Author: Jason

Advertising in Web 2.0

Random Thoughts

Web 2.0 is all about user generated content and collaboration.  From YouTube to Facebook, from blogs to Twitter, the big thing is social sites that let people do their own thing, with each other.  And yet, all of them fail in exactly the same place: making money.

You would think that a site which has millions of people looking at it, all day long, would manage a way to get advertising dollars.  And yet, according to this Time article, they suck at it.  Let the armchair quarterbacking begin!

I think the failure is that while the content of these social sites is embracing the Web 2.0 phenomenon, their advertising models are still stuck firmly in Web 1.0. Want to know why advertisers aren’t paying to be on Facebook?  According to the Time article, and I agree, its because there is no target.  Its just a big bunch of “users” and not smaller slices of that group which fit their demographic.  Why buy an ad on Facebook just to have 99% of the people who see it have no interest at all?  The content of these Web 2.0 sites is all about sharing and community and being part of something, but the ads are still being shoved at you with little or no input or control on your part beyond installing an ad blocker on your browser.

That’s why advertising needs to embrace Web 2.0.  And no, I don’t mean user created ads.  I mean allow the users to specify their demographic.  What if, on Facebook, there was a page you could go to that listed Advertising Categories, and you could drill down into them, and select just the ones you would see ads from?  Of course, selecting zero categories would be the same as selecting all of them.  But what if the only thing I cared about were video games? and PC games at that?  I could go in, drill down in the “Games” category, drill into “Video Games” (as opposed to “Board Games”), and then deselect “Mac”, “PS3”, “Xbox360”, etc, leaving only “PC” selected.  Save my options and from that point on I would only see ads in the “Games->Video Games->PC” category while on Facebook.  (And I’d see new categories if they were subcategories of things I already had selected, and maybe get an email once a week/month letting me know about new categories.)  I know I’d be happy.  Even more so if I could drill in to “PC” and select some other things, like deselecting “Gold Farming.”

While from the user aspect you’d be able to control what ads you see, from the site’s side they’d be able to more accurately sell demographics.  Right now, buying an ad on Facebook means you have access to 175,000,000 or so people, and I’m sure you get some control, but its likely to be as simple as their own advertising page illustrates: location and age groups.  That’s all well and good, but even TV gives you better definition than that.  The people who watch Heroes aren’t just an age group, they are fans of a genre.  Imagine if you could say to a potential advertiser, “We have 13 million users who see ads for PC Games, and given the rates of page views and category loads we can guarantee that they see, on average, 1 PC Game ad per five minutes, and if you buy at this level, we’ll guarantee that they’ll all see your ad, at least once, within a 24 hour period…”  So, not only are your users seeing ads they might actually care about, but your advertisers are getting hard numbers about how often their ads will be seen by people who actually care about their products.

I just played around in Facebook for a bit.  I went to my home page, I went to some applications, the usual stuff, only for once I actually paid attention to the ads… and I was reminded why I started ignoring them in the first place.  I got ads for Netflix (I’m already a subscriber, so not interested in ads for them), for a church, for workout secrets, a room for rent, goth clothing, free credit reports, tax services and an ad offering me a free MacBook if I just buy at least two offers from their page of offers.  In over half an hour I didn’t see one single ad that I cared about, so I’ll go back to ignoring them.  The other thing that was clear from looking at the ads: no big companies.  The biggest thing there was Netflix, but they advertise everywhere (I must close a popup from them at least four or five time a day).  And the only option I had was to vote an ad up or down.  I voted Netflix down with the reason that I am a subscriber and don’t need to see their ad, and yet it was still the most frequent ad I saw even hours later, proving that I have no real control at all over the ads.

Internet advertising has always been a bit of a cesspool of scams and bait-n-switch offers, but it doesn’t have to be that way if effort is put into the tools for allowing users to identify and categorize themselves.

Anyway… that’s my thoughts, but what do I know… I’m just the consumer…

If you run a company, and decide to steal this idea, let me know, I might be interested in helping you implement it.

Movie Round-Up: April 3rd, 2009

Reviews

Fast & Furious:

I have to admit, I liked the first movie in this series.  Really liked it.  It didn’t make me want to trick out a car and start racing, but I felt it was a well crafted film and worth watching.  The second one… not so much.  As for Tokyo Drift, well, I’ve never really enjoyed when a series gets to the point where no one from the original is involved.  Its like those direct to DVD movies that were filmed to stand alone, but once it became clear that it wasn’t going to the theater the studio decides it will sell better if its “Urban Commando 5: Rough Water” rather than just “Rough Water”.

So the tag line for this film, “New Model, Original Parts”, was just pure genius.  Its clearly aimed at people like me.  People who wanted to see “The Fast and The Furious 2” instead of “2 Fast 2 Furious”.

And having said all that, the movie delivers.  The only thing the movie fails at is making the timeline clear.  Even now, I’m still unsure of exactly how much time has passed since the first film.  Other than that, though, Fast & Furious rocks.  Its got the fast cars, the hot chicks, the adrenaline pumping races and chases.  If you liked any of the previous entries in this series, you’ll like the fourth installment as well.

Adventureland:

Growing up, I knew a few people who’d get those summer jobs working at the local theme park.  Being in Atlanta, we have Six Flags and White Water.  They loved those jobs… and they hated them too.  I never worked one myself, but sometimes wish I had.

Anyway… this movie, in my opinion, suffers from the same problem many many movies do: bad advertising.  The commercials for Adventureland emphasize that its “from the Director of Superbad” and it has upbeat music and lots of funny lines, but the reality of the movie is different.  Its not anywhere near as crazy or foul as Superbad, and while it is funny at times, its also a story about a guy whose post college plans fall apart and him trying to figure out how to get what he wants, all while falling in love.  This movie is less Superbad and more Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

That said, I really enjoyed it.  As always, managed expectations are important, so if you go with the right attitude I think you’ll like this one, if its something you like.  But go in expecting a profanity filled “dick & fart” joke-fest and I think you’ll be disappointed.

Six Away

Random Thoughts

One of my goals when it came to working out and getting in shape was to see my weight fall south of two hundred pounds.  At my heaviest, I was probably close to 250.  I can only guess because once I crossed 240, weighing myself became too depressing.  Last week I finally decided to weigh myself for the first time since I started my new routines (Mid-December).  Previously I had weighed myself a couple of weeks after kicking caffeine and sodas, and I had been at 221.  Now I am down to 206.

In addition to dropping the weight, I also generally feel a whole lot better.  I have more energy and my back pain, which has been fairly constant for years, is much less, almost non-existent.

Currently, my workout goes like this:

  • First, I do some stretching.  This is a mixture of some straight muscle stretching and some yoga poses.  This, more than anything else, has led to me feeling a lot better.  Good stretching really opens you up.
  • Second, I do my push-ups.  I’m still doing them slow, and I have no expectation of speeding them up.  Fast isn’t the point.  Each one takes a little more than a second to complete, and I’m at the point now where I do five sets of twenty to make my 100.  A short (30 second to 1 minute) break between sets.
  • Thirds, I do my sit-ups.  Same at the push-ups.  Slow.  Sets of twenty.  Break between sets.  Five sets.
  • After that I do some more stretching and some breathing as a cool down.

I do want to put some leg work/cardio in my workout, but for the moment I’m happy because this is a workout that I can do anytime, anywhere.

Of course, I can’t attribute everything to the workout.  I’ve also been watching my diet.  One thing I’ve learned reading books and listening to trainers and specialists is that the most important element is portion control.  So I’ve been learning to eat leftovers and make sure I’m not stuffing myself at mealtimes.

All in all, I am very pleased so far and really looking forward to the day I get myself under two hundred for good.

Defining Quest

Gaming

Cuppy’s post about going back to EverQuest got me to thinking… One thing that has always bugged me is when people say that the title of the game EverQuest is ironic because the game had so few quests and was mostly a grind.  “NeverQuest” they often call it.  I heartily disagree… now, on to the tangent…

When I wake up in the morning there are things I do.  I shower, I sometimes shave, I eat breakfast, I check emails, I watch a TV show, maybe I write something for this blog, I go to work.  Work itself is a list of things to do.  Write some code to fix a bug, check on the performance of the servers, flowchart the processes of a new program, and more.  The one thing that all of those have in common is that not a single one of them would I ever, for any reason, consider a “quest”.

My quest in life is to be a writer, or perhaps a game designer.  The things I do on a daily basis are, in some form or another, tasks I perform in pursuit of those larger goals, either directly or indirectly.  And now we return to the point…

In my years of playing EverQuest, there was not a single day in that game where I was not on a quest.  Whether it be a small task performed to gain reputation, or the pursuit of some larger aspect of something else, but it was always moving toward the completion of some quest somewhere.  Headband and Sash quests, Ro Armor, Shackles, Epic weapons, Manuals from Knowledge, Rings in Velious, and much much more.

In my years of playing World of Warcraft, I can’t say I’ve actually done very many quests at all.  Every day, every session, I was completing tasks.  Busy work.  Dozens of little things to do, none of which took very long, and none of which mattered.  The rewards I gained from doing WoW’s “quests” would be replaced in days, sometimes less.  The only rewards that were even close to permanent and mattering to my character were ones gotten at the level cap, through raiding.

To me, a quest should be a long hard road through hell, something that directs more of you life than fifteen minutes.  When I think of “Quest” I think of The Holy Grail, I think of the search for Solomon’s Mines, I think of the search for intelligent life on other planets, I think of goals that consume you.  Quests in EverQuest in the “old days” had this.  Quests in today’s games don’t.  Today’s quests are nothing more than “To Do” lists.  Today’s quests are bullet points on the agenda.  Today’s quests are eating breakfast, checking my email, and reviewing code.

And that, I’m fairly certain, describes exactly why most modern MMOs, and even what EverQuest has become, just don’t seem to hold my interest.  I want to quest again…  Do any games have this? or have they all gone the way of WoW?  I had hoped Lord of the Rings Online would deliver, and perhaps it did later, but I only got up to level 17 and it was “quest hubs” and tasks, sometimes with a dash of story but really nothing more.

30 Days, 100 Pages

Writing

Tomorrow begins Script Frenzy.

You know, for the last few years I’ve made an effort to participate in the NaNoWriMo, but November is just such as awful time of year.  Everything always seems up in the air, crazy, and trying to add novel writing on top of it just never works out for me.  Threats of unemployment, actual unemployment, holidays, budget concerns, falling temperatures and people who get sick and then don’t stay home getting everyone else sick… I suppose there are people who thrive on that, but for me its just distracting.  I’m going to make an effort this year to try to clear up as many things as possible before November to take away some of the stress and see if I can make a real honest go at it.

April, however, is a much better month.  Temperatures actually rising, taxes sorted out and filed already (or at least sorted out and waiting for the last possible moment to mail them in).  April just seems to have much less drama and stress for me.  Maybe its just me, but whatever the cause, unlike November and the NaNoWriMo, I am ready for April and Script Frenzy.

30 Days, 100 Pages… here I come.

Orcs

Reviews

I just spent the last couple of months wading through Orcs by Stan Nicholls.  On the surface, the conceit of this book is quite inventive: let’s tell a fantasy story from the point of view of orcs.  Of course, the moment you delve into the book, the orcs aren’t the orcs of Tolkien or other authors, these orcs are noble warriors who live for battle and only do evil because they are conscripted into the service of a dark sorceress.  So, immediately the book is less inventive than originally thought.  More so once the featured warband, the Wolverines, go off on their own in defiance of their mistress.

Overall, the book is a decent fantasy tale.  Typical, almost, which was a let down when prior to picking it up I was led to believe it was going to break the mold.  As the book wore on, and part of the reason it took me so long to slog through it, parts of the prose just feels like filler, as if the author wanted to get to the “cool” part but didn’t want to just jump cut straight to it between chapters and instead wrote a chapter or two to bridge the events.  It detracted from the book, for me.  I think the same story could have been told with greater effect if it had been half as long, tighter.

I’m not sure I’d recommend this book to others.  Perhaps if they were die hard fantasy fans who regularly read mediocre novels they might find this to be excellent.  But for me, it was just okay.

Movie Round-Up: March 27th, 2009

Reviews

Hitting the theaters today are three films: 12 Rounds, The Haunting in Connecticut, and Monsters vs. Aliens.

12 Rounds:

I haven’t seen it yet, but I want to, which means I will likely rent it.  It seems like a decent action flick, but I’m just not sure its worth $10 a seat to see it on the big screen.  I will have to wait until I read a few reviews.

The Haunting in Connecticut:

Based on a true story.  I’m always a tad skeptical when I see that phrase associated with a film, because without a lot of leg work you never know how much is “true story” and how much is “based”.  But I like a good scary movie, so when the opportunity arose for me to see this one early, I took it.  There are two great things about this movie.  The first is that the build up of suspense is very well done.  A flash of ghost here, a noise there, with a dab of odd things over there.  Its done without getting right in your face, and is fairly creepy.  The second great thing is that they manage to tell the story without buckets of blood, tons of gore or any real kind of torture that has accompanied so many horror films over recent years.

I did have some problems with some of the characters in the film, and the sort of matter of fact coincidences that lead to all the right people being in all the right places.  The son with cancer just happens to meet a reverend in treatment who happens to know quite a bit about ghosts and hauntings and the psychic world.  But as long as I ignored that, it was a decent scary movie.

I’m not sure its worth $10, but its easily worth a matinee price if you enjoy movies about hauntings.

Monsters vs. Aliens:

Oh man.  When I saw the trailer for this, I knew I had to see it.  The trailer was pure unmitigated awesome.  Which is probably why I was a little disappointed with the movie as a whole.

Don’t get me wrong, still a good movie, but I expected it to be better.  The main problems I see for this film is that on one level it is clearly aiming for kids, but its got a few slow dramatic scenes and a number of older-skewed “inside jokes” that will sail right over their heads.  I’m almost 35, and I got every single inside joke and I thought they were hilarious, but someone ten or fifteen years younger or older might not get them.  Small children probably won’t get the Close Encounter or Beverly Hills Cop or a slew of other references.  As for the dramatic scenes… well, Pixar has proven that they are kings at giving you drama without stopping the action.  Sure, they slow down, but stuff is still going on, even while Mr. Incredible is explaining how he failed.  The Dreamworks people are still a bit clunky in this respect.  They want to have a serious or heartfelt moment between two characters and the entire movie grinds to a halt so we can see it.

Should you go see it?  Even with the problems I mentioned, I would.  But definately see it at a theater that is showing it in 3D.  You miss half of the awesome without 3D.  But even in 3D, if a few overly dramatic halts and inside jokes are going to spoil it for you, then you should pass on this one.

Limitations

Gaming

Talk to me long enough and you’ll hear me refer to the book Illusions by Richard Bach.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you’ve seen mention of it a few times.  Within the book is a book, the Messiah’s Handbook, which is filled with all the things a messiah needs to know, and it is quoted on numerous occasions throughout the novel.  One of my favorites is as follows:

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.

Illusions isn’t the only place this idea crops up.  In Star Wars, Yoda tells Luke “Do, or do not.  There is no ‘try’.”  In the Matrix, a boy explains to Neo:

Boy: Do not try to bend the spoon; that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Boy: There is no spoon.

The fact that this comes up so often in stories, about shaking off some feeling of the impossible and overcoming it to success, in my opinion, only lends to the truth of it, and to the fact that so many people spend so much effort in arguing for their limitations.  So, I’m not horribly surprised when the announcement of some cool new technology, like OnLive, is met with such resistance by many (read the comments).  Luckily, there are people out there capable and willing to see beyond what is to what could be and move things forward.

Personally, I look forward to watching OnLive’s development.  Although, I do agree that input lag could be an issue for them if they stay with the plan I read about where they have five or six data centers spread around the country.  I think they might find value in co-location with ISPs.  Like, if Comcast wants to offer their customers OnLive gaming as part of their cable package, put an OnLive data center directly on the Comcast network, with them subsidizing the cost of the installation in return for a share of the subscription fees.  Setting the servers as close to the end user as possible is one way to overcome input lag.  Once you get over that, connection to a game server to play with other people is no different than connecting to that game server from your own PC without OnLive, and people do that all the time.

Pride and Prejudice … and Zombies

Random Thoughts

I have never had a desire to read any of Jane Austen’s work.  Luckily in school there were always other options.  I have suffered through a couple of her books’ film adaptations, however, and based on that it only strengthened my desire to continue avoiding them.

Seth Grahame-Smith, author of such works as How to Survive a Horror Movie, The Big Book of Porn, and other humorous endeavors, has taken the original text of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and filled in the “gaps” of the book with a battle for the survival of humanity against the hordes of the walking dead in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I really couldn’t think of any way I would ever consider reading Austen’s classic book, but now I just might.  It hits Amazon on April 8th, but some book stores have already started stocking it on their shelves.

[amazon-product image=”510XXFxXXGL._SL160_.jpg” type=”image”]1594743347[/amazon-product]