Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Why I don't put ads in my blog


So, I've been getting enough traffic to this blog, it could warrant putting ads on it. But, is making a few pennies with AdSense really worth the distraction this would cause to all the readers that I'm so lucky to have? Definitely not.

For one thing, AdSense doesn't really work. One example: I use Gmail as my private Email account. I'm working with my mortgage broker on possible, future business. Every time she writes me, other mortgage brokers try to interrupt me with offers, trying to convince me to switch mortgage brokers. Since I'm very happy with my mortgage broker, I don't have a mortgage broker problem. If I had one, I would use a search enginge or social network to find a good one.

When I'm looking for commercial information, I will look for it myself. I don't want to be interrupted to receive that information. AdSense is like a bad salesman who doesn't really get where I'm coming from. When this whole idea of targeting will become a real product, that's when mainstream advertising and the whole idea of disruption will disappear.

If it's highly targeted, advertising turns into information. Would you continue to send out untargeted advertising that results in .05% CTR if you could send out targeted messages that result in conversions of 20%? I know, a rhetorical question.

Good products will be the winners of this revolutionary change. The real losers will be bad products that nobody wants. And this will lead to even more changes: The product development process as we know it with its top-down approach is heading towards a certain death. Centralization of ideas is not sustainable and will be replaced by a free-flow of ideas for products.

Targeting consumers is so 2006. The future is to find people that can't wait to own your product. How?
A) Get insights and understand what people really want
B) Produce it
c) Tell people who initially wanted all about it.

The idea for the next iPhone, biggest blockbuster ever, healthcare reform and how we can be able to walk on Saturn on day is out there. It's not with your engineers, product planners or executives. It's with the crowd. Engage them.

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