Looking at the sheer number of gaming networks that are failing, advertising is not working in its' current form. Advertisers have figured out that paying for banner ads is a waste of time, so they no longer do it.
What does that mean? Hobby sites that have a cash incentive (Hey look, I can run a quasi-interesting site and pick up an extra Grand in spending cash) or sites that are fairly serious and require full time attention, are basically non viable under the current model. Only if you have corporate backing (ie someone to pay your rent) can you afford to engage in sites like this.. and I question the altriusm of any company that purports to do that out of the goodness of their heart.
Think of how many sites you visit have been down because of various advertising network shakeouts. Now think about those sites going away permanently. That very well could happen if their bandwidth usage continues to be in the gigs every month, and their advertising revenue dries up. I say kudos to the first company to come up with an interesting, viable, and effective form of advertising on the Internet.. they will be doing everyone a favor.
Alex.
Slashdot Mirror
Looking at the sheer number of gaming networks that are failing, advertising is not working in its' current form. Advertisers have figured out that paying for banner ads is a waste of time, so they no longer do it. What does that mean? Hobby sites that have a cash incentive (Hey look, I can run a quasi-interesting site and pick up an extra Grand in spending cash) or sites that are fairly serious and require full time attention, are basically non viable under the current model. Only if you have corporate backing (ie someone to pay your rent) can you afford to engage in sites like this.. and I question the altriusm of any company that purports to do that out of the goodness of their heart. Think of how many sites you visit have been down because of various advertising network shakeouts. Now think about those sites going away permanently. That very well could happen if their bandwidth usage continues to be in the gigs every month, and their advertising revenue dries up. I say kudos to the first company to come up with an interesting, viable, and effective form of advertising on the Internet.. they will be doing everyone a favor. Alex.