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Unicast Claims Success With Internet Commercials
LightForce3 writes "Remember that trial run of full-motion commercials on sites like ESPN.com and MSN? The BBC reports that Unicast, whose caching technology makes these ads work, is claiming a strong favorable response from Internet users who viewed the advertisements. It looks like they could now be making long-term deals with clients (the article mentions Forbes.com and weather.com). As a dialup user, I am less than thrilled about the idea of an extra 2 MB download each time I visit one of these sites."
As a dialup user, I am less than thrilled about the idea of an extra 2 MB download each time I visit one of these sites."
Then don't go to their websites.
Boycotting is still an effective tool, unless of course you are in the minority, which you may be, since I'm sure there are a couple million sports freaks who won't mind the commercials.
Don't use Microsoft software. Really. It claims to use Windows Media 9 and some "proprietary" background downloading crap, so Mozilla with no Windows Media plugin should be a good start, along with Mozilla's AdBlock plugin just to make sure.
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
... The format is based on Microsoft's Windows Media 9 Series and uses Unicast proprietary pre-cached technology.
:-)
What a shame. I use Linux!
Keep this person away from me. Thanks.
Y'think?
Never ask the sales person how good their product is, all you'll get is whatever they can spout off the top of their head as the newest sales line.
"Our stuff is great, people love it and can't seem tio live without it" - Every sales person that ever lived
Heck, why bother asking the originating company when you already kn ow what the answer is going to be. 1. The company will say the customers love it, 2. The customers will be pissed off at yet another intrusion and time wasting tactic when all tey want to do is see the content they came to see. This isn't TV ya bastards.
Whee signature.
I've tried to look at the demo on their website many times, however it never works because of the requirements:
...but you can't get the MS JVM any more :-( And I don't use IE (although I appreciate most of the world does).
Windows
Internet Explorer
Windows Media Player
Microsoft (not Sun) JVM
You can try it yourself here. If you do, be sure to comment what it's like, because I've never seen it!
You have to enable "ESPN Motion", which gives you video highlights and video clips from their regular TV shows (PTI, etc.). So, you only see the video ads if you watch their video content. Seems like there isn't really anything new here. Beware of "ESPN Motion" though. It installs a service that constantly downloads content in the background so that when you hit the site it is all ready to go. Interesting idea, but can choke off that UT2004 session at just the wrong time!
You mean pop-up's and spam aren't enough.......now I have to dodge full-length commericals on the web too? Anyone remember when it was the information highway and not the advertising highway?
It downloads and installs client software that runs 24/7 in the background, downloading the latest content. So if you ever happen to go to the site, the videos are ready to play right from disk.
As far as I can tell, you have no options for configuring when or what it downloads.
An online survey of more than 3,500 users who saw the ads found that just 28% said they were annoying
Ok, first of all, I'm pretty sure that number is way too low. But even if it's correct, would you place a technology on your website that's proven to annoy at least 1/3 of your potential customers?
Underholdning.info
If you use Mozilla/Firefox you can install Flash Click to View fromh p/flas hclick
http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info.p
(Remove the space inserted into the link by Slashdot)
With the plugin, the browser loads the Flash content but displays a blank button with the text "click to view" instead of the animation. So now you can go to the site that require flash, but won't be bothered unless you want to.
With regards to the full motion video - where do they find the drooling idiots in the test group who want the net to resemble TV more? Do you believe the "only 28% of users found it annoying", or are the advertisers lying? (And why not, it's basically their job anyway)
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank.
-- Scotty.
An online survey of more than 3,500 users who saw the ads found that just 28% said they were annoying.
That's almost a third of those surveyed found the advertisments annoying. Who would want to piss off a third of thier users?
And how do they count the number of users so annoyed that they go off the site and don't bother filling in the survey?
Tk
At some point, somewhere, the entire internet will be found to be illegal.
since I use the Adblock extension for Mozilla and Firefox, the net has become practically adfree for me. I remember a time when ads didn't disturb the reading pleasure of a website with all sorts of motion and sounds. I even clicked on banners sometimes back then. But since all those flashbanners and whatnot appeared, I rather block them
it would appear to be macromedia flash/shockwave livey 4.swf?n=03%2F16%2F2004+7%3A57%3A14+AM&info=Havaian as!!!!!Many+Forms!!!!!Almap+BBDO+Brazil!!!!!Levi%2 7s!!!!!Levi+Strauss!!!!!AvenueA!!!!!General+Motors !!!!!Chevy+Tahoe!!!!!Campbell%2DEwald!!!!!History+ Channel!!!!!Killing+Pablo!!!!!Horizon+Interactive! !!!!Jaguar!!!!!XJ4!!!!!Global+Beach
go to www.unicast.com, click on "gallery" - it's a page with the shockwave object embedded - when you click on the "View ad" button it starts downloading the clip in the background. Presumably some sites will keep the shockwave embedded in a zero height frame which will go fullsize via client side scripting once the whole advert is downloaded ready to play, while others will use in page, or half page, via iframes or whatever.
You can get hold of the shockwave file direct at http://www.unicast.com/gallery/previewpane/galler
$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
In addition to AdBlock (and Flash click-to-view, which someone mentioned further down the page), take a look at the adblocking CSS on texturizer.net. It really does an amazing job of killing just ads (including all the ads on Slashdot-- I'm not going to click them anyway, so I don't want to see them.)
Because the internet is not a mature medium, until it is as braindead as TV and purely satisfies corporate interests.
A medium that gives the user control is clearly evil and most definetly encourages evil. That will have to be counter-eviled.
How is it that the people making decisions fail to realize that the internet (or web that is) isn't a push-medium, but pull-medium?
You'd think people get that by now? Or am I to optimistic?
Not Buzzword 2.0 compliant. Please speak english.
REPEAT: THE WEB IS NOT TV
. html
It's almost too obvious a point, but apparently it bears repeating: The more the Web is like TV, the less we need it. TV already does a pretty effective job of delivering what Net content people call "broadband multimedia information and entertainment" to the home, and most consumers already own the hardware. What sells the Internet to newbies is its promise of things TV can't deliver: "many-to-many" communication via bulletin boards and e-mail; interactive services that go beyond catalog shopping; quirky content unavailable on TV's limited number of channels; specific, accurate information that's there when you need it, whether it's sports stats, stock quotes or plane-ticket availability.
from: http://archive.salon.com/march97/21st/webtv970327
Seven years later, and it still counts. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. People will either block those ads, or go to other sites. Just like TCP, they will learn to route around the problem.
The web is not TV, it is not a one way communication channel where you can shove as much commercial bullshit to the other side as your CFO requires you to do. You don't have regulations on the number of channels, you have an unlimited number of them, and they get popular or less populer in a matter of days/weeks/months.
What Unicast doesn't seem to realize is that the internet is really not, in any way, a comparable medium to television. Today's newspapers and periodical magazines have proven that effective, well-placed static advertisements still work even in today's multimedia-crazy world. Even though the news channels offer live, full-color, slow-motion replays of the latest news events, many of us still turn to the old-fashioned, ad-supported newspapers as a reliable source of information. Similarly, we go to web sites like ESPN, MSN and the Weather Channel to *read* information. Full-motion video ads only distract from that purpose.
Privoxy is the newer version of Junkbuster. And for all that ad-free goodness, I chain Privoxy to Proxomitron (in Windows XP).
Prixovy - http://www.privoxy.org
Proxomitron - http://www.proxomitron.info/files/index.shtml
Also, get a patched hosts file from here,
http://remember.mine.nu
And run Edexter to fill in the banners.
http://www.pyrenean.com/edexter.php
Ad-free pop-up free content. On dial-up, it's like sweet freedom.
Remove the spamfreak to speak.