Ad networks: missing features

Ad networks missing features:

1. Interconnection with bookmarking services
2. Browser back button support
3. Rich interaction
4. Selective Memory
5. Show different video ads
6. Limit the ad selection

Interconnection with bookmarking services

You’ve interrupted me. The ad is interesting. Well-targeted. Good job. I am interested. But not right now. Right now I want to finish reading page 2 of this article.

Why are you demanding that I follow the ad link now? Interact with delicious.com, xmarks.com or simply my browser bookmark ability. Let me bookmark the ad link as a private bookmark for later. Bookmarking services have simple APIs. Spend the 13 seconds. Do the integration.

In the “old” print advertising medium. A prospect could tear out the ad from the magazine or newspaper for later. Why can’t the “new” media do this?

Browser back button support

You wanted to sell to me. I am ignoring your ad. I click on a link, not your ad. I then notice your ad. Mission accomplished…. too late. The page refreshes. The ad is gone.

I click the browser back button. The browser shows the previous page.

Except for the ad I wanted to read. Your ad. No clicks for you!

In the “old” print medium, the ad on page A3 does not change and disappear just because I have flipped the page. I can go back to not just the article, but to the ads!

Rich interaction

Hat-tip to meebo.com for breaking the old model. But for everyone else, why is the only interaction with the ad, a link?

• If the ad is related to an event? Make it so someone can put the event on their calendar. Generate the ical file
• provide sales contact information as a vcard that reminds the user of when and where they saw the ad. Maybe even a link to the ad itself!
• Add the ability to email /forward the ad!

Get creative with the interaction!

In the “old” print medium, ads have a phone number and a physical address. How is this any different than a link?

Selective Memory

Consumers know that ad networks track them. Acknowledge this. Let the consumers edit your memory. The user’s only alternative is deleting cookies so the ad network know nothing. Allowing consumers a choice, gives the ad networks a chance remember something.

In old print media, there is an advertisers index on the magazine back cover. How come websites don’t have the same functionality? Maybe not all advertisers, only the premium advertisers get listed in the advertisers index.

Show different video ads

For christ’s sakes guys, how come consumers have to suffer from watching the same pre-roll 10 second ad repeatedly. I hate CNN, FOX, etc. Every 5 video clips I get shown the same pre-roll ad for the same product. My ears bleed. Even if I am interested in watching more videos, I run away! Fast!

Limit the ad selection

It is well known that it takes multiple impressions to reach the consumer. For the time the visitor is on a website, increase the number of ad impressions. Make it so that a visitor sees the IBM ads 8 times rather than showing 8 different ads for 8 different companies.

Hopefully someone like Frank will do something about this!