Here's a think piece by John Battelle in Technology Review. The internet, he says, provides an opportunity to change the advertising equation among publishers, advertisers, and readers.
Because an Internet-based ad is already a little piece of software, it can be tagged with information about its target audience, how much the advertiser is willing to spend to reach that audience (and how much each click will cost), what kind of websites are acceptable or forbidden (such as porn sites), and any number of other attributes. Most important, each ad could communicate with a “home” application that tracks its progress and status.Battelle goes on to say that publishers can pick and choose among these little bits of software (ads), paste in the ad, check in with the advertiser, and then decide when the campaign is finished. That might seem not-too-much-different until Battelle intends the message for bloggers, that is, you and me, and you begin to realize how much easier it will be to go from being a reader to a publisher, a publisher to an advertiser. It might even be like playing rock, paper, scissors with perfect information. You know so and so's throwing a rock, you better throw some paper. Personally, the arguments and the ideas are a little esoteric. As democratic as it sounds, I don't know anyone who advertises on their site. I don't know the mechanics of it, nor the law of it, nor the accountancy of it. I'll be checking out blogads and other sites and come back to the subject later. Posted by mastr at December 28, 2004 04:22 PM