I was pointed to Who clicks on ads? And what might this mean? by Nate via Jonah Keegan's ad ecologies post. My thoughts:
- Agree that there is a mis-match of perception about value of ad inventory
- Who clicks on ads is generally a far cry from the audiences that advertisers pay to reach- the impact of brand advertising is probably understated by an alnalysis of who "clicks"
- What does this mean for site business models based on advertsising to upscale and connected audiences? Probably advertisers looking for exposure/impressions in their demographic will do ok, but CPC or CPA models will fail very badly.
- I still predict that within a few years major brand advertsising will be about brand relevant services which create a unique experience and allow users to connect to each other and the brand around an activity
The irony here is that it seems to come full circle to something like Facebook's disastrous Beacon technology, using people's behavior-on site and off- to create the advertising the people in their network see.
Unfortunately, the involuntary nature of such advertising messages (or the prospect of ruining a surprise Christmas present, which is my favorite anti-Beacon anecdote to date) disturbed the notion that people should choose their causes.
Causes- and brands and products- will ultimately find stronger support by empowering users consensually rather than sneaking up on them.