More on advertising

Found an article in the BBC News: Why ads on the net don't work, by Bill Thompson (link via The Group Captain).

I want to tell all of these advertisers to stop, because it is getting in the way. I use the net a lot - for work, to find nice hotels in Padua, to find out what's on TV or at the movies and just because I like surfing and being surprised by what I find.

But I never, ever, click on an advert. I never have, not since the first ones appeared on the nascent web back in 1996. I never will.

You would think that with all the profiling, data acquisition and expensive analysis done, the people behind the majority of online ads would have realised that I'm a lost cause and given up on sending these useless pieces of artwork down the wires to my PC. But no, they remain eternally optimistic.

Further down, he says:

Show me respect

I don't want intrusive adverts, but I don't mind commercial links. I don't want pop-ups, but I don't object to Google's sponsored results at the top of the screen. I don't want the hard sell, but I don't mind a commercial net.

At the heart of a lot of internet advertising is a blatant disrespect for the consumer.  It is similar to someone marching up to your TV and insisting you play a 20 minute advertising video, there and then.  I hate it when someone tries to take over my computer, it is rude to assume I want to see your flash presentation, it is doubly rude to use the Javascript "onUnload" event to spawn four new windows when I close the first, each of which spawns more on their own demise.

So, I ask the honourable people of the Marketing departments (the dishonourable ones I have no wish to hear from), how can this situation be improved without resorting to the battery of defence mechanisms I outlined yesterday?  We know you need to advertise, but can you please find a decent way of doing it?