Ad revenue drying up, what next for free websites?

[jjj]

Basically, I think it was two things messed it up: political correctness which had already damaged my calendar production quite badly, and also the fact that downturns in the economy are felt very early on by advertising, way before the public realises how it, too, is going to get hit.

Blaming 'political correctness' for something that occurred before the term really became used is a stretch even for the usual daft anti-PC comments.

It's a good exercise to replace the term 'political correctness' with 'treating people with respect', as that's what it it really means.

Ads: there should be a gadget to weed ads out of live tv broadcasts! Was a time in the 60s/70s when the ads were great; suntan lotions, cigars, booze; today, they are an insult to one's intelligence and oh, so dull!

There is already.
Pause your live TV on your DVR and start watching it 15mins later and you can skip through all the ads for that hour. Use the time to read a book, wash dished, floss teeth have a siesta. Ofr simply set it to record all the shows you like automatically and watch them whenever.

[jjj]

WTF happened to micropayments? Click here to read this article:  $0.01
Forget subscriptions and paywalls.  If the item is valuable to me, I'll click and pay.

Patreon helps you support people you value.

But you are not going to know the article is valuable until after you read it. 

It also helps with this situation, as you pay for future good content.

[jjj]

I agree with your post and also with the blog article: if the web is nothing but advertisement and advertisement disguised as content, the readers will simply go.

I believe that this is what already happened to paper magazines before the web. We read everywhere that the web killed paper magazines, but the truth is that their circulation was already down in the late 80s, before the web gained traction. And their circulation was down because, already at the time, their "articles" were written to please advertisers and not their readers. Readers started to stop buying them, because they were little more than catalogues. I know I stopped buying them around that time.

I actually stopped at a newsstand on my way home before writing that message. There was not a single magazine that appeared to have actual content.

That seems like complete hyperbole as there are plenty of magazines with interesting content here in the UK at least. However many American mags I found painful to read as they would  spread a one page article over 3 or 4 pages to mix them with the adverts, which I never looked at whilst reading the editorial content anyway. Fashion mags also tend to be crammed with ads which looks very similar to the actual content. Was that what you looked at?

American commercial TV I always found unwatchable due to the absurd amount of interruptions. This is one of the reasons why many adverts do not work, they are annoying and intrusive. YouTube ads being a classic example of that as they may obscure or interrupt  what you are watching. Which is why so many people use adblockers. The better adverts these days are where people make ads that people want to see.
In mountain biking the standard advert now is a a short film put on YouTube/Vimeo which is pretty and/or inspiring, so people choose to watch them and the sponsor get credits at beginning +end or a logo may be seen in video. Red Bull are the World Champions of this form of advertising as they create events which then get willingly shared online by people as the content is interesting, such as last weekend's Red Bull Rampage - watch full screen and hold onto your seat. Their best ad, possibly one of the greatest ads ever made was the Felix Baumgartner's jump from space. You couldn't afford buy the world wide coverage that event of theirs got.

[Justinr]

That seems like complete hyperbole as there are plenty of magazines with interesting content here in the UK at least. However many American mags I found painful to read as they would  spread a one page article over 3 or 4 pages to mix them with the adverts, which I never looked at whilst reading the editorial content anyway. Fashion mags also tend to be crammed with ads which looks very similar to the actual content. Was that what you looked at?

American commercial TV I always found unwatchable due to the absurd amount of interruptions. This is one of the reasons why many adverts do not work, they are annoying and intrusive. YouTube ads being a classic example of that as they may obscure or interrupt  what you are watching. Which is why so many people use adblockers. The better adverts these days are where people make ads that people want to see.
In mountain biking the standard advert now is a a short film put on YouTube/Vimeo which is pretty and/or inspiring, so people choose to watch them and the sponsor get credits at beginning +end or a logo may be seen in video. Red Bull are the World Champions of this form of advertising as they create events which then get willingly shared online by people as the content is interesting, such as last weekend's Red Bull Rampage - watch full screen and hold onto your seat. Their best ad, possibly one of the greatest ads ever made was the Felix Baumgartner's jump from space. You couldn't afford buy the world wide coverage that event of theirs got.

Red bull certainly spend a lot of money, but they also charge a lot and they have very cleverly chosen their target audience, what used to be called yuppies but we are now supposed to refer to as millennials. I really don't think their business model would extend much beyond that segment TBH, it's a pure exercise in marketing, how to sell fizzy water with a few magic ingredients stirred in for a much more magical price.

I am not as familiar with the US magazine situation as Landscapephoto but from my time in Canada I'd say he has a point. I'd go into Walmarts and look for something to read in the magazine rack and basically there was nothing really worth buying. The bike mags would have a couple of long winded articles that filled the space between adverts, the car mags were mainly gloss and little substance while the vast array of huntin', shootin' and fishin' publications appeared to be busy tripping over each other in saying exactly the same thing. All a bit depressing really.

The only bright spot was that somewhere, good photographers were taking good pictures of cars, or so one would think, but there is the growing popularity of computer generated images and I rather imagine that these are displacing the poor old snapper as already discussed on another thread on Lula.

[Justinr]

Native advertising is a type of online advertising that matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears. For example, an article written by an advertiser to promote their product, but using the same form as an article written by the editorial staff. The word "native" refers to the content's coherence with other media on the platform. Due to its ambiguous delineation from some other forms of marketing, particularly in certain instances of embedded marketing, the precise period of inception for native advertising is still debated.

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

27% of the spend on online advertising was in the form of native advertising in Ireland for the first half of this year.

http://iabireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IAB-infographic-2015-V2.jpg

[Rob C]

Blaming 'political correctness' for something that occurred before the term really became used is a stretch even for the usual daft anti-PC comments.

It's a good exercise to replace the term 'political correctness' with 'treating people with respect', as that's what it it really means.

There is already.
Pause your live TV on your DVR and start watching it 15mins later and you can skip through all the ads for that hour. Use the time to read a book, wash dished, floss teeth have a siesta. Ofr simply set it to record all the shows you like automatically and watch them whenever.

Whatever the term used at the time, the essence is/was identical. Respect had nothing to do with it: it had all to do with fear. Fear that some secretary somewhere would complain about a calendar on the boss's wall and cause a fuss based on nothing. All the models I used on my calendars were very well paid (some made a helluva lot more money per year than did I), were never asked to do anything 'unpleasant' and I have never shot a pornographic picture in my life: I hate that stuff for the harm it does everyone else trying to make some beauty to brighten this grim bloody world in which we live. I also remember a neighbour's wife, now in her late sixties, saying about the time: "if nobody whistled when you walked past, you began to wonder if you were slipping..." She said that with no resentment, just fond memories.

As I say, nothing to do with respect, all to do with being half-crazy and carrying a massive inferiority complex. It's the final sanction of the girl who thinks, rightly or wrongly, that she'll never be asked on a date. Having said which, even asking somebody out is tinged with the fear of beng called up for 'sexual harassment'!

And you think it's about respect?

Rob C

[Otto Phocus]

It's a good exercise to replace the term 'political correctness' with 'treating people with respect', as that's what it it really means.

I like that.  It tends to put it in a different perspective.

[Justinr]

Whatever the term used at the time, the essence is/was identical. Respect had nothing to do with it: it had all to do with fear. Fear that some secretary somewhere would complain about a calendar on the boss's wall and cause a fuss based on nothing. All the models I used on my calendars were very well paid (some made a helluva lot more money per year than did I), were never asked to do anything 'unpleasant' and I have never shot a pornographic picture in my life: I hate that stuff for the harm it does everyone else trying to make some beauty to brighten this grim bloody world in which we live. I also remember a neighbour's wife, now in her late sixties, saying about the time: "if nobody whistled when you walked past, you began to wonder if you were slipping..." She said that with no resentment, just fond memories.

As I say, nothing to do with respect, all to do with being half-crazy and carrying a massive inferiority complex. It's the final sanction of the girl who thinks, rightly or wrongly, that she'll never be asked on a date. Having said which, even asking somebody out is tinged with the fear of beng called up for 'sexual harassment'!

And you think it's about respect?

Rob C

I should think that depends on who you ask, the opinion of the Pope, for instance, may differ to yours, not that I'd agree with him, quite the opposite I should imagine.

With regards to your friends wife then have you also sought the opinion of a women who never got whistled at?

[Rob C]

I should think that depends on who you ask, the opinion of the Pope, for instance, may differ to yours, not that I'd agree with him, quite the opposite I should imagine.

With regards to your friends wife then have you also sought the opinion of a women who never got whistled at?

Ah! Grey egalitarianism again!

[Justinr]

Ah! Grey egalitarianism again!

As opposed to what, snobbish and unfounded elitism?

[landscapephoto]

I actually stopped at a newsstand on my way home before writing that message. There was not a single magazine that appeared to have actual content.

That seems like complete hyperbole as there are plenty of magazines with interesting content here in the UK at least.

<satire mode on>
Maybe I was exaggerating a little bit, but for your convenience here what I see on my local newsstand:

• a whole collection of magazines telling you what phone/computer you can buy today together with a list of apps that you should certainly buy right now
• a whole collection of magazines telling you what car/motorbike you should buy this month together with a list of cool accessories like wheels or tailpipe customisation that will look really cool if you buy them right now
• a whole collection of magazines telling you (your wife actually) what clothes are so fashionable that you should buy them right now together with what accessoires and shoes are really cool at the moment
• a whole collection of magazines about what hifi/home theatre equipment is really state of the art this month together with a list of what streaming services you could have for slightly less per month than the budget of medium sized countries like, say, Qatar or Saudi Arabia and that includes free high end sports plays! (world finale extra)
• a whole collection of magazines about photo and video cameras you should buy and print services you could use if you had the new lens that is sharp enough so that prints are possible at last
• a whole collection of magazines telling you (or your wife) what wonderful house you could earn if you had more money than Donald Trump together with furniture that will not fit in your rat-hole, you miserable underdweller
• a whole collection of magazines about diets that will allow you to eat less for more money (and I wonder how the readers still exist after losing 10 pounds each month for the past 10 years)
• a section about "people", meaning "people who have more money than you can dream of having in your next 10 lives"
• on the top section, some teenage models with implants who have more sex than you thought possible

So: yes, I was wrong: the last two sections actually have some "content". Sorry.

<satire mode off>

[Rob C]

As opposed to what, snobbish and unfounded elitism?

Nope, just your unavoidable knee-jerks.

I'm struggling to make sense out of "snobbish and unfounded elitism"; I mean, is it founded, or unfounded, and if so, upon what? And elitism? Elite is because somebody finds a young woman attractive? Or is that snobbery? Sorry, but you seem unable to avoid finding yet more verbal triggers upon which to trip yourself up...

You could write another article on those, perhaps? I'm sure we're all on tenterhooks!

[Christopher Sanderson]

As opposed to what, snobbish and unfounded elitism?

Easy now or it's closing time.

[Justinr]

Easy now or it's closing time.

It takes two y'know.

[Justinr]

Nope, just your unavoidable knee-jerks.

I'm struggling to make sense out of "snobbish and unfounded elitism"; I mean, is it founded, or unfounded, and if so, upon what? And elitism? Elite is because somebody finds a young woman attractive? Or is that snobbery? Sorry, but you seem unable to avoid finding yet more verbal triggers upon which to trip yourself up...

You could write another article on those, perhaps? I'm sure we're all on tenterhooks!

I'd get to bed if I were you me old mucker, you're not making sense now.

[Alan Klein]

It's a good exercise to replace the term 'political correctness' with 'treating people with respect', as that's what it it really means.

PC is not about treating people with respect.  It's about shutting people up who may have a valid point to make about a subject that people don't want discussed, often for political reasons.  When someone raises the statistic that out-of-wedlock births and single parent families are creating more problems in black families, the speaker is silenced by calling him a racist.  When a university president states that he believes men make better scientists and engineers or at least are more attracted to these fields than women, he is accused of sexism and is forced to resign.  Even if people's views are misinformed, they disserve the right to speak their minds.  And many views are right on the mark.   "Treating people with respect" is a two-way street. Yet the speakers, often people of good will, are silenced due to fear of losing their jobs and having their careers destroyed for not spouting the "party" line.   

In a free country,  speech that is "damned" creates uninformed, closed-minded and fearful people.  It's akin to book burning. 

[Peter McLennan]

Patreon helps you support people you value.
It also helps with this situation, as you pay for future good content.

Patreon looks like a good idea, but so far it applies only to a tiny subset of media. 

I want paid access to all media, at a price that's reasonable. For example, $5 for a first run movie is reasonable.  An article in a web magazine might cost a few cents.

Nodody's even tried to address my question:  "What happened to micropayments?"  Micropayments were supposed to solve everybody's problems.  Even the photographers'.

[tom b]

I installed AdBlock on my computer because I have been bombarded by American advertising. I live in Australia, the rest of the world probably has the same problem that I have. Why is ad revenue drying up, probably because it is so intrusive and culturally offensive for a global market.

Sorry, I've just been interrupted by American advertising, it's embarrassing


Cheers,

[Justinr]

PC is not about treating people with respect.  It's about shutting people up who may have a valid point to make about a subject that people don't want discussed, often for political reasons.  When someone raises the statistic that out-of-wedlock births and single parent families are creating more problems in black families, the speaker is silenced by calling him a racist.  When a university president states that he believes men make better scientists and engineers or at least are more attracted to these fields than women, he is accused of sexism and is forced to resign.  Even if people's views are misinformed, they disserve the right to speak their minds.  And many views are right on the mark.   "Treating people with respect" is a two-way street. Yet the speakers, often people of good will, are silenced due to fear of losing their jobs and having their careers destroyed for not spouting the "party" line.   

In a free country,  speech that is "damned" creates uninformed, closed-minded and fearful people.  It's akin to book burning.

It's the age old problem of what started out with noble intentions soon got hijacked by those who found it useful in ways that were never intended.

[Justinr]

Patreon looks like a good idea, but so far it applies only to a tiny subset of media. 

I want paid access to all media, at a price that's reasonable. For example, $5 for a first run movie is reasonable.  An article in a web magazine might cost a few cents.

Nodody's even tried to address my question:  "What happened to micropayments?"  Micropayments were supposed to solve everybody's problems.  Even the photographers'.

I'm sure I came across micropayments being lauded as the next new wonderful thing that was going to set the world right and put humankind at ease, as these things are generally introduced to us by the IT world, but that was only last week and I thought it sounded familiar at the time. Seems someone might be busy trying to reinvent sex again.