Online Headaches

It's no wonder that there are so many dissenters of the online media. The two previous posts are only a micro tip of the iceberg that is the complexity of the online marketing world.

I once heard a little factoid that stated: For a new product (or anything for that matter) to succeed, it must be 10 times more simple then it's previous version.

Keeping that little tidbit in mind, turn your thoughts to the online advertising medium. 10 times easier? How about 100 times more difficult! Oh yea, you can micro measure it to death but we are years away from that being a simplistic process. We create this complexity ourselves. There are just too many choices out there for user and advertiser.

The beautiful thing about this medium is that it will self-correct. It always has, it always will. The Internet will be what users want it to be or they simply won't use it.

So here is the solution: Simplify, don't stupefy.

Oh, and here's another theory. If you all saw the movie, A Beautiful Mind, one of Nash's theories had to do with viewing the solution to a problem more widely then what might be the most desireable solution. Take the scene of him and his college buddies in a bar. Four girls walk in. They all of course want the most beautiful girl. But....what happens if that is the course of events? The possibilities of success for all involved greatly diminish if it simply becomes a game of may the best man win.

That is what is happening online. Advertisers are getting aggressive with tactics (Sony's so called online advertising campaign, pop ups, pop unders, Shoskeles, etc.) and publishers are accepting it. Users are simply getting frustrated and mad. The whole experience becomes a lobor and not a joy. People will put up with barriers only for so long before they move on to the next thing. Few may win in the current mode of operation, but many more could if we adhered to the basic principles of the Nash Equilibrium.

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