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Inappropriate Advertising on Profile Page?
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I agree that I dislike ads on my profile page because it makes it seem like the product is something I support. Hopefully most visitors will realize that it's a site-supported ad, not my personal opinion. I wonder how many click-throughs ads on personal profile pages actually get?
K.A. wrote: "I agree that I dislike ads on my profile page because it makes it seem like the product is something I support. Hopefully most visitors will realize that it's a site-supported ad, not my personal o..."I think some might, by association, be helpful - say, a Rolex ad. People then associate a high social symbol with you. This can work in your favour. I once had an interview where, for reasons I never really understood, the panel thought I'd flown to it in my own private aircraft. Every member except one was glowing with positivity before I'd even said anything. The exception was the Chair, who might have thought I was too flash to trust ... . The power of symbols should never be underestimated, in both the positive and negative sense :)
The ads that appear on your page are different for everyone who visits, and might even be tailored to the visitors' tastes. Every website that enlists users and charges nothing for their service needs to sell ads, and they cannot be snobbish about who buys their ad space. I don't see Rolex doing a lot of advertising in "rotator" ads. This is an interesting conversation thread, but I wouldn't worry about what you see advertised on you page. There is little chance that your reads are seeing the same ads.
K.A. wrote: "I agree that I dislike ads on my profile page because it makes it seem like the product is something I support. Hopefully most visitors will realize that it's a site-supported ad, not my personal o..."I understand the needs of Goodreads to sell ads but I agree that some of the ads on my profile page are for things I don't support. Just not sure what the solution is.
I believe that you missed my point, Stephen. The ads you see and the ads that I see on your profile are more than likely different. In a lot of sites that have to advertise to support themselves they are using an ad service that displays the ads that are appropriate to the user. It does not always work perfectly, but it is effective advertising when it does work. Let me explain it like this. You may have an interest in hunting and you might have visited numerous sites that deal with that. When you see an ad, it may be directed at that interest. I am a golfer and visit all of the popular golf sites. When I look at a page on Goodreads, I often see golf ads. I don't know if Goodreads employs one of those services to display ads, but I would be very surprised if they didn't. Selling ad space is a business onto itself.
No, I do understand that the ads people see are different. After 20 years working in IT and Internet sales I understand how ads work but the thing is I can't guarantee that a possible reader won't look at my Profile page and see an ad that supports abortion. And they then in turn form an opinion that I support abortion. I know that's an extreme step, but it is plausible. It is possible that Goodreads uses trackers to market ads. Most companies do these days. I would just feel better if I could control the ads even just a little bit.
Mike wrote: "I believe that you missed my point, Stephen. The ads you see and the ads that I see on your profile are more than likely different. In a lot of sites that have to advertise to support themselves ..."The original post (OP) conceded that GR will need to generate revenue from advertising, or like many others do, offer ad-free profiles for an annual fee. This leaves the issue of targetting.
Implicit in the reason behind the OP was that the targetting appears to be far from optimal. I can see no obvious reason why the ad I mention keeps appearing on my profile, unless the advertising company behind these placements has an algorithm that defines my readership as being highly focused into a single demographic. Or they think I'm a likely target for an older women's anti-wrinkle beauty treatment.
You say that selling space is a business, but so is selling books and building a writing career, and books are GR's core core business area, so I think suggesting a new look at how their advertising system is working in practice is fair comment.
I should add that the substantive content is one issue, the other is the main point of the OP, which is the visual impact of an advert - the associative impact of visual symbols.
Alan wrote: "You say that selling space is a business, but so is selling books and building a writing career, and books are GR's core core business area"I understand your point but I think I would be slightly more upset if I found that people were seeing ads for another competing book advertised on my profile page. Unless they are seeing that ad after they have bought my book...j/k
All I am trying to point out, Alan, is that the content of the ads are not associated with the book you are marketing but with the visitor's interests. It is odd that you should be singled out for a wrinkle cream add. As I said, the science doesn't always work. In reality GR may not even be using that kind of technology. I consistently get advertising that is plugging other author's books. I am not sure how much that helps me. Maybe the answer to you dilemma is to buy an ad on GR for your book. If you can't beat them...
HINT: All ads in Goodreads are tailored to your web browser history of searches. If you are using Chrome, go to settings, extensions, new extensions and search & install;Keep more opt out
IBA opt-out
These keep your ads fresh instead of using your history. Everyone's ads show up different.
Example: if you recently searched or bought from SPANX.com.. You will see ads from them on all your pages. These 2 programs will clear that history all the time, so you get the revolving ads not tailored to you.
Hope this helps.
Mike wrote: "All I am trying to point out, Alan, is that the content of the ads are not associated with the book you are marketing but with the visitor's interests. It is odd that you should be singled out for..."With the security I have as add-ons to my browser there is no way anyone knows what my internet search history is, but that is beside the point. The ad I refer to exists and appears on GR. My choice of that particular one was because it is such a clear case of what I've been describing.
Anyway, the bottom line is that we perhaps should have some choice over advertising content, even if the only option is to pay for an ad-free profile. Then the cost can be considered under any buisness plan one has in place.
I suspect you've now heard enough from me .... :)
Jill, good advice.
That wrinkle cream ad appeared below my profile picture, and I had people writing me e-mail to say "It's obvious the cream is not working."So, sometimes it does backfire on the producers of the ads.
And for the record, I do not have "wrinkles." I have expansion lines for future growth.
Hi, everybody. There was a discussion similar to this on another group.http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
I think it boils down to whoever the top ad "bidder" is at that moment. I'll say this about targeting, though: the ads I end up seeing have nothing to do my searches or my tastes. So either somebody isn't quite right about that or else my security settings are really good at making me look like a lonely old woman in need of Botox and a swimsuit. ;-)
I agree, because the ad plastered across the top of the main Goodreads page today is a genre of book I have never read and would not read, even at gunpoint!!!
Yeah, I wonder about so-called targeting as well. On some sites, I regularly get ads for books, movies, and videos regarding a religion to which I do not belong. Since I don't search for religious topics, I wonder how they've decided I'm good conversion material???
I fully understand the need for GR to raise revenue, but this approach can undermine their core business (books), so an alternative could be to make available ad-free profiles for a small annual fee, or at least vet closely any ads that are placed on their site by third-parties? A third alternative would be to allow authors to select the type of ad they are willing to see on their page.
Any thoughts?