

In-text advertising that doesn't make you vomit - Everest
http://seatgeek.com/blog/?p=136

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potatolicious
It doesn't make me vomit, but I can still taste bile in my mouth. This is
still a _very_ intrusive form of advertising that destroys the usefulness of
linking within content (everything is assumed to be an ad), and also ruins the
trust between content producer and consumer.

I don't like it - it's an improvement on the status quo, sure, but merely
having an eye poked out instead of being decapitated is small comfort indeed.

~~~
chris_dickson
Hi, I'm the guy who developed the in-text plug in for Seat Geek...

I honestly see this type of reaction as more of an opportunity than a problem.
This really shows how horrible an impressions in-text ads have made on us, and
I think that reaction is totally appropriate.

I'm trying to go into this endeavor with an open mind and create something
that can respect user content and yet give people the option to monetize.
We're okay with Google scanning our personal emails to serve relevant ads on
Gmail... I think with enough experimentation there is a solution here that
will work out and convert some extremists.

Chris

~~~
ryanwaggoner
Can you please explain what makes this different from all other in-text
advertising? The article did not make it clear if there's any difference at
all.

~~~
chris_dickson
We're trying to focus it on specific data sets that users have more control
over. We're not using the "keyword" approach like a Kontera or Vibrant allows
you to link a lot, but creates a lot of crap. In Seat Geek's case we started
with a simple database of the remaining NFL games; there's a limit on what can
get linked so it doesn't get out of hand. We have another data set of product
names that link product names to retailers and create affiliate links for
people who do reviews or have users that talk about a certain product
category. The goal is to focus on uniform data sets that can keep the links
specific and relevant.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
Hmmm...so help me understand something. As a publisher, if I'm using in-text
advertising, I'm going to want to: a) increase my revenue, while b) keeping
the links relevant. In the case of a), I'm assuming that more links on more
keywords is better (at least up to a point), whereas for b) I'm guessing that
advertisers on Kontera probably want to link relevant keywords. Apple doesn't
want links for a sports team, even if it gets them traffic, because it's not
relevant and won't convert. So I'm assuming that Kontera's relevancy issue
would be self-correcting to some extent, in which case I'd actually prefer a
broader array of options, rather than focusing on one data set. I guess I
don't understand how this is better for anyone, unless Kontera really gives
you zero control over what can / can't be linked, how many links there will be
on the page, etc.

Regardless, this all sidesteps the primary issue IMO, which is that in-text
advertising sucks.

~~~
chris_dickson
Thanks for the feedback Ryan. Good luck on your startup.

Chris

------
ryanwaggoner
_The guys at Atma are building an innovative app that should shake up the in-
text advertising market—a market that has earned a bad rep due to companies
like Kontera, which often deliver spammy ads. Atma’s app eliminates the
spamminess and delivers ads that are actually useful.

The Atma guys hacked up a way to integrate their in-text links with SeatGeek.
Thanks to Atma, select words in this blog will now link to SeatGeek event
pages. Let’s say, for example, I’m talking about the Cleveland Browns.
Whenever you roll over the Brown’s name, you’ll see a small popup that links
to the SeatGeek page for the Brown’s upcoming game._

Translation: all those _other_ in-text links are spammy, but the ones that
point to _our_ service are tremendously useful!

Come on. How is this different from any other in-text advertising scheme?

~~~
Coax
Perhaps the difference is the fact that in this case, the site owner gets to
choose the exact words that are linked. With traditional in-text advertisers
the site owner doesn't have that control.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
Actually, from this description, it sounds like any sports team names are
linked. So I guess you have control in the sense that you know that if you
type the name of a sports team, it'll get linked. I still think it's
essentially the same thing.

 _So from a blogger’s perspective, adding a few lines Atma JavaScript gives
their site a new feature and an additional revenue stream._

------
coderdude
Based on a quick glance, SeatGeek is far less of an affront to my eyes than
Kontera, but Kontera would look just like this if they used the same CSS
styles. (Not literally, but you get my gist.)

I don't think in-text advertising is leaving us anytime soon. So, I think the
best thing you can do is to make the difference between normal links and ad
links very noticeable. The little pop-up should not be very large, slow to
load, or look like it might be some type of legitimate information source. It
should totally say in big letters at the top: "Advertising by SeatGeek." Black
background, white bold text.

I've thought about this a couple times, trying to see if I could come up with
something that the established companies haven't. I really can't wait for some
clever person to figure out the perfect way to put in-text ads in content.

Maybe there should be no ad links at all, but a little icon to the right of
the phrase, that upon mouseover will highlight the phrase and display the pop-
up.

Ultimately though this method of advertising gives site owners the opportunity
to deceive their visitors into clicking ad links. Less so than Adsense, I
would think.

\--- Edits for proof reading

