What the #$%* is going on with the digital advertising ecosystem?
Where to even begin… Should we start with the upcoming loss of third-party cookies? The bizarre Google & Facebook duopoly teamup against anti-trust action? The rise of online ads as a money laundering & terrorist-funding tactic? Or maybe we should talk about brands’ ever-shrinking ability to attribute ad clicks. Hundreds of millions in provable ad fraud. Disturbing privacy issues that remain unaffected by GDPR or other government efforts.
No wonder a lot of savvy people believe adtech and the entire online advertising industry are due for a subprime-mortgage-style reckoning.
I've always been a bit anti online ads, this post makes me wonder whether there are opportunities here for indie hackers?
I'm a big fan of affiliate marketing over straight advertising (sure, it could be considered advertising in a way) because my users are looking for something, and attaching a link where they can buy it for no extra cost while I get a percentage is such a win/win.
Sucks so badly that Amazon recently cut the affiliate percentages so badly, and there doesn't seem to be any programs outside Amazon that are lucrative. It's hard to monetize something even with a lot of users when the subscription model doesn't fit.
I think online advertising absolutely can work but I also think that it's obscenely overvalued and in dire need of an overhaul. And I'm skeptical that affiliate advertising, sponsored content and other forms of paid/incentivized media disguised as organic are the solution. Both as a user and as a former agency brand manager, this just feels like another form of deception to me. Either way, the space is wide open for disruption!
Brands of all sizes are making the low-friction, low-ROI decision to throw money at these ad platforms, because they don’t feel they have much choice. They need growth, aren’t penalized for high CAC, and so they spend. The macro-level results are inevitable.
^ This makes so much sense as to explain why ad spend has increased even though it is so obvious to us how shitty and ineffective most digital ads are.
This is huge. It's a bit like when gaming companies like EA and their FIFA FUT try to cheat their consumers by allegedly making algorithms that are proven to manipulate their users to buy more packages. It should honestly be more transparent how their business practices work.
Interesting to see if blockchain could do something about this problem.
I've always been a bit anti online ads, this post makes me wonder whether there are opportunities here for indie hackers?
I'm a big fan of affiliate marketing over straight advertising (sure, it could be considered advertising in a way) because my users are looking for something, and attaching a link where they can buy it for no extra cost while I get a percentage is such a win/win.
Sucks so badly that Amazon recently cut the affiliate percentages so badly, and there doesn't seem to be any programs outside Amazon that are lucrative. It's hard to monetize something even with a lot of users when the subscription model doesn't fit.
Thanks for sharing this @rosiesherry! I highly recommend the podcast he referenced in the article on the ROI of TV and Digital advertising.
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/advertising-part-1/
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/advertising-part-2/
I think online advertising absolutely can work but I also think that it's obscenely overvalued and in dire need of an overhaul. And I'm skeptical that affiliate advertising, sponsored content and other forms of paid/incentivized media disguised as organic are the solution. Both as a user and as a former agency brand manager, this just feels like another form of deception to me. Either way, the space is wide open for disruption!
This is exactly why I’m building hecto.io.
I think we’re about to experience a shift away from online ads - big enough to support the creator economy, yet not be programmatic BS ads.
Where creators are the gate keeps to the audience they’ve built and can monetise through selected, relevant sponsorships.
Love this article. Thanks for bringing it to our attention Rosie
Fantastic article, thanks for sharing.
^ This makes so much sense as to explain why ad spend has increased even though it is so obvious to us how shitty and ineffective most digital ads are.
This is huge. It's a bit like when gaming companies like EA and their FIFA FUT try to cheat their consumers by allegedly making algorithms that are proven to manipulate their users to buy more packages. It should honestly be more transparent how their business practices work.
Interesting to see if blockchain could do something about this problem.
That was very enlightening. I had no idea there was fraud in online advertising.
Recently saw this:
From: https://twitter.com/nandoodles/status/1345774768746852353
More discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25623858