Comments on: Quotes du jour

By: Random Acts of Linkage #34 : Subversive Influence

Random Acts of Linkage #34 : Subversive Influence — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:10:28 +0000

[...] is to say I subscribe to their feeds and — as with all of my feeds, I at least skim. So when Doc quotes Brian’s post, it pops up twice, which helps catch the important stuff. And Doc’s [...]

By: TPN :: GDay World » Blog Archive » perfectly targeted advertising is just information

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:40:19 +0000

[...] “Advertising will get more and more targeted until it disappears, because perfectly targeted advertising is just information. And that’s good!” (says Dave Winer via Doc Searls). [...]

By: John Quimby

John Quimby — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:46:30 +0000

Doc,

I think we’re on the same page. Now I have to go look up VRM.

; )

By: A Frog in the Valley » So many tabs, so little time!

A Frog in the Valley » So many tabs, so little time! — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:53:36 +0000

[...] Doc Searls Weblog · Quotes du jour [...]

By: Doc Searls

Doc Searls — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:11:28 +0000

Kawika, good point. In fact, I’d be surprised if that didn’t happen.

By: Doc Searls

Doc Searls — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:09:55 +0000

John, I have no problem with advertising-supported content. I do have a problem with the belief that there is no other way. That’s one reason for VRM. Which, if it succeeds, will not get rid of advertising, but will reduce dependence on it, at least in some cases. As others have said, we’re talking about ‘and’ logic here.

By: Kawika Holbrook

Kawika Holbrook — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:51:54 +0000

It seems as if anyone can create a Facebook page, so what’s to stop someone from creating a SocialAd (or Beacon, or whatever) that advocates from the customer’s side? Hate Dell? Join a group of Dell haters, create a I Hate Dell page, offer viral video rants that spread an “anti-sumer” meme faster than “fan-sumer” recommendations. VRM has just as much to gain here, I think, as anything. We’ll see what happens.

By: John Quimby

John Quimby — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:27:40 +0000

Saying that ad supported content can’t work raises the question, “when?” as in - when won’t it work?

Pay for play separates users from content. Valuable content consumes valuable resources to produce and distribute and intellectual property rights law means that you can rent content but you cant actually own it.
Those are three reasons why the ad model will continue to be a viable answer.

In the Jeff Jarvis post from the Guardian, he says that overall ad cash will decline. Again the question, “Compared to what?”. Is he measuring static expectations based on an artificially limited number of channels and comparing them to an open market with unlimited possibilities? I wonder how much radio advertising cost per point in 1927.

Once the cost per point to reach a mass audience drops to fractions of a penny there could be a drop in the value of overall spending. Conversely we’re already seeing a staggering increase in the number of marketing messages out there - and yes I would include My Space and Face Book pages. Everybody is in the market for something.

Just so you know, I’m in the midst of webvideo content creation right now so I am an active partisan. I’d say that as sure as Little Orphan Annie was brought to you by Ovaltine, the ad-for-content model is here to stay.

By: Jon Garfunkel

Jon Garfunkel — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:56:17 +0000

The cynics are going to have to do a better job. Will it not work because:

1. People will abandon Facebook in droves for this perceived injustice? (umm, the people have joined the bargain for ad-supported email now number in the hundreds of millions. And email is more private than Facebook).

2. People will not click on ads? (Seth Godin thinks so, but the author of “All Marketers Are Liars” presents no sweeping metrics of click-through rates.)

Sheesh. If only “consumer advocates” exerted a tenth of the attention to the fact that $850 million was going to the Fox News Channel from cable subscribers without anybody knowing about it.

By: Alexander van Elsas

Alexander van Elsas — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:29:43 +0000

Doc: from the press release the following quote:
“People will not be able to opt out of these social ads or turn them off, at least for now, unless they stop revealing information about themselves on Facebook. Says Zuckerberg: “It is an ad-supported service. It is a free service.”

You couldn’t be more right Mark! This is the Catch 22 of web 2.0. Facebook creates a service, drawing users to it by providing it for free, provide the user with the false illusion that his privacy is safe and then leverages the user profiles and the Social Graph network Facebook ‘owns’ and protects but didn’t create himself (the users did) by monetizing with ads.

SocialAds are based upon an entirely wrong assumption of friendship in the wrong context. It isn’t going to work.