Thursday, May 19, 2005

Google jumps on RSS boat with AdSense

Google's AdSense for Feeds lets publishers sign up to display text or banner ads at the bottom of syndicated headlines or content feeds. Publishers must insert a few lines of code to display the ads, and when people click on the promotions, they share in the fees collected by Google.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5712154.html

What do you guys think? Do you want to see ads on RSS feeds (just like mine).
First up, I really want to know how many people actually read these internet ads. Google lives on internet ads, its AdSense generates 99% of its revenue. That means a lot of people out there click on advertised links. I even see books on how to make it rich with Google's AdSense program. Seeeesh!

I am totally desensitized by internet ads. I don't care about them and don't want to see them in any RSS feed. (I know, its I have made a decision on this even though my blog title says I am undecided, atleast most of the time). My rationale is simple - when I want something, I look for it and given the sea of products out there I have little time (largely due to limited patience) to decide on what I want. This is where ads are helpful, they give you a flavor of the market and then you head on out to eBay and buy it! :-) On a more serious note, I'd rather visit some stores (online) and read reviews on various products before I make a choice (statistical one - considering how many stores I went to, how many people have left reviews and of them how many are positive) and then after all this market research, still head out to eBay :-)

Allow me to digress (as if I haven't already) just a little, please also do read "How to Lie with Statistics". Its a sort of self defence against what statistics (that are thrust in your face) lead you to believe but is no where near the truth. If you have been anywhere near America you know what I mean!

Some pointers to marketing/ads: Read Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers". This book, though a little dry and aggravating at times, gives you some good insight into the advertising model and what marketeers hope to accomplish from it. You can also point your RSS client to his blog .

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are three kinds of lies - Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics. Marketing and sales ads always fall under one of these lies esp in the US where consumerism is a popular religion.

~Smitha

Anonymous said...

And my 2 cents (to google)
More Adsense means more money to google! why not create a program so that only interested users can sign up sparing those who don't want their sites to be cluttered and polluted by the ads.
I like the idea implemented by amazon where the revenues generated by such ads are diverted to charity.
~Smitha