OK, go to your favorite search engine, or shareware search engine. Pick a game style, say.... puzzle games. Now then, how many hits do you get back? As a consumer, how long will you spend looking? While it's cheesy (and I DON'T do this) quite a few people just keep re-submitting thier game so that in a dated list, it shows up first. Or they do things like put '++' at the beginning of the name to try and make it show up first (that was the case back in the BBS days, but, no longer really works that well.) So, if you are looking for a game, how long do you expect to spend clicking 'next' to find a game that you like? Not very damned long on the Internet anymore.
The problem isn't just getting your name out there - I don't do any 'brand recognition' advertising. It's trying to compete with the miriad of other programs of the same genre to capture the prospective customer's attention. I advertise in places where people look for games (two game search engines, a game fansite, and a game news portal.) So, the idea that someone just pops into a game search engine and finds something interesting is a bit of a problem - have you done that lately? This helps those who really want to push thier product stand out just a little. That's why I advertise instead of just putting it in the search engines and shareware game engines. Other people's reasons may vary. And if you don't like ads - well, I'm sure you know the address for Junkbuster!;-)
--
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr - looking for something to read? Check out my three free novels at MidnightRyder.org
At least banner ads are better than a PBS style pledge drive. Think of the fun, every half hour or every 50th hit the sites content gets replaced by a plea for money (this story made possible by viewers like you, please donate so we can continue to bring you banner free news and entertainment)
-- If Godzilla did not exist, man would have had to create him.
Why do we get a bad name?
by
Midnight+Ryder
·
· Score: 4
OK, all kidding aside - while the SatireWire link did it to the extreme, there are some websites that are really starting to look like that, and I've seen a couple of news articles that looked much more like advertisements based on the way they were linked (see my sarcasam above.) Yeah, I pay for advertising - not much, mainly cause I can't afford it. But, you know, I don't think I *EVER* want to see my product stuck in the middle of an article on CNN.com or News.COm, etc., where it ends up smack-dab in the middle of an article - I figure if that starts being the case, people will start to associate my name and my games with BAD, ANNOYING THINGS! What I can't understand is - why don't other advertisers start seeing it this way? I understand the concept of 'brand recognition', but, if it starts to become negative, what the hell good is it doing?
--
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr - looking for something to read? Check out my three free novels at MidnightRyder.org
Why is *your* post on Slashdot?
by
Gorimek
·
· Score: 4
Remember rule 1 (*) of online discussions:
Any post pointing out the irrelevancy of a post is itself even more irrelevant and will generate even more uninteresting traffic than the one that originally offended you did.
So, just don't read what you're not interested in.
I wonder how much money they are going to make because their "ultimate banner page" was slashdotted. You've gotta figure there's a sucker born every minute, and some of those suckers are going to click through the ads:-)
Couln't read the article...
by
Overt+Coward
·
· Score: 3
What I find even more annoying than multiple banners scattered around the page, are sites, like TomsHardware that only have one or two ads per page, but trim the content down to one or two paragraphs per page, and have a 30 page article. I'd much rather deal with multiple banners on a static page than have to click through 10-30 pages to read a single story.
--
-atrowe: Card-carrying Mensa member. I have no toleranse for stupidity.
Anyone interested in the topic may also want to read the thread over at K5. Considering how much connection there is between the/. and k5 communities, avoiding redundancy between the two would be greatly appreciated.
Once you've read the article and come back to the slashdot page, try to remember what ads you saw on that page. Pretty impressive isn't it, how we've all learnt to ignore the noise and just read the article. So long as the advertisers don't get savvy to this...
Banner Ads Now have Banner Ads! Yow!
by
ackthpt
·
· Score: 4
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Net Ads Still Better Than Radio,TV and Print Ads
by
bahtama
·
· Score: 3
When you think about it, ads on the net are less invasive visually than ads in print. Most magazines, especially those rags from Ziff Davis, with names like EWeek and Interactive Week come with 1/2 page of ads with 1/2 of text and the opposing page is one solid ad. Banners on the net are annoying, but we should be thankful they haven't gotten huge. Oh wait, what am I talking about, here's a huge one!!
On television and radio you have no choice but to watch ads, banners can be easily filtered or ignored.
A small 450x60 banner isn't that big of deal, as long as it doesn't spawn endless windows. We should be thankful that is all they are and try to keep them that size.
how else am I supposed to tell people about the games I produce
Submit your site to the appropriate search
engines and directories, so that when someone
is looking for games, they find you.
Yep, it's true: The Internet is interactive,
and people have started using it to search for
things. There's no longer any reason to "push"
in a media when people are able to "pull"
whenever they need to. Couldn't do that with
newspaper, magazines, TV, or radio. Can with
Internet.
---
-- As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
What I find really interesting is that in netscape 4.76 under FreeBSD the banners actually cover up part of the text from the article. I wonder if this was intentional or not...
How many of you remember them /now/?
by
TheDullBlade
·
· Score: 3
You can confirm most of the items on the above list pretty easily, can't you?
The difference between conscious and unconscious memory is essential to the advertiser's trade.
They don't want to you to think about the ad after you've left it, they want you to recognize the brand, and associate certain qualities with it.
How many things do you associate with Coca-Cola? Pepsi? Ford trucks? You don't remember every ad, but they all affected your gut feeling toward these brands. Advertising is mind pollution. You are dumber for having seen it. ---
Slashdot Mirror
I totally disagree with that. Why?
OK, go to your favorite search engine, or shareware search engine. Pick a game style, say.... puzzle games. Now then, how many hits do you get back? As a consumer, how long will you spend looking? While it's cheesy (and I DON'T do this) quite a few people just keep re-submitting thier game so that in a dated list, it shows up first. Or they do things like put '++' at the beginning of the name to try and make it show up first (that was the case back in the BBS days, but, no longer really works that well.) So, if you are looking for a game, how long do you expect to spend clicking 'next' to find a game that you like? Not very damned long on the Internet anymore.
The problem isn't just getting your name out there - I don't do any 'brand recognition' advertising. It's trying to compete with the miriad of other programs of the same genre to capture the prospective customer's attention. I advertise in places where people look for games (two game search engines, a game fansite, and a game news portal.) So, the idea that someone just pops into a game search engine and finds something interesting is a bit of a problem - have you done that lately? This helps those who really want to push thier product stand out just a little. That's why I advertise instead of just putting it in the search engines and shareware game engines. Other people's reasons may vary. And if you don't like ads - well, I'm sure you know the address for Junkbuster! ;-)
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr - looking for something to read? Check out my three free novels at MidnightRyder.org
If Godzilla did not exist, man would have had to create him.
I really don't understand why advertisers like myself (MidnightRyder.Com) get such a bad name. I mean, how else am I supposed to tell people about the games I produce without advertising it somewhere? Heck, sometimes it's not even a matter of trying to sell a game, but, instead trying to generate site traffic. So what is we throw money at websites that will link to us for a fee?
OK, all kidding aside - while the SatireWire link did it to the extreme, there are some websites that are really starting to look like that, and I've seen a couple of news articles that looked much more like advertisements based on the way they were linked (see my sarcasam above.) Yeah, I pay for advertising - not much, mainly cause I can't afford it. But, you know, I don't think I *EVER* want to see my product stuck in the middle of an article on CNN.com or News.COm, etc., where it ends up smack-dab in the middle of an article - I figure if that starts being the case, people will start to associate my name and my games with BAD, ANNOYING THINGS! What I can't understand is - why don't other advertisers start seeing it this way? I understand the concept of 'brand recognition', but, if it starts to become negative, what the hell good is it doing?
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr - looking for something to read? Check out my three free novels at MidnightRyder.org
Remember rule 1 (*) of online discussions:
Any post pointing out the irrelevancy of a post is itself even more irrelevant and will generate even more uninteresting traffic than the one that originally offended you did.
So, just don't read what you're not interested in.
(*) Or is it rule 4? Nevermind.
I couldn't read the damn article because of the sheer number of *cookies* it requested! Those are real banner ads!
:)
But once I killed them all, it was damn funny.
Will the real Bruce Perens Please Stand Up
I wonder how much money they are going to make because their "ultimate banner page" was slashdotted. You've gotta figure there's a sucker born every minute, and some of those suckers are going to click through the ads :-)
Too many damn ads in the way...
--
What I find even more annoying than multiple banners scattered around the page, are sites, like TomsHardware that only have one or two ads per page, but trim the content down to one or two paragraphs per page, and have a 30 page article. I'd much rather deal with multiple banners on a static page than have to click through 10-30 pages to read a single story.
-atrowe: Card-carrying Mensa member. I have no toleranse for stupidity.
Anyone interested in the topic may also want to read the thread over at K5. Considering how much connection there is between the /. and k5 communities, avoiding redundancy between the two would be greatly appreciated.
Once you've read the article and come back to the slashdot page, try to remember what ads you saw on that page. Pretty impressive isn't it, how we've all learnt to ignore the noise and just read the article. So long as the advertisers don't get savvy to this...
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
On television and radio you have no choice but to watch ads, banners can be easily filtered or ignored.
A small 450x60 banner isn't that big of deal, as long as it doesn't spawn endless windows. We should be thankful that is all they are and try to keep them that size.
=-=-=-=-=
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Oh bother.
Submit your site to the appropriate search engines and directories, so that when someone is looking for games, they find you.
Yep, it's true: The Internet is interactive, and people have started using it to search for things. There's no longer any reason to "push" in a media when people are able to "pull" whenever they need to. Couldn't do that with newspaper, magazines, TV, or radio. Can with Internet.
---
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
What I find really interesting is that in netscape 4.76 under FreeBSD the banners actually cover up part of the text from the article. I wonder if this was intentional or not...
You can confirm most of the items on the above list pretty easily, can't you?
The difference between conscious and unconscious memory is essential to the advertiser's trade.
They don't want to you to think about the ad after you've left it, they want you to recognize the brand, and associate certain qualities with it.
How many things do you associate with Coca-Cola? Pepsi? Ford trucks? You don't remember every ad, but they all affected your gut feeling toward these brands. Advertising is mind pollution. You are dumber for having seen it.
---