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Paid content is not always awful. Take this tasteful, sponsored Ashens video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUGcjkdIfTk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUGcj

Paid content is not always awful. Take this tasteful, sponsored Ashens video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUGcjkdIfTk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUGcjkdIfTk There is a clear disclosure (no misleading marketing!) and he presents a new and interesting version of his usual show while incorporating the product. It's not selling out, and it's fairly enjoyable (as evidenced by the rating counter on the video, as well as the comments). If I must be advertised to, I prefer this method. Having watched the video, I would actually like to purchase the device mentioned. Not because it was shoved down my throat, but because it is relevant to me and I find it interesting. The video merely brought it to my attention.

wutbrodo 11y ago
Sure, but as usual, anecdotal evidence isn't worth much[1]. I'm sure I can point you to traditional display ads that I've seen on the Web that are tasteful, useful, and unobtrusive. Does that obviate all the complaints people have about display ads overall? Of course not. Similarly, the amount of times I've heard a podcast say "this episode sponsored by blahblah, [explanation of blahblah]" doesn't erase the amount of examples I've seen of an article with a tiny "sponsored by X" at the top. And as is inevitable when financial pressure is great enough, you end up with even well-respected publishers resorting to stuff like this: http://adage.com/article/media/york-times-shrinks-labeling-natives-ads/294473/ http://adage.com/article/media/york-times-shrinks-labeling-n... [1] I'm aware that you're explicitly providing a counter-example, so I'm not disagreeing with your comment. Just saying that it doesn't really address my point.
wutbrodo 11y ago
BTW I realize that my terminology was really confusing. By "paid content", I meant "content that you pay for". You appear to have responded to the part of my post about sponsored content. Just want to make sure that you weren't also reading the part of my comment about paid content and thinking of sponsored content.

wutbrodo 11y ago

Sure, but as usual, anecdotal evidence isn't worth much[1]. I'm sure I can point you to traditional display ads that I've seen on the Web that are tasteful, useful, and unobtrusive. Does that obviate all the complaints people have about display ads overall? Of course not. Similarly, the amount of times I've heard a podcast say "this episode sponsored by blahblah, [explanation of blahblah]" doesn't erase the amount of examples I've seen of an article with a tiny "sponsored by X" at the top. And as is inevitable when financial pressure is great enough, you end up with even well-respected publishers resorting to stuff like this: http://adage.com/article/media/york-times-shrinks-labeling-natives-ads/294473/ http://adage.com/article/media/york-times-shrinks-labeling-n... [1] I'm aware that you're explicitly providing a counter-example, so I'm not disagreeing with your comment. Just saying that it doesn't really address my point.

wutbrodo 11y ago

BTW I realize that my terminology was really confusing. By "paid content", I meant "content that you pay for". You appear to have responded to the part of my post about sponsored content. Just want to make sure that you weren't also reading the part of my comment about paid content and thinking of sponsored content.