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I get the feeling that this is how advertising agencies view the internet; an infinite information superhighway with billboards positively begging to be plastered with corporate logos, slogans, campaigns, giveaways and promotions. Online advertisements give marketers a certain edge over their real-world counterparts; in that online promotions can be interactive, requiring the consumer to engage with the ad, and therefore hopefully take more notice of it than a passive ad in a newspaper or on a billboard. Here’s an example of ‘active advertising’ that I saw on Facebook recently:

I can’t help but wonder if they would have had more responses if they also included options like ‘surprisingly overpriced’ or ‘the way Suzuki have turned the 2010 into the 2011 model by adding a new sticker and ad campaign’ but you can’t blame them for trying. In hindsight I’m annoyed I didn’t try to click on one of the poll options because I want to know what happens when you vote. I assume that there’s a little control room somewhere deep underground with Suzuki henchmen watching monitors and as soon as the ad is clicked a red light and alarm go off, springing a team into action who quickly ascertain your age, sex, height, weight, preferred colour and favourite Owen Wilson movie (all information that I’m sure Facebook has filed somewhere) before despatching a B52 to carpet bomb your house with Suzuki pamphlets.

Of course not all ad-engagement is as subtle as Suzuki’s even-handed poll. Ever been forced to click the ‘X’ on one of those ads that pops up out of nowhere? You’ve just engaged with the company’s ad, and they’re hoping that the 1 second it takes you to locate the ‘x’ will give your brain enough time to register the product, consciously or subconsciously. Interactions like this force you to acknowledge the presence of the advertisement, something that is not necessarily true of television or newspapers. Additionally, if you are interested in the ad being displayed, 9 times out of 10 you can click on the ad and be transported to a page which will give you more information about the product, a benefit for advertisers that simply doesn’t exist with newspaper or television.

Google revolutionised online advertising with their system by showing you ads that were relevant to your search results or webpage that you were viewing. Facebook have taken this to the next level by using their huge tracts of information to ascertain the best demographic for companies ads. As soon as I included The Big Lebowski into my favourite movies on my profile I noticed ads selling TBL t-shirts, and thanks to having The Rolling Stones as one of the bands I ‘like’ I’m never going to forget that their $300+ box set of all their singles is being released soon. This targeted advertising is a phenomenon I’m sure everybody has noticed and if you haven’t you’ve probably subconsciously bought every single thing that they’ve told you to because you’re the type that advertising agencies endearingly call a ‘sucker’.

It's worth wondering whether this sort of targeted advertising is preferential for us as consumers/ad receivers (I have no doubt it’s beneficial for the companies). At least with this approach we’re only annoyed by ads that we might be interested in, as opposed to the grab-bag that newspapers and television can give you, although to be fair that advertising is still based around demographics. For example, Melbourne’s The Age website displayed an ad for the Australian Chamber Orchestra whereas the Herald Sun had a banner for a $20million dollar Tattslotto super draw. Most who know Melbourne would agree that these ads confirm the two paper’s generally accepted readership demographics but the point is that these ads will never quite be as pinpoint accurate as the results given by Google or Facebook.

Interestingly, until I actually began to think consciously about online advertising I would have to say that, for the most part, it sits quietly in the background and usually barely affects the online experience, unlike television which reminds you every eight to ten minutes that there are corporations out there that crave your cash. Of course there are exceptions to every rule but you’ll find that the better websites tend to have a low-key approach to onsite ads. It would be self defeating if you drive everyone away from your site because it’s unusable due to a myriad of ads.

Another trend I’ve noticed lately is to the incursion of online advertising into the real world. It is not uncommon now to see a large billboard displaying a traditional advertisement and then have the company or product’s Facebook page at the bottom of it. The phenomenon is explained when you examine the benefits for the company if you decide to join their Facebook page:

#1 The company generates excitement about the product they were initially selling on the billboard, as you can assume that whatever was being sold on the billboard will be the prominent product being discussed on the Facebook page at this point in time. This is perhaps the primary or at least ostensible decision for including the Facebook link.

But wait, there’s more.

#2 It’s generally a lot easier to join a Facebook group than it is to leave one. Joining takes maybe two clicks: one to get to the page and one to join. Leaving takes more: get to your profile page (one click), getting to the group you want to leave itself (two), clicking leaving the group (three) and then possibly a confirm dialog box (four). If it takes twice as long to leave a group than to join I doubt that many users will bother. And that’s what the company wants, because now whenever they release a new product/ad campaign/poll it’s going to show right up on your Newsfeed.

#3 And the final, wonderful gazillion dollar benefit is that due to Facebook’s huge information coffers the company will also have a good idea of the demographics that do join its Facebook page, and will be able to structure future ad campaigns accordingly, thereby making their campaigns more successful and reaping the rewards. And they get all of this for the initial cost of the ad on the billboard!

This has been a pretty introductory glance into the world of online advertising; there are a million more examples out there and no doubt the way in which companies use their online billboard space will continue to evolve as internet habits change. Hopefully now that you’ve had a primer course in online advertising you won’t part with your hard earned dollars quite so easily next time some faceless corporation shamelessly incurs on your otherwise pleasant internet time. 

Used without permission from McDonald's. If I suddenly disappear, boycott Big Macs and avenge my death.