

Google's Achilles Heel - sbh
http://jottit.com/88ta6/

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tx
I know I'll get downmodded for this, but I sure as hell wish this day would
come: built-in ad-blockers in all major browsers.

Why? For selfish and honest reasons: For one, I personally don't like ads at
all, I prefer the real estate on my monitor much more. Second, I will probably
have to start paying (just a little bit) for services _I really like_. Let's
see... I'd pay for google search, flickr, reddit, gmail...

And Internet will be free from all this ad-revenue-fueled noise. And
entrepreneurs will be more focused on building things people want to pay for.
And Google will still be #1 simply because people (I believe) will want their
services: search, gmail, maps, online docs, etc. After all we've been paying
Microsoft for stuff _we didn't really need_ for years.

~~~
staunch
You might pay for a few services you use frequently, but a lot of your time is
probably spent on a "long tail" of various sites you're not going to pay for.

Advertisements are de facto micro-payments and they work really well. We don't
even all have to pay (shhh). They're a small price to pay to keep the web
growing the way it is. I think an arms race and eventual truce is the most
likely result.

I think startups focusing only on things people want to pay for directly would
reduce the number of startups dramatically. Having eyeballs as a currency
which can be exchanged for money is unbelievably powerful.

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neilc
I think the author is almost right: Google's vulnerability is its dependence
on advertising for its revenue stream, but I don't think widespread adoption
of ad blocking software is very likely: most people don't care, and/or don't
have the knowledge to install browser extensions. Text-based ads are also
harder to block, and it will just lead to an arms race in which only a small
portion of users will bother to take the measures necessary to block all/most
ads.

But I _do_ think Google is vulnerable to a collapse in the web advertising
market. Look at all the pain that was caused the last time this happened
(didn't we learn our lesson about building businesses that are totally
dependent on advertising income?). If the advertising market were to collapse,
what would Google do? (I'm genuinely curious to hear speculation about
this...)

~~~
sri
oops, accidentally clicked the down bar (making your comment 0 points) while
scanning thru the newcomments section. sorry, can't seem to undo it :-(
apologies!!

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nootopian
If anything I find ads on search results can sometimes be useful and more
pertinent than natural search results. For example if I am searching for
'cheap flights to bulgaria' I can be pretty confident that the adwords buyers
purchasing those keywords currently have a promotion and the ad could have
been updated only minutes before. Compare that to natural search results which
could be something 'optimised' several months before.

~~~
paulgb
I especially find the targeted gmail ads useful. I normally ignore ads as a
habit, but the links put in the "Web Clip" section are usually quite relevant.

~~~
bls
Every time I notice a relevant ad in my Gmail, it reminds me that I really
need to find a way to protect the privacy of my email.

~~~
paulgb
I've never understood why people feel that way. You don't mind a computer
scanning your emails to detect spam, why do people mind when it is scanned to
select unobtrusive advertising? Maybe I'm just desensitized, which is a scary
thought.

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g00dn3ss
As another poster mentioned - guess what happens when you try to block things
and the blocking becomes common. Think spam or popups. If there are financial
incentives, the advertisers getting blocked will just get more creative. Its
the usual arms race. Text ads just haven't gotten annoying enough for most
people to block.

I do think Google's advertising model can't last forever. Just like the old
"pay per view" model mostly died out on the web, the "pay per click" model
will die out too. The obvious next step is pay per sale. Yes, it's hard and
has problems. But if somebody finds a good way to make this work, this could
potential steal away some of Google's business.

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fauigerzigerk
I really think we need a good micro payment system. I cannot believe that
reading an article should forever be conditioned on having a movie play right
in my face. I have no issues with google's text ads. I wouldn't bother to
block them. But those flash movies right in the middle of pages are
ridiculous. They will be blocked and they should be blocked because that's the
only way to make the industry work on better solutions.

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Goladus
The assertion about the usefulness of Google ads is flat out wrong. I realize
it was probably meant to be hyperbole, but it doesn't come off that way.

~~~
mynameishere
Here's the quote:

 _they are never useful or informative._

He/She seems to be referring to advertisments in general, making the statement
all the more ridiculous. Advertisements are _one_ component of marketing, and
without them, all the other--more dishonest--components have all the more
power. Most prominently, advertising allows the smallest companies to compete
for attention along with massive companies, if only in a targeted way.

 _identifying ads is relatively easy technically_

Oh, you think so? Well, when adblockers become standard issue, I can assure
you that advertisements will be very difficult to identify, because they will
be incorporated into search results, as in the old days.

~~~
g00dn3ss
I mostly agree with you and Google has already been accused of mixing paid
listings into their search results. However, it seems that search engines are
really sensitive to being labeled with this stigma. If this becomes common
practice again, then it opens the door for someone else to be the new Google.

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drm237
It's interesting that the author limits it to Google when a huge number of
sites rely solely on advertising for revenue. Where would the Facebook,
MySpace, etc. be without ads? I'll bet a good 70% of applicants to YC list
advertising as their main revenue model.

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byrneseyeview
This is missing something important: ad companies like Google have every
incentive to give us the _right_ ads. If you get what you want and Google gets
a cut, we're all better off.

~~~
fauigerzigerk
What is the right ad when I'm not looking for something to buy?

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weiser
All those companies/merchants advertising their products/services through
adsense wouldnt want their ads blocked by IE. Google wont be alone in this
fight.

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johnrob
I agree with your point that MS can harm Google with IE. It's hard to imagine
that actually happening though.

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awt
It seems that if ads go away, so will free content.

