Advertisements suck. Sure there are exceptions but for the most part, they suck. One of the things I’m enjoying about San Francisco is the relative lack of billboards and fast food signs along the road. In San Antonio there are places on the highway where all you can see is cars and signs. Here they actually have trees and hills to look at sometimes. But I don’t have to tell you how crazy advertising is – you see it, hear it and trip over it all day every day like everyone else.
Advertisements are beginning to get all over videoblogs too. I guess I don’t really mind so much when the video is fictional or informational and the ad is super short – like a flash at the end. That’s easy to ignore – Ze Frank is always selling something at the end but I can’t tell you what. But when ads show up on a someone’s personal videoblog it’s just weird and I swear to god the thing that we talked about happening around this just did. Yesterday I watched a beautiful, emotional, personal video. But at some point my eye wandered for just a second and I saw a little ad in the sidebar for a site where you could download smilies – hmmm. Then I looked up and saw that the video was ending but the playhead wasn’t at the end of the video. And sure enough AN AD FOR A FUCKING VIDEO CAR CHASE GAME CAME ON. This person had just poured their soul out relating a very serious thing that they’d experienced – and made beautiful video out of it – and then an obnoxious ad took a big giant shit all over it.
So now that I’ve painted myself into a corner I thought I’d make an advertisement (I’m all about the irony) for some videoblogs which are trying sponsorships – like NPR or PBS – instead of going crazy with ads all over the place. I think it’s kind of cool that the people who watch and care about these projects can contribute a little to help make them happen. To me it’s more like buying a book or seeing a concert. So check these guys out, subscribe to them and send them a few bucks.
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5 Comments
You’re awesome, Michael. We just noticed you donated and we’re really touched… thank you.
That Wreck and Salvage sponsorship system is something we really respect… a total “PBS” model, but done very creatively. That is a beautiful web site.
Michael, I am going to have to agree with you on the type of ads that are displayed.
I have Google Ads on my site. They are text ads and for the most part, they cover the cost of my webhost. I also have ads attached to the end of my videos. Not so much for my own revenue as they certainly don’t bring any amount of funds to me. They are there more to assist Blip (who hosts my videos) in furthering their goals.
Some of the ads on the videos are intrusive and a little obnoxious. I would prefer if it were possible to select which type of ads play at the end of my videos but I don’t think that’s possible? I could be wrong though.
With what has happened to be recently, I actually need some source of revenue to compensate for a loss of income. If I had an alternative to showing ads at the end of my videos, I would jump at the chance. Yes, I could just remove all ads from my site and my videos. Then no one would be bothered or offended and everyone could say “That’s wonderful! He does it simply for the pure act of creating!”
Maybe I will just remove all advertising from my site and videos. The reality is that I am hardly making anything from them and to be quite honest, I would rather someone comment on my work for what they thought of it rather than how an ad diverted them and caused them strife.
Ad revenue is a tricky thing… some people are just not lucky enough to able to make money off their passions, so they put ads up. It used to bother me, but as someone who makes money from this medium, how can I tell someone else not to?
I can tell them there are other ways to generate income, sure, but its a lot easier to put up adsense or something than it is to go make an auction… or try to plead to your audience to pay you. In fact, many people just dont have the viewership to get any substantial money from auctions/begging, but do make a tidy some from postroll/text ads.
It’s a sticky issue, but no two media creators are alike… so neither should their revenue streams be.
I am going to be doing my best for as long as i can in running a indy media network on the web free of anything resembling corporate advertising or support relying totally on the viewers of my content to help the network grow. I am dedicated enough i am not even going to use google ads or affiliate links from amazon etc.
I am a huge fan of Video Blogs, IPTV, and Podcasts and have been really unhappy with the change in what it was all about since day one of screw the main stream we can do it ourselves with out the commercials and with out the crap. This is what i am hoping to reinspire with my network OrangeW.
http://orangewnetwork.blogspot.com/
I’m not telling anyone what they can and can’t do. I was just relating an experience I had.
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