5 ms·

Facebook about to try to dominate display ads the way Google dominates text ads

29 points by mschaecher 16y ago

tokenadult 16y ago
We just had a thread posted here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1347227 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1347227 suggesting that many Facebook users don't look at Facebook ads at all. (I'm one of them--I use Ad Blocker on all websites.) The case reported here was of a mother who ignored a photo of her own child, so practiced was her banner blindness.
- ljlolel 16y ago
  Also http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293119 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293119
SlyShy 16y ago
I don't understand why I'll want to use Facebook features when I'm not on Facebook, or why I wouldn't ignore Facebook ads the same way I ignore all ads. But maybe magic web 2.0 fairy dust can mystically make advertising not obnoxious.
- qq66 16y ago
  I think the theory is that even though people ignore banner ads that just say "Drink Coca-Cola," seeing it enough times will make them drink more Coca-Cola.
  - Qz 16y ago
    Except on the internet you can AdBlock in which case you never see the banners to begin with.
    - jamiequint 16y ago
      Which would also place you in the vast minority of the general population
      - tomjen3 16y ago
        Maybe, but only until it becomes the default in Firefox. What I don't get is why MS don't built adblocking software directly into IE: it would do more harm to Google than anything else they can do, and could be defended as a move to improve the experience for the user.
        roryokane 16y ago
        Then Microsoft might get accused of censoring the internet, and protecting users from ads that sometimes genuinely help users find something they really want. And it would be hard to justify each item on its blacklist separately. And even though it would help some users, they might be accused of unfair practices against Google anyway.
        Qz 16y ago
        Oh, you mean the way Apple is being criticized already? Doesn't seem to be stopping them...
theprodigy 16y ago
So google dominates intent driven advertising and facebook is trying to be the king of intent building advertising. Facebook's competitive advantage is its horde of demographic information that they have on individual people. I am somewhat undecided on how successful facebook will be at this. They have the information to see what will influence you, but I don't think they have a tool that will allow you to ingest it into your brain. For example, they may have information that says you like britney spears and that she can influence you, but their mechanism to get influencing messaging to you is through a banner ad for instance. The overall effect is uneffective because the tool (banner ad) is just straight up ignored by most people. So the vehicles that exist in delivering advertising content online is just not effective and there needs to be a better way that needs to be created. The initial results of such tools that facebook to build intent don;t look to be effective.

29 points by mschaecher 16y ago

We just had a thread posted here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1347227 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1347227 suggesting that many Facebook users don't look at Facebook ads at all. (I'm one of them--I use Ad Blocker on all websites.) The case reported here was of a mother who ignored a photo of her own child, so practiced was her banner blindness.

ljlolel 16y ago
Also http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293119 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293119

SlyShy 16y ago

I don't understand why I'll want to use Facebook features when I'm not on Facebook, or why I wouldn't ignore Facebook ads the same way I ignore all ads. But maybe magic web 2.0 fairy dust can mystically make advertising not obnoxious.

qq66 16y ago
I think the theory is that even though people ignore banner ads that just say "Drink Coca-Cola," seeing it enough times will make them drink more Coca-Cola.
- Qz 16y ago
  Except on the internet you can AdBlock in which case you never see the banners to begin with.
  - jamiequint 16y ago
    Which would also place you in the vast minority of the general population
    - tomjen3 16y ago
      Maybe, but only until it becomes the default in Firefox. What I don't get is why MS don't built adblocking software directly into IE: it would do more harm to Google than anything else they can do, and could be defended as a move to improve the experience for the user.
      - roryokane 16y ago
        Then Microsoft might get accused of censoring the internet, and protecting users from ads that sometimes genuinely help users find something they really want. And it would be hard to justify each item on its blacklist separately. And even though it would help some users, they might be accused of unfair practices against Google anyway.
        Qz 16y ago
        Oh, you mean the way Apple is being criticized already? Doesn't seem to be stopping them...

theprodigy 16y ago

So google dominates intent driven advertising and facebook is trying to be the king of intent building advertising. Facebook's competitive advantage is its horde of demographic information that they have on individual people. I am somewhat undecided on how successful facebook will be at this. They have the information to see what will influence you, but I don't think they have a tool that will allow you to ingest it into your brain. For example, they may have information that says you like britney spears and that she can influence you, but their mechanism to get influencing messaging to you is through a banner ad for instance. The overall effect is uneffective because the tool (banner ad) is just straight up ignored by most people. So the vehicles that exist in delivering advertising content online is just not effective and there needs to be a better way that needs to be created. The initial results of such tools that facebook to build intent don;t look to be effective.