Digital Trends underwent a major redesign about two months ago, and chances are if you’ve been reading our stories on your computer, you’ve already learned to block out that rectangle above and to the right of this copy. We’re conditioned to recognize banner ads as soon as we spot them, but that doesn’t make them any less annoying. It’s safe to say that no one likes banner ads – no one, not even the creators of banner ads themselves, who admit to regretting their invention in the first place.
The creators in question are G.M. O’Connell, Bill Clausen, Joe McCambley, and Andrew Anker; together, the four were responsible for the Web’s first banner ad for AT&T that ran on HotWired Web magazine in 1994. In an interview with Digiday, O’Connell calls banner ads’ migration from the Web to mobile platforms a joke. “The creativity is disappointing at best. It’s easy for me to say it sucks, but I don’t know what the better thing is,” he said. “Most [banners] aren’t serving value. They’re in the business of interrupting what you’re doing.”
O’Connell also noted that targeted advertising is more “creepy” than helpful, and finds the tactic intrusive. McCrambley, on the other hand, likens banner ads to telemarketers. “Ours is an industry that kills the goose that lays the golden egg,” he said. “I don’t even answer my land line anymore, because the only ones who call it are telemarketers. If advertisers can make the phone suck, imagine what they’ll do to content marketing.”
Back in February, McCambley also posted a blog on Harvard Business Review citing that his children say it’s like he “invent[ed] smallpox,” and instead of using banner ads the way they run now, marketers need to get smarter and more creative about how to advertise. “To remain relevant to consumers who spend hours each day focused on smaller screens trying to get stuff done, marketers will have to think like publishers and technology companies,” McCambley wrote. “They’ll need to ask consumers, ‘How can we help you?’ instead of ‘What can we sell you?'”
Perhaps that’s why viral video marketing work so well. Instead of customers being downright exposed to blatant ads, they are subconsciously sharing advertisements when they are able to find pleasure and amusement out of heartfelt or funny ads. Most viral videos don’t even inject themselves upon the viewers, but rather they’re the one seeking them out when there are enough buzz. It makes viewers more aware of the brand, even if they don’t plan on buying its product.
Having the creators of banner ads admit their invention has destroyed Internet marketing is a sad revelation, but from the way we’re watching our sales team work, it doesn’t look like this annoying method of advertising will go away any time soon. At least we can be thankful these ads are no longer pop-ups or blinking.
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
A stocked computer cache may be convenient for logging into and out of go-to sites in seconds flat, but a major buildup of these tracking codes could significantly impact your PC’s performance. If you’ve noticed that your PC has been running rather slow of late, or you’re using a new browser and don’t know how to clear its cache, we’ve got you covered with the following guide.
If you’re looking to clean up your Gmail inbox, but you don’t want to delete anything permanently, then choosing the archive option is your best bet. Whenever you archive an email, it is removed from your inbox folder while still remaining accessible. Here’s how to access any emails you have archived previously, as well as how to move such messages back to your regular inbox for fast access.