Southern Planner

In the past, you could reach nearly 90% of all American households with a TV by placing an ad simultaneously on the three major networks. This placed great power and control in the hands of advertisers, who were able to unilaterally blast their message to the public. TV viewers were forced to sit through that interruption of their programming with little recourse (I mean could you imagine having to get up to change the channel?). In the fragmented media landscape we exist in today we know this is impossible. The power has shifted from advertisers to the viewers, but the forced interruption technique still remains today.

For example, this banner advertisement that extends when you roll over it with your mouse.

Before rollover:

After rollover:

I won’t go into what I think of the concept of the show, that is a post for another time and another place. What bothered me about this ad, is every time I moved my mouse anywhere near it it grew and covered the article I was trying to read. Each time I would have to click to close the article, and each time I would move my mouse away it would expand again. Also, every time it popped out, not only did it cover the text of the article I was on the site for, but it played a video complete with sound distracting me from what I was there for. This is just beyond rude and annoying.

I wasn’t interested in what the ad had to say to begin with, but through the impolite practices of overly sensitive rollover triggers and automatically playing video I just became agitated. Even if I were the target, which I am pretty sure I am not, I would have avoided the ad simply because of its intrusiveness.

People read what interests them, sometimes its an ad.

Howard Gossage

Howard Gossage said this about print advertising, but it holds true in all forms of communication. Here is a banner ad that understands consumers will seek out advertising if they choose to do so:

Before rollover:

After rollover:

Again, I won’t go into the shows or their concepts, although these shows are obviously far superior and the ad even looks a lot better than the previous example. The banner ad was much more polite in the implementation of rollover technology and rich media experiences. For example, you have to not only roll over the banner, but also linger for 3 seconds in order for the ad to expand, thus preventing any accidental activation. Even after the ad expands, the videos did not play automatically instead the banner offered them and other content for you to chose to interact with, or not. This comes from the understanding that the viewer is in control and allows them to consume the content they so choose, graciously offering the media for your perusal without trying to shove it down your throat. Granted, I may be closer to the target for these two shows, but I sincerely appreciate the context in which the information is presented.