Perfect bad internet advertising example

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toyonut

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#140877 23-Feb-2014 13:36

If you make websites, don't do this: www.msn.co.nz.
Don't normally open msn.co.nz, but opened IE and this is somehow my default homepage again. Full screen advertising with the title of advertising break, closing the advert spits you out to a new tab showing the same advert and the background of the site is a giant advert too. Great example of how not to do advertising. And to top it all off a "research invitation" that if you click no spits you out to the same new world advert. Have they been hacked or should someone be fired?

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

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#992801 23-Feb-2014 14:21

Is it still happening? I don't see that behavior with Chrome. Those side-wide-backgrounds occasionally see me click on them accidentally when aiming for a neutral element.

tardtasticx

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#992841 23-Feb-2014 15:58

It doesn't seem that bad, I can only see the background of cash for the New World advert. Doesn't the herald do this all the time too though? Sometimes I've even had it cover the screen with an ad you have to click away.

toyonut

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#993001 23-Feb-2014 19:54

Should have screen capped it. I think it must have been a mistake as it is no longer showing the same behavior.
They had a full page advert for this link: http://www.newworld.co.nz/100000-promotion/100000-promotion/
Clicking no to close the full page advert redirected you to the newworld link in a new tab. Closing the tab brought you back to the msn homepage with a pop up asking to take a Nielson survey.
Clicking no directed you back to the newworld link in a new tab.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

Batman

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#993031 23-Feb-2014 21:46

it didn't happen, then it happened, then it didn't

I think it's glitch of some sort

freitasm

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#993062 23-Feb-2014 23:04

It didn't happen to me, but...

THIS AD IS RUBISH:

This goes to a page with a competition that runs into January 2015. It also subscribes you to premium SMS.

Shame on MSN for running these ads.

mattwnz

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#993065 23-Feb-2014 23:14

freitasm: It didn't happen to me, but...

THIS AD IS RUBISH:

This goes to a page with a competition that runs into January 2015. It also subscribes you to premium SMS.

Shame on MSN for running these ads.

Aghh, TVNZ have those same sorts of adverts on TVNZ on demand, when you press the pause button. It looks like the are giving away two $1000 voucher, and they are getting peoples email addresses and names as a result. A really cheap prize for them. Although it looks to be be run from Singapore. I wonder if people realize that the competition is nearly a year away from being drawn and the company running it, their main business activity is to collect data for purposes of promoting and marketing of products or services offered by sponsors and clients, which is what it says in the terms.

freitasm

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#993068 23-Feb-2014 23:17

Planet49 is a Singapore-based company. It is not something I would like to be involved with or put my details on.

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mattwnz

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#993072 23-Feb-2014 23:28

freitasm: Planet49 is a Singapore-based company. It is not something I would like to be involved with or put my details on.

Yeap same company running the TVNZ one. Not sure if TVNZ know that it is on their website. I suspect many people don't read the fine print. In fact I know they don't, because my parents entered it without reading the fine print. Just seems like a really stingy prize for the amount of time the promo is on for, and the potential number of people entering it, which is likely to be very high.

wasabi2k

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#993112 24-Feb-2014 08:10

mattwnz:
freitasm: Planet49 is a Singapore-based company. It is not something I would like to be involved with or put my details on.

Yeap same company running the TVNZ one. Not sure if TVNZ know that it is on their website. I suspect many people don't read the fine print. In fact I know they don't, because my parents entered it without reading the fine print. Just seems like a really stingy prize for the amount of time the promo is on for, and the potential number of people entering it, which is likely to be very high.

and the fact that they will more than likely never give out a prize..

luckysurprise

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#993482 24-Feb-2014 17:47

It's crap like this that only gives people more cause to use ad blockers.
I have nothing against advertising per se, but I do expect it to be honest and to not be obnoxious. Back in the days before flashing banners I even used to click on some that seemed interesting. But when it became the norm for internet ad's to be animated, to flash, to slide in front of what you are trying to view, I found that the annoyance and distraction was far too distracting to be worth the value I was getting from the content. I started by just avoiding those particular sites that were the worst offenders. Unfortunately this sort of thing just became more and more pervasive. The scam ad's that masquerade as Windows messages were the last straw for me. So after about 10 years of internet use I finally installed an ad blocker.

Likewise, if FreeviewTV is going to show ad's that shout at you (Harvey Leeming et al) then I will mute all TV advertising. If this means I am not "paying" for the free content provided then that is the broadcasters own fault for not insisting on decent standards for the ad's they run.
So if internet ad's are going to be so unreasonable as include a high proportion of animated or noisy distractions, scams and in your face content-blockers then I have no qualms about using an adblocker on the internet too, as a parallel to the TV mute button.

Yes there may very well be some ad's on both TV and the internet that are not obnoxious or misleading but they are collateral damage in the blanket muting and blocking.
It would be in the interest of all advertisers and internet content providers to get together and sort out an international code of conduct and a regulatory authority with some teeth. And NOT just keep doing the same antisocial thing and complaining when people choose to disregard all their ad's. It is an entirely reasonable response to unreasonable treatment. Adblocking software is every bit as legitimate as having a mute button on TV remotes.

myusername

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#994079 25-Feb-2014 13:09

When I first opened that link, I thought "What's the problem? There aren't many ads on here. It looks clean, crisp, to the point."

Then I remembered AdBlock Plus.

Once I turned it off, I was hit by a barrage of inane, irrelevant ads vying for my attention while I frantically tried to close them all.

All I can say is thank the internet gods for adblockers. They really make surfing the net more pleasant.

freitasm

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#994087 25-Feb-2014 13:15

Yes, but blocking ads affects everyone around... For example we run Pagefair and this is how many ad blockers visit Geekzone. Also note that assigning a "cost" of NZ$ 2.50/CPM that's how much we are not making a month - money that would be welcome to help upgrade servers, systems, improve bandwidth, etc:

The amount was arbitrarily low, because we do run campaigns that cost much more than that, but this is what one could expect if the site was running some network only RoS campaign.

I do not like bad ads, but there are places that try not to run those - here on Geekzone for example...

myusername

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#994121 25-Feb-2014 13:39

This is a problem I have considered.

I don't have an acceptable answer for this other than a question "What is a good ad?"

I am not against advertising, far from it. But the fact that a website will lose some revenue because I want a vastly improved browsing experience really a valid reason not to use an Adblocker?

I see 6 ads on my page at the moment. 6 ads, none of which I have any desire to click on.