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I have wondered whether the poor response to online ads isn't simply because the ads are so bad. There might be many people like you who don't mind the ads per

by ssp 17y ago

I have wondered whether the poor response to online ads isn't simply because the ads are so bad. There might be many people like you who don't mind the ads per se so much as the flashing, annoying ads for stuff you don't care about. So a site that made "interesting ads" part of their brand and actively rejected boring and obnoxious ones, could potentially be valuable. Maybe reddit is consciously doing this.

jedberg 17y ago
> Maybe reddit is consciously doing this. Maybe. :) In fact, we use reddit quite a bit, and the flashy ads annoy us just as much as the rest of you. We do our best to keep the ads relevant and non-annoying. If we could afford it, we would just turn the ads off, but sadly, we have to pay the bills somehow.
- frederickcook 17y ago
  jedberg, I'd first like to say thanks for weighing in on these conversations. It adds a great deal to these discussions having an insider to clarify things and offer a unique perspective. > "If we could afford it, we would just turn the ads off, but sadly, we have to pay the bills somehow." This comment, however, isn't helpful, and obviously isn't true. Reddit built a really cool, useful site for sharing and discussing interesting things, and nobody begrudges them for trying to turn a profit. Reddit wasn't acquired by Condé Nast because they are interested in having a cool service, it was acquired because they intend to make a lot of money off of it. The fact that Reddit has found a way to do this while keeping the ads relevant and non-annoying definitely impressive, but we're kidding ourselves if we call these ads a necessary evil instead of the core of the business model.
  - jedberg 17y ago
    > This comment, however, isn't helpful, and obviously isn't true. Sure it is true. We would love to run the site without ads. There are other business models besides straight ads, and we are working on moving towards those. They just aren't profitable yet.
- inboulder 17y ago
  Can't you have a standard for reddit ads? I would like to support reddit and view ads, but I feel you broke your covenant with users when you allowed flash-based blinky and moving ads, so now unfortunately your site is adblocked.
dschoon 17y ago
Related: I've often wondered why no one has found a successful way to brand opt-in ad targeting. You'd have to be big enough for it to matter (Google?), but it would have a tremendously positive effect on both the end-user experience, and on ad revenues.
- alain94040 17y ago
  Because people would just opt-out (or not opt-in at all), therefore leaving you with an Internet with no ads, and Google with no revenue. That's probably why.

by ssp 17y ago

jedberg 17y ago

> Maybe reddit is consciously doing this. Maybe. :) In fact, we use reddit quite a bit, and the flashy ads annoy us just as much as the rest of you. We do our best to keep the ads relevant and non-annoying. If we could afford it, we would just turn the ads off, but sadly, we have to pay the bills somehow.

frederickcook 17y ago
jedberg, I'd first like to say thanks for weighing in on these conversations. It adds a great deal to these discussions having an insider to clarify things and offer a unique perspective. > "If we could afford it, we would just turn the ads off, but sadly, we have to pay the bills somehow." This comment, however, isn't helpful, and obviously isn't true. Reddit built a really cool, useful site for sharing and discussing interesting things, and nobody begrudges them for trying to turn a profit. Reddit wasn't acquired by Condé Nast because they are interested in having a cool service, it was acquired because they intend to make a lot of money off of it. The fact that Reddit has found a way to do this while keeping the ads relevant and non-annoying definitely impressive, but we're kidding ourselves if we call these ads a necessary evil instead of the core of the business model.
- jedberg 17y ago
  > This comment, however, isn't helpful, and obviously isn't true. Sure it is true. We would love to run the site without ads. There are other business models besides straight ads, and we are working on moving towards those. They just aren't profitable yet.
inboulder 17y ago
Can't you have a standard for reddit ads? I would like to support reddit and view ads, but I feel you broke your covenant with users when you allowed flash-based blinky and moving ads, so now unfortunately your site is adblocked.

dschoon 17y ago

Related: I've often wondered why no one has found a successful way to brand opt-in ad targeting. You'd have to be big enough for it to matter (Google?), but it would have a tremendously positive effect on both the end-user experience, and on ad revenues.

alain94040 17y ago
Because people would just opt-out (or not opt-in at all), therefore leaving you with an Internet with no ads, and Google with no revenue. That's probably why.