“Why are there these breasts on EcoSalon?”
This, from a male colleague, while we were chatting about EcoSalon last week. He turned his laptop screen towards me and there it was: the ubiquitous Evony ad, with an appropriately medieval maid inviting us to “Play now, my Lord.” We’ve all seen the ad; I just didn’t realize we were seeing it on EcoSalon. I hit refresh on my own screen and got some very nice yoga mats. Refresh again. Green cleaners, more yoga, greening your office. Again. No lady parts. “Hit refresh,” I commanded.
Impressive.
No matter how many times he reloaded the site, it was all decolletage all the time. (Is this because he’s male? We’re on to you, internets.) Now, we’ve had some pretty lame ads. It happens. But this was even more annoying than those damn acai ads. We set fairly strict ad filters (no poker or politics, you’ll have to try HuffPo for that), so evidently our wanton wench was very determined. And while I think we can all agree breasts of any century are wonderful, it’s a stretch to say they are germane to the conversation at Ye Olde EcoSalonne.
On this note, I’d like to ask you: what ads drive you crazy? I don’t mean just here, although you should tell me; I mean online, period. I posted this question on Twitter and got some great responses. Apparently people really, really can’t stand ads that rollover the content. (I’m with you.) But until we of the internet figure out a way to provide you with enjoyable content while paying the bills (more on that, soon), ads are a necessity.
I personally don’t mind ads at all, if they’re relevant or clever. Giving up a little personal data to get better ads coming my way doesn’t creep me out, either. And ads aren’t going away – yet. Until they do, we can try to make them better. So, how can ads be more useful, interesting, fun? And what kind of advertising would you like to see a lot less of? What would you like to see more of? Would you be willing to share some basic personal information, securely, to be served ads about things you actually like and need? Don’t be shy, now, Lords and Ladies.