Commentary

ClickPicks: Ads.com

If you’re one of those people who actually pay attention to TV commercials and often find yourself pondering questions such as "I wonder what agency put that commercial together" or "Do they have a website?" or even "I wonder if there’s a way I could ever see that spot again," look no further than this month’s ClickPick — Ads.com.

A fairly new website, Ads.com allows users to search for TV ads either by brand or by product name, or by the TV show in which it ran. It also has a Top 10 list of funny ads, as well as an archive of the 2002 Super Bowl ads. When you click on an ad, the site brings up the name of the advertiser, the product, and the agency responsible for making the spot. It also shows advertiser links, along with related links that may be useful to customers. For example, if you are looking at a car commercial, a related link might be a review of that car at a sponsor’s website. And, if available, some useless trivia is listed, such as "Did you know that the man who invented Dr. Pepper named his product after the man who gave him his first job?" Not only is Ads.com a beneficial resource to advertisers, it also satisfies the commercial aficionado in many of us. The site allows users to play an ad, rate it, email it to a friend, and see more ads for a particular product. Giving feedback directly to the advertiser and gauging an ad’s success is a key component for advertisers when planning future campaigns.

The site recently partnered with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to legitimately run these commercials online. Ads.com also partnered with Microsoft Windows Media (which is required to play some of the spots) and carries a link to download the latest Player. The only downs serto Ads.com is when searching by TV show, it offers just five prime-time shows to choose from — Alias, The Simpsons, 24, NYPD Blue, and The Drew Carey Show — yet a search by brand or product yields greater results. But that’s something likely to be improved on in the near future. —Amy Corr

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