almost exclusively receive accidental clicks be so worthwhile for publishers like you?

I've ran ads before (via Google AdWords), we had a few motivations: - Name recognition. We don't need people to click, we just need them to associate our brand with their need. - Sales leads. They have a need, we have a product, it wasn't a massive sales boost in B2B, but it paid for itself. - Push competitor's ads down. Diminish their brand recognition/leads/etc. - Advertise on competitor's search results, show us a…

The ultimate goal is that people in the industry say "we've heard of you." - I have purchased items based on just that. If there are multiple options then its easier to choose the one you have heard before be it from a ad.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#288

Post by kod »

dave_sullivan wrote: post #248
thirdsun wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your insight. Maybe I'm naive but how are these ads of any value to the advertiser? - nobody wants them, everybody ignores them. How can ads that surely almost exclusively receive accidental clicks be so worthwhile for publishers like you?

Advertising is a weird business. There's different types of media: print, television, digital (banner ads). Print is dead (has been the increasingly accurate argument for 10 years now), television is expensive and untrackable, and digital is here to save the ad industry because that's where all your customers are and it's very trackable. The value to the advertiser is either direct-action ("click here and buuuuuy!")…

> They're typically sold at a CPM (Cost Per thousand iMpressions)

M is for mille, not impressions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_mille

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#289

Post by canucktux »

bnastic wrote: post #250
cantlin wrote: post #184

At the Guardian we needed our own video player, because we couldn't rely on a third party platform not to take down something that we published. Editorial independence was important. We implemented our player on top of video.js, and most of the developers who were there at the time still have nightmares about it. We finally got the thing working, looking good, embeddable, reasonably cross-browser. We shipped it. A fe…

Seriously, how did you (and everyone else) end up in this mess? Imagine your printed edition where your editors have no idea what sort of ads are printed in your paper, because it's all added at the printing firm by some shady characters.

It already is that way to some extent.

Not every newspaper has the same ad setup. Ads are added at printing and are still targeted to the best of the publishing companies ability.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#290

Post by moron4hire »

anowlcalledjosh wrote: post #60
moron4hire wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would think some of the most profitable companies in the world could afford to hire a few interns to put eyes on any and all ads before they go out.

If you mean the sites that display ads, that's not how they work - ad companies bid on ad spaces as the page is requested.

They could still afford to Mechanical Turk the hell out of that.
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