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from the if-they-had-only-listened-before dept.
Marketoonist ran a story about marketers saying, "Oops, our bad."
The Interactive Advertising Bureau issued a remarkable mea culpa last week about the state of online advertising. In response to the rise of ad-blocking software, IAB VP Scott Cunningham said digital advertisers should take responsibility for annoying people and driving them to use ad blockers:
"We messed up. As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience....
"We build advertising technology to optimize publishers' yield of marketing budgets that had eroded after the last recession. Looking back now, our scraping of dimes may have cost us dollars in consumer loyalty...
"The consumer is demanding these actions, challenging us to do better, and we must respond."
Nod to pipedot for running this story.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 26 2015, @11:52AM
How many Soylentils get targeted advertising that might even be considered "effective"?
No one targets me very well. Amazon has pulled off a few tricks now and then, suggesting something that I actually had some interest in. No other advertiser has managed to do so.
Ebay is amusing. I can't block (or don't know how to) Ebay's suggestions and specials. What is so funny is, they should know my interests as well as or better than any other online marketing group. I've purchased many things through Ebay, and I've done so many searches on Ebay, they should know me pretty well.
Minutes ago, I got an email, notifying me of a new hit on a saved search. I look at it, shrug it off, then take a look at my profile page. Suggested and "hot products" include all kinds of crazy shite, that Ebay should know I have no interest in.
Boats. People, I love ships. If I could POSSIBLY afford a ship or a boat exceeding 100 ft in length, I'd be looking. Those little puddle skippers? Fek - you can't go deep water sailing in those things. Bass boats? Fek again - I've never liked fishing. To me, a ship or boat is a home, and a life style. I have zero interest in living on land, then spending my weekend tooling around in protected waters in an oversized bathtub. WTF does Ebay show me boats?
I scroll down past dozens of boats, and there's a motorcycle. Great, they acknowledge that I have an interest in motorcycles. I only have six saved searches for motorcycles, and I only search for motorcycle parts, accessories, and motorcycles about 3-10 times each month. So, I get dozens of boats, then a motorcycle?
Man, are they ever screwed!
Way down the page, they begin to come on target. I see computer peripherals, like SSD, SATA, and flash drives. That goes on, and on, and on . . . . and finally, I get some razors. Razors? WTF? I don't shave. I haven't bought a razor in years. Decades, actually. The last razor I purchased, was when I drove truck for a chemical company. Now and then, I had to wear gas masks, and hair under the sealing edges makes a gas mask leak. Decades ago, I had an occasional use for a razor. Ebay thinks they can sell me a razor today?
If the biggest online marketers can get advertising so very wrong - what are the rest of the marketers getting right and wrong?
As I've mentioned in other places, I just don't see adverts in my general browsing. I pretty much only see them on Amazon and Ebay. Those two places, I've voluntarily GIVEN them my personal information, and they get it wrong!
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 26 2015, @12:45PM
I've noticed ebay mixes narrowcasting with broadcasting. I checked this morning.
So I mostly buy obscure electronic hardware from ebay, so the narrowcasted portions of the page seem to contain every sma attenuator or filter of various frequency bands that are currently on auction, or so it seems. Also they (correctly) think I have a "thing" for waveguide to coax transitions. Fair enough, I've bought stuff like that before.
On the other hand the broadcast advertisement sections are completely worthless. I have used the ebay android app, so broadcast me ads for $600 unlocked iphones, how could I possibly not resist? I've bought supporting video game console stuff for everything but playstation, so send me some playstation ads.
In the specific case of ebay I think they have collector-itis and think everyone is also a collector therefore if I deal in everything but iphones and playstations, they REALLY need to sell me some playstation video cables and unlocked iphones to complete my collection, when ironically those are the two things I'm least interested in buying because I'm not in those ecosystems at all, by choice and intention. On one hand if you bought antique or repro 1950s gas station metal signs, you'd probably be interested in buying more of them. On the other hand if you bought a GM rebuilt alternator, and a toyota rebuilt alternator, its hard to imagine why you'd possibly want a honda rebuilt alternator.
More generally I think some places spam when they have nothing specific to spam and giving you a blank page would make them look like they're having a going out of business sale. So here VLM, look at ladies handbags, because we have nothing else to show you. Home Depot doesn't really know what to think of me, or what to try and sell me, so its thermostats and window treatments (which is apparently "interior decorator speak" for window curtains)