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Report on Last Decade of Online Advertising

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the from-sleaze-to-sleazier dept.

Eh-Wire writes "Doubleclick.com has an interesting 24 page PDF available covering the history of online advertising over the last decade. Interesting trivia include recounts of some of the first online ads presented on HotWired. Online advertising has become very competitive in the last ten years and last year saw a revival of activity in this form of advertising. The usual selection of graphs and charts are there to pretty up the document. Overall an interesting read if you're into that sort of thing."

18 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Gee, I'd love to look at that... by adb · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but for some reason Doubleclick keeps resolving to localhost.

  2. Damn it! by oreaq · · Score: 5, Funny

    I really wanted to read TFA article this time but my ad filter blocked it.

  3. The last three years have been ad free... by garcia · · Score: 5, Informative

    Over the last ten years, and especially the last three, I have become increasingly annoyed with online advertising and have done what I can to virtually eliminate it from showing its ugly face on my screen.

    squid and adzapper which is currently replacing many ads with 1x1 transparent GIFs. This is especially handy because I tunnel all my web traffic at work over my 256k upstream DSL connection. Do I really want to be wasting bandwith with flashing or changing ads? /etc/hosts to eliminate things like ads.osdn.com, ads.doubleclick.net, and various others. Yeah, I could add them to adzapper but it's a lot more fun to just block them all together. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

    Any other ideas on how to surf ad free?

    1. Re:The last three years have been ad free... by uucp2 · · Score: 5, Funny
      Any other ideas on how to surf ad free?
      Sure. I recommend using lynx, works great.
    2. Re:The last three years have been ad free... by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      yup....

      privoxy

      it gives you GOBS of control and will block lots of popups that some popup blockers cant, strips all 1.1 gif files kills the info your browser uses to rat on you, and gives you control over cookies.

      I use it here at work for everyone and it's very speedy even though it runs on a slow P-III600 for 100 users.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  4. Shock and awe by BaldGhoti · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am stunned and amazed that it was a PDF and not an HTML page full of flash advertising.

    --
    [insert witty sig here]
  5. In other news... by Anti+Frozt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Online advertising saw a dramatic decrease today as one of the world's largest online advertising agencies, DoubleClick.com, mysteriously went silent.

    Sources pointed to a /. article that linked to a PDF on DoubleClick.com's website as the culprit.

    --
    In C++, friends can touch each others private parts.
  6. I will sum up the last 10 years of ads in 2 words by FidelCatsro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Increasingly annoying.

    --
    The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
  7. PLEASE by TechnologyX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everyone RTFPDF, the internet will thank you if you take out Doubleclick's servers for a few hours!

    --
    Slashdot sucks
  8. In other news... by trurl7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    microsoft.com has released a PDF covering the history of online sado-masochism. Interesting trivia include the first recorded use of an Intercal interpreter in a webbrowser, and server-side VBscripting. The usual reviews of IIS version 234.33.5.8.83.stable are included, with pretty pictures of performance trumping apache. An interesting read, if you're into that sort of thing.

  9. Smart or Dumb... by DaHat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can't decide if the poster of this story is a genius... or an idiot.

    Traditionally posting a direct link to a 1 meg file on the front page of /. is dumb... but at the same time... DoubleClick is not a very popular company when it comes to the ads they sell or those like them... so such a /.ing can only hurt those most /.ers dislike... hum

    --
    Help Brendan pay off his student loans
  10. Here, let me summarize the last 10 years: by FunWithHeadlines · · Score: 4, Funny
    User: Aaargh! Ads! Ignore, ignore, ignore.

    Advertiser: Ignore my ad, willya? Fine, I'll make it blink!

    User: Ugh, it blinks! Block, block, block.

    Advertiser: Block my ad, willya? Fine, I'll make it pop up!

    User: Grrrr, I hate those pop-ups! Suppress, suppress, suppress.

    Advertiser: Suppress my pop-ups, willya? Fine, I'll wire your eyeballs open while I play this movie for you--

    (Sorry, that last step is from the near future.)

  11. Content on Doubleclick? by Experiment+626 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not that people RTFA on a normal article, but in this case any geek worth his salt will have Doubleclick blocked in their /etc/hosts, router tables, Adblock filters, or what have you and in the case of the tinfoil hat types, all of the above just to be sure. I really don't think it's worth turning my filters off just to hear Doubleclick spin the history of online advertising to make themselves sound good.

  12. Re:grrrr by MankyD · · Score: 4, Informative

    If it helps at all, opt out at the top of the page. You'll still have a cookie, but, in theory, it instructs them not to track you.

    --
    -dave
    http://millionnumbers.com/ - own the number of your dreams
  13. Last Decade of Online Advertising by utexaspunk · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's "Last" as in final, right?

    We can only hope...

  14. Re:Hmmm... strange by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny
    > Every time I click on that doubleclick link I get redirected to 127.0.0.1 :-)

    Doubleclick is probably the only site on the 'net immunte to the Slashdot Effect.

  15. Re:One would *think* by MynockGuano · · Score: 4, Insightful
    With ten years of empirical research they'd *know* what motivates people to purchase. sigh.

    Apparently, they think they do. From TFA:
    The many forms of marketing and advertising it enables---permission email, keyword-targeted search engine advertising, floating animated page takeovers, interactive onpage rich media ads, streaming audio and video, consumer-fueled "viral marketing," to name a few--have excited early adopters and now mainstream marketers in ways that traditional advertising has not seen the likes of since the early days of color television.

    "Viral Marketing" -- WOW!
    "Interactive on-page rich media ads" -- SWEET!
    "Floating animated page takeovers" -- SIGN ME UP!

    It almost sounds as if they're proud of these things.
  16. Re:One would also *think* qaulity would matter... by MynockGuano · · Score: 4, Funny
    From the post...

    What I don't understand though, is how people (read: the ad geniuses) at these companies can seriously think that their cheesy ass ads will ACTUALLY draw customers.

    ...and from the sig:

    Get a free iPod, I did

    Words fail here.