Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Tue, Jan 03 2006
Multi-Page Stories Surrounded by Ads
This morning Techdirt pointed to a piece on the habit of sites putting part of a news story on a page with many ads and then forcing the reader to click for new pages (with more ads) in order to read the rest of the story. I've run across these sites several times and I doubt very much that they're fooling anyone with their tactic. Printed magazines, newspapers and newsletters have used the phrase "continued on page such-and-such" for a long time, but that was due to the actual logistics of making content fit to a set number of pages and columns. If webmasters think they're fooling people with this sort of thing then they must be aiming their news (and their ads) for what they believe to be a very naive audience. That concept bothers me much more than just the thought of viewing ads to help pay the bills.
I suspect this is also a way for sites to claim a higher number of clicks to advertisers. They may also believe that a reader is more willing to wait for three shorter, separate pages to load than to wait for one longer page. If it's a gamble they're willing to take that's their choice. I doubt the experiment will pay off in the long run.
posted at: 06:03 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
This morning Techdirt pointed to a piece on the habit of sites putting part of a news story on a page with many ads and then forcing the reader to click for new pages (with more ads) in order to read the rest of the story. I've run across these sites several times and I doubt very much that they're fooling anyone with their tactic. Printed magazines, newspapers and newsletters have used the phrase "continued on page such-and-such" for a long time, but that was due to the actual logistics of making content fit to a set number of pages and columns. If webmasters think they're fooling people with this sort of thing then they must be aiming their news (and their ads) for what they believe to be a very naive audience. That concept bothers me much more than just the thought of viewing ads to help pay the bills.
I suspect this is also a way for sites to claim a higher number of clicks to advertisers. They may also believe that a reader is more willing to wait for three shorter, separate pages to load than to wait for one longer page. If it's a gamble they're willing to take that's their choice. I doubt the experiment will pay off in the long run.
posted at: 06:03 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
