Interesting analysis. Only a few points I question.
1- Compare homepages not just profile pages and things change as Google has nill. 2- MySpace has lots of sponsored ads like to the right of new people in your profile which you didn't count. 3- Which sites ads bother you less?
Devin Reams
· 3 years ago
1. Fair point, Google's homepage does have 0 ads but I don't necessairly gain anything from staring at Google.com. When I visit MySpace.com at least I'm greeted with some forms of content (in addition to two, very large ads).
2. As I went to go investigate the profile ads I was greeted with "Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred." while trying to login. I think I know what you're talking about and I didn't realize those were sponsored. I'd consider those commensurate to Facebook's 'sponsored groups' that often show up (and would occasionally increase that 15%).
3. Myspace's ads are extremely bothersome, hence the title. Facebook's bother me less because I rarely notice them (only sometimes do I notice the brightly colored banner ads). Google's don't bother me at all becuase I sometimes seek them out and find them to be of value.
Chris P.
· 3 years ago
MySpace always features those "active" ads where you have animated .gifs or Flash stuff...I think the annoyance factor is just far higher on MySpace than it is on a lot of sites that you might visit with any sort of regularity.
Sorta interesting, but you leave out some key points.
1. The reason Google makes a ton from its advertising is because every single ad they ever show is TARGETED based on the search. That's why Google makes so much money. MySpace just shows ads randomly, or perhaps based on the age or gender of the user. It's not based on an interest the user expressed, so they can't charge as much as Google does.
2. MySpace's ads are pretty minimal considering what they COULD do. They could spam you. They could have popups. They could force you to look at full page takeover ads before you do x or y. They could put ads on profile pages themselves. The biggest percentage of myspace page views come from profile pages and picture pages. MySpace only has a 728 banner up top, and they let the user control the majority of the page. Friendster has all kinds of ads smack dab in the middle of their profiles. MySpace actually lets the users 'space' belong to the user. MySpace pushes more pages/traffic than any site on the internet (except for Yahoo). They are literally #2--bigger than AOL, Hotmail, Google, Amazon, and Ebay. Check the traffic ratings (Nielsen/MediaMetrix). MySpace also let bands stream their music for free, and now filmmakers can stream films / videos for free. They have to pay for it somehow. I dont think their ads are too much. I'm glad the service is free.
Devin Reams
· 3 years ago
Hi Dave, I do understand Google's business model and this little exercise was to mainly reinforce that. I wrote this with what you mentioned to be already assumed.
As far as your MySpace comment, sure, they could do more. But my point was merely sticking some random ad in the middle of a page is quite annoying; it sucks. Heck, if we want to argue for the sake of arguing what if MySpace put AdSense in that spot? It's still annoying as hell being in the middle. If that's what Friendster does in profiles (I don't use it) then they suck too.
You mentioned traffic which, sure, is big. We already knew that. But consider the different audiences... I go to Google to find stuff. Ads often help me. I visit MySpace to do what you mentioned (find a band's streaming content), an ad for Vonage does nothing but annoy the hell out of me. Maybe that's just me... ;-)
the honorable one
· 3 years ago
anyone look at the 'lifestyles' tab on their profile? now when 66 million kids look at it and the first thing they see is 'SWINGERS'.. is that not advertizing? it's neither in alphabetical, nor useful order.
or the second thing.. sexual orientation "bisexual" then gay/les then straight then I DONT KNOW & I"M NOT SURE.
i had a couple of accounts that were auto-set to 'i dont want children, smoker yes, drinker yes' - and i know a couple of my friends also were.. not saying all were/are.. but i'm curious. i know that the freemasons rule the world - and i know that media is controlled.. i suppose i'm just looking for more good examples so i can show people. anyone have a list of myspace ads? the one at moment on the main page has a crystal ball thing.. and i think everyone has seen the 'its nice to be naughty' ads that dont make $.
isn't a joke - why DID rupert murdock (the guy who owns News Corp - and Fox News through it) - why DID he buy myspace advertizing?
BevvyB
· 3 years ago
We found a solution to get rid of all myspace ads and the popups
the so called solution you have there bevvy doesnt work when you view your profile. it's only when you're on your private page (where u get your mails and stuff) can be blocked.
i find that trick of theirs pretty bad. Unless they find a way to block the ads in the profile too.
Angela
· 2 years ago
Hi,
This is a partially related subject. Does anyone know the extent to which myspace ads use targeting and demographics gathered from myspace profiles?
I ask this because I noticed an interesting thing. Although I am not religious, the background of my profile and blog page are respectively mother Mary and Jesus. Many of the purely text based ads that appear on my homepage revolve around religion (i.e "find God here"). I also have a piece of my writing about a young girl climbing into the branches of a great maple tree. Strangely enough the other ads that appear in the list are often about where to "buy trees" or "buy books about trees".
I cannot imagine that this is a coincidence. It does not seems to me that these are very popular advertising subjects. I have also links to books about Mike Patton (a musical artist who is mentioned in my profile, and whom I am also part of a myspace group for) as well as a few other things that seems VERY targeted to me.
Given the types of ads that I get, it's same to assume that they use profile content (html codes and all as evidenced by the God ads) from your "about me" section, but what about other factors listed on myspace (i.e gender, if you smoke/drink, sexual orientation, location, etc.)
ALSO: All of the ads that seem directed toward me are the smaller text links without pictures. Do the bigger advertisers with Myspace make use of this information as well?
I'm just curious, and I haven't been able to find much information on the subject.
Devin Reams
· 2 years ago
I believe the smaller text (non picture) ads you're referring to are Google text ads. Like all Google ads (like when you search on Google.com) they certainly do look at the text in the page they're placed upon and then find keywords that match ads that people have bought (through Adsense).
The big banner ads are dealt with entirely differently. That space is sold directly to advertisers.
Hope that helps a bit...
Seriously
· 2 years ago
This is an example of the difference between quantity and quality. It's easy to measure how much area ads take on a page (though I'd note 660 x 300 doesn't seem accurate for the Google ad on the right -- especially since the text rarely hits the right margin [the actual right margin, not the one you stretched way to the right]). My space ads are annoying because they are often photographs or animations which trigger an emotional response. You could make an argument that the area should be multiplied by the number of frames in an animated ad. Anyway, cool you went to the trouble, but lame that you placed high enough on Google for me to find you.
Angela, maybe they targeted you because of the filenames of the backgrounds?
Delete Myspace Ad
· 2 years ago
I've been using the below code to hide the myspace ad on my page for over a year now.
Put in your style tags: one of these codes
div table {visibility:hidden;} [will hide the ad but leave the space]
or
div table {display:none;} [will hide the ad and move up the rest of the page]
All Comments
1- Compare homepages not just profile pages and things change as Google has nill.
2- MySpace has lots of sponsored ads like to the right of new people in your profile which you didn't count.
3- Which sites ads bother you less?
2. As I went to go investigate the profile ads I was greeted with "Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred." while trying to login. I think I know what you're talking about and I didn't realize those were sponsored. I'd consider those commensurate to Facebook's 'sponsored groups' that often show up (and would occasionally increase that 15%).
3. Myspace's ads are extremely bothersome, hence the title. Facebook's bother me less because I rarely notice them (only sometimes do I notice the brightly colored banner ads). Google's don't bother me at all becuase I sometimes seek them out and find them to be of value.
1. The reason Google makes a ton from its advertising is because every single ad they ever show is TARGETED based on the search. That's why Google makes so much money.
MySpace just shows ads randomly, or perhaps based on the age or gender of the user. It's not based on an interest the user expressed, so they can't charge as much as Google does.
2. MySpace's ads are pretty minimal considering what they COULD do. They could spam you. They could have popups. They could force you to look at full page takeover ads before you do x or y. They could put ads on profile pages themselves. The biggest percentage of myspace page views come from profile pages and picture pages. MySpace only has a 728 banner up top, and they let the user control the majority of the page. Friendster has all kinds of ads smack dab in the middle of their profiles. MySpace actually lets the users 'space' belong to the user. MySpace pushes more pages/traffic than any site on the internet (except for Yahoo). They are literally #2--bigger than AOL, Hotmail, Google, Amazon, and Ebay. Check the traffic ratings (Nielsen/MediaMetrix). MySpace also let bands stream their music for free, and now filmmakers can stream films / videos for free. They have to pay for it somehow. I dont think their ads are too much. I'm glad the service is free.
As far as your MySpace comment, sure, they could do more. But my point was merely sticking some random ad in the middle of a page is quite annoying; it sucks. Heck, if we want to argue for the sake of arguing what if MySpace put AdSense in that spot? It's still annoying as hell being in the middle. If that's what Friendster does in profiles (I don't use it) then they suck too.
You mentioned traffic which, sure, is big. We already knew that. But consider the different audiences... I go to Google to find stuff. Ads often help me. I visit MySpace to do what you mentioned (find a band's streaming content), an ad for Vonage does nothing but annoy the hell out of me. Maybe that's just me... ;-)
now when 66 million kids look at it and the first thing they see is 'SWINGERS'..
is that not advertizing? it's neither in alphabetical, nor useful order.
or the second thing.. sexual orientation
"bisexual"
then gay/les
then straight
then I DONT KNOW
& I"M NOT SURE.
i had a couple of accounts that were auto-set to 'i dont want children, smoker yes, drinker yes' - and i know a couple of my friends also were.. not saying all were/are.. but i'm curious. i know that the freemasons rule the world - and i know that media is controlled.. i suppose i'm just looking for more good examples so i can show people. anyone have a list of myspace ads? the one at moment on the main page has a crystal ball thing.. and i think everyone has seen the 'its nice to be naughty' ads that dont make $.
isn't a joke - why DID rupert murdock (the guy who owns News Corp - and Fox News through it) - why DID he buy myspace advertizing?
http://www.gwonder.com/index.php?option=com_jd-...
i find that trick of theirs pretty bad. Unless they find a way to block the ads in the profile too.
This is a partially related subject. Does anyone know the extent to which myspace ads use targeting and demographics gathered from myspace profiles?
I ask this because I noticed an interesting thing. Although I am not religious, the background of my profile and blog page are respectively mother Mary and Jesus. Many of the purely text based ads that appear on my homepage revolve around religion (i.e "find God here"). I also have a piece of my writing about a young girl climbing into the branches of a great maple tree. Strangely enough the other ads that appear in the list are often about where to "buy trees" or "buy books about trees".
I cannot imagine that this is a coincidence. It does not seems to me that these are very popular advertising subjects. I have also links to books about Mike Patton (a musical artist who is mentioned in my profile, and whom I am also part of a myspace group for) as well as a few other things that seems VERY targeted to me.
Given the types of ads that I get, it's same to assume that they use profile content (html codes and all as evidenced by the God ads) from your "about me" section, but what about other factors listed on myspace (i.e gender, if you smoke/drink, sexual orientation, location, etc.)
ALSO: All of the ads that seem directed toward me are the smaller text links without pictures. Do the bigger advertisers with Myspace make use of this information as well?
I'm just curious, and I haven't been able to find much information on the subject.
The big banner ads are dealt with entirely differently. That space is sold directly to advertisers.
Hope that helps a bit...
Angela, maybe they targeted you because of the filenames of the backgrounds?
Put in your style tags:
one of these codes
div table {visibility:hidden;} [will hide the ad but leave the space]
or
div table {display:none;} [will hide the ad and move up the rest of the page]