I’m pretty sensitive to annoying advertisements. I recently watched a movie at an AMC theater and swore I’d never go back. The bombardment of ads blasted out at painful volume levels for about 40 minutes leading up to another 20 minutes of previews nearly pushed me out of the movie theater screaming before the movie even started. I feel a fool for paying them to advertise at me, yet I’d pay extra if they’d cut the ads (especially if they added a few Road Runner cartoons instead – those were the days).
I used to enjoy watching NFL football , but I can’t seem to sit through a game anymore due to the time sump of loud TV ads. When I do occasionally have a look, the mute button is my best friend.
I really enjoyed the World Cup partly because of the ad-less flow of the game.
And now an article in today’s Wall Street Journal forecasts the inevitability of advertising in ebooks. Though I instinctively shudder at the thought, as we are book retailers at the eBook Pie eBook store, I get the reasons why. Publishers are increasingly behind the eight-ball as the Wal-marts and Amazons of the world drive prices and margins down and leverage books as loss-leaders. And then there are those thieves who cross the line into pirate territory and download their books for free (you know who you are), further putting the squeeze on those who do the creating and producing.
So if authors and publishers can make a little extra from hopefully not too obtrusive ads in my ebooks, probably I shouldn’t complain. But lets see how they look and feel first. I reserve the right to cringe, but I really hope I won’t have to do any muting…
{ 2 comments }
Well said, Ron. The ad bombardment has ruined what used to be a nice night out.
As for Wal-mart, I long ago put up a challenge to a friend that complained about but continued to shop at Wal-mart. I’ll pay $100 to anyone that catches me coming out of Wal-mart but they have to pay me $100 if I catch them. No takers! I even made the offer to a writer of a column in the Auburn Journal.
Dan
I love your term; Time Sump! (…I can’t seem to sit through a game anymore due to the time sump of loud TV ads.)
As for ads in books, I would favor a model where you could choose to accept ads that would subsidize the price of your book. Done well, I believe the ads could be so highly targeted as to be incredibly valuable to the advertiser, and something less than obnoxious to the reader.
– - – Paul
Comments on this entry are closed.