We're almost at the end of our analysis of the Qumana Survey. I will be talking about advertising in blogs for 2 more posts today, just so I can break up the topics, and Tris will be sharing some great feedback on Qumana itself.
This post will focus on how our users feel about blog advertising in general - do they like it, do they care, why is it such a hot topic.
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According to our survey, 94% of you read blogs that include advertisements. I would expect that it would be difficult to find blogs that don't have advertisements on them in some form or another, so this makes sense. It also says that there are very few people out there who would take the trouble to find blogs that are ad free, regardless of their opinions of online advertising.
When we look at this from a broader perspective, it shows a general acceptance, or mere tolerance, in some cases, of advertising and its presence in and on blogs. This question does show that advertising is pervading the blogosphere, and that its value to readers and bloggers is increasing. An interesting note here is on value. People tell us, as we'll see later, that ads provide contextual value to content, rather than detracting from it.
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I decided to ask specifically if people were in the least annoyed by advertising in blogs - specifically ads that flow through to RSS, which has been a hot topic out there.
Well, a good 55% of our users think it perfectly fine to insert ads in RSS, 25% don't think it's good, and 20% simply don't care. We know from a previous post that 38% of our users don't like blog advertisements at all, so this is not a bad proportion. Somewhat inconsistent, but showing a more positive figure.
It's not enough just to say "do you think it ok to include ads", so we followed up with an open-ended question asking people to share these opinions.
Although you might think from the above question that people simple didn't like seeing ads in blogs, we have some clear reasons for this opinion. The two biggest complaints are the fact that ads are simply not relevant - even those that are contextual! - and that they create a cluttered look when placed all over the blog and in every single post at the bottom in RSS.
So, based on this question we can come up with an optimal ad program:
- uses text ads, not images or flashy animations
- is unobtrusively placed
- does not pop up anything
- goes into RSS and the blog
- has control for where you place the ads
- lets you place ads in some posts and not others
- is very relevant to the post (most important!)
I think we will find that advertisements have a greater opportunity to provide value online, and especially in blogs, than in any other context. Unlike magazines or television, we do not have to generalize our advertisements, and can be more specific with demographic and psychographic information. Blogs epitomize niche trends far more than we are currently seeing with the segregation of television channels.
Advertisements that are displayed with tact and are right on topic, or provide value with complementary information, will not only be tolerated, but appreciated. So, the task at hand is to provide a way for bloggers to ensure their ads meet the demands of their readers.
All we can say... stay tuned for tomorrow.
Related Survey posts:
On Bloggers
The Use of RSS
Use of Advertising by Bloggers
Blog Advertising Earnings
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