To clarify my intent right off the bat: I do hope to start a heated debate with this one. The topic is that X10 $80 wireless video camera “pop-under” ad you’ve probably noticed recently. The ad slips
clandestinely onto a web surfer’s PC and remains unseen until the surfer closes down browser windows. Then the pop-under ad becomes visible, filling most of the screen.
In several stories written
recently on the topic, pop-under ads are described as “just one of many alternative ad forms that advertisers are experimenting with these days as they try to punch up the impact and effectiveness of
online advertising.” The question is: Are those bigger, more compelling ads a good idea?
I did a quick, unscientific survey of MediaPost readers recently. Here’s the count—12 pros to 150 cons. In
the second category, most responses contained unprintable language directed at “whoever invented this obnoxious thing!” I can only conclude that we may be divided in our opinions as advertisers, but
as individual web users, we hate ‘em with a passion!
On the advertiser side, the pro-pop-under school of thought, as accurately described by Larry Miller, director of Internet sales at Traffic
Pulse Networks (formerly Traffic.com) is that the Internet ad community is “too worried about intruding upon the web surfers’ experience,” as he put it. “Haven’t you ever seen a newspaper page with
only one column of edit? How about five consecutive spreads before the Table of Contents? Aren’t we in business to try and make money? The Internet cannot remain a not-for-profit medium!”
Another
ruthless argument came from Dan Williams, an ad sales executive at eUniverse, who said, “If you want to push product, you use pop-ups. Click-through is outrageous and conversion much higher than
banners. Why? Who knows? Alienate users? Who cares?”
On the opposing side, Mary Kay McGuire-Willson, President of MK Marketing, swiftly countered one of the above arguments with: “When was the
last time a box of Corn Flakes came floating into your office?” She added, “the ease of shopping or working online will diminish if advertisers feel that they have a right to interfere with the sales
or work process. The virtual experience should be able to work in concert with advertising. Advertising needs to become more than just the click-through rate.”
Amen to that! In addition, these
new ad formats are the result of advertisers “confusing good advertising with inquisitive response,” as AudioGraphics’ Ken Dardis put it. All these new formats are new, and that’s the only reason they
get the clicks. And we may not have much time to debate that last point. Even though the pop-under is supposed to be preferable to other forms of pop-ups in the online ad food chain, that’s only until
“ad killer” software is perfected.
“Once that happens,” said coolsavings.com’s Chuck Hildebrandt, “the only online marketing form that can survive will be content integration.”
As promised,
here’s the debate question: Which side are you on? Should pop-unders be allowed to pop or are they a threat to online advertising as we know it? Email me at masha@mediapost.com.
Masha Geller is
Editor-in-Chief of MediaPost.