The Future of Online Advertising

Let’s face it – since the advent of the Internet, webpages have remained relatively static. Yes – technology has changed dramatically and languages like PHP and Javascript have allowed us to build interactive, database-drive websites, but most sites are still just a flat page. YouTube has catalyzed a shift towards video but as well all know – old habits die hard. A majority of people are still used to receiving their content as text, not as video…but the world is changing.

One facet of the webpage that has remained at a stand-still for the last ten years is advertising. Go back to 1999 and you’ll find websites with 128×128 buttons and 468×60 banners, some animated others static. Now fast-forward to 2009 – it is the same – websites still have the exact same buttons and banner ads they did ten years ago! The model for online advertising has stagnated.

As you all know by now – I like to forge my own path and I think it is time to move online advertising in the right direction. So what is the right direction? Video of course!

Just think – we’ve been watching video advertisements on television forever…but these never really made their way to the web. Yes – there are cases where websites do have video ads, but this is far less common than the simple banner ads that have adorned our sites for the last decade.

So to start this move into the future I will be making some changes to how people can advertise on my blog. I will be offering a video ad space on the side of my blog for an ad with a maximum running time of two minutes. Now you might ask – what would inspire someone to watch this ad if they don’t have to? I will be adding a discount code for my book (or the advertiser’s product) somewhere in the video. This means if you watch the ad you could save $25 or more…now isn’t that worth two minutes of your time?

It is time we start thinking outside of the box and change the way we all interact with the web. Just because something has been done the same way for ten years doesn’t mean we need to continue doing it that way for another ten! This is only the beginning – over time I will continue to try new ideas and hopefully find a more effective way for advertisers to promote their products and services online.

Share your thoughts! Do you think online advertising has been perfected? Think there is a better way to advertise online? Comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton