Ads on blogs and in feeds
Posted by matt on 17 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: Uncategorized, advertising, media, docsearls, itconversations, musicindustry, bloggercon, blogs, rss, sales, business
I was just listening to a BloggerCon session on How to Make Money with Blogs hosted by Doc Searls.
ADDED: I forgot to mention the podcast is available at itconversations.com
Some felt advertising on blogs or in feeds was a viable solution while others like Dave Winer thought that was nickel and dime and missing the bigger opportunity.
I’m against ads in feeds for one reason, at least. The internet shuts off what it doesn’t want, and eventually gets what it wants.
If we haven’t yet learned this from the Music Recording Industry, Tivo etc., then I don’t think we are as far along as I thought.
Put another way, any unwanted or missing feature is an opportunity for another solution that will deliver a service without the unwanted feature or with the wanted feature.
The customer always wins on the web, because there is no scarcity.
So, the paradox works this way:
1. Ads in feeds will only work if users want them.
2. If users want them, they aren’t really ads, but content.
Most businesses use the phone. Most do not make money off phone traffic, ads, or even use it as a way to process an order. They use it to communicate in all kinds of ways.
Blogs will be used to communicate in all kinds of ways. Very few will have a business model tied directly to eyeballs or direct sales.
