Source: Lider
The original purpose of the internet was to be in the service of the users, but it seems that today the essence of its existence are not consumers, but ads, according to Kate Knibbs’ article on The Ringer.
Thus, the advertising eco-system on the internet has become a bottomless pit, where there is almost no website devoid from terrorizing ads
After analyses showed that internet advertising costs went down, site owners responded by introducing even more ads such as the pop-up ads and auto-play videos.
Users then responded by installing ad blockers, thus creating a vicious circle.
Is the lack of Facebook advertising real estate an indicator that the Internet has reached a saturation point in terms of advertising? Unfortunately, no, believes Knibbs.
Although the number of ads placed on that social network has reached its peak, Facebook is planning to raise advertising prices and find new advertising inventory such as videos and messaging apps.
Novelty is that the autoplay video ads on this social network will now be louder, so they will be almost impossible to ignore.
Google on the other hand is testing the insertion of autoplay advertisements directly into its search results (at least for desktop users, while mobile users have to click to play the videos), meaning that people may have to sit through a commercial while they’re reviewing their search results online.
Facebook’s Messenger service has begun serving ads in a digital space traditionally reserved for person-to-person contact, while its chatbots are attempting to make buying everything from a concert ticket to a used car part of the Messenger experience.
Internet advertising has made many websites uncomfortable and unattractive to browse. Ads not only tarnish the Internet according to Knibbs, they are destroying it. Social networks are making changes to their platforms to facilitate ads, all at the expense of users, adds Knibbs.
The internet was not always beholden to or driven by the world of advertising. Commercial ads were banned from early systems like ARPANET and the National Science Foundation Network until the 1990s. A rogue marketer named Gary Turk created the first internet advertisement, in the form of a spam message, in 1978. He used ARPANET’s directory to send 400 people an invitation to a demo of a product he was pushing. The community reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that it took more than a decade for someone to try again.
As the internet expanded at a galloping pace and then a full-on sprint, it underwent seismic changes, and the introduction of ads was vital to how it grew. Now, the ads became the bloodsuckers in the service of media and entertainment industries. Although the ads became extremely useful as financial support to online media, things have lately spun out of control, and it now seems that websites are created for the sake of advertisers. Instead of being in the service of private persons, they are abusing their trust and stealing their precious time.
