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Is this happening with MMO sites too?
Kiyoris
Member RarePosts: 2,130
Native advertising. First time I heard about this. I've seen it on tech sites a lot, didn't know what it was called and that it was so widespread.
Basically banner ads are no longer effective, since no one clicks on them anymore, and people are using ad blockers.
So the new things is actually camouflaging ads as news.
Is this happening on gaming sites too?
Comments
It's been happening in every news medium - radio, TV, print and digital - for over a half a century.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
That's what happens when people use Ads Blocker like adblock.
I don't use it on my favorite website, because I know that's how they make their money, and they need it.
Now that too many people use it, they will find more annoying ways to make money.
Its also media fault. They have made ads and pop up so in your face you need to do something to get them gone. Then you have ads for porn and single sites that have naked ladies on them. As a family man I cant have that in my home. So my ad blocker is aggressive. I know sites like here miss out on money because of that and I feel bad. But what else can you do? If a site let me picked what kind of adds I got to see. Or kept them family rated, I would remove my ad blocker. Heck I even have the MSN home pages blocked on my network as its far from family friendly. Also what about people who suffer from addiction and they get ads for gambling and other items that would temp them.
This is the price of free.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
My ad blocker is free =-) Im saying the internet can be smarter. Spewing every kind of ad in your face only makes people use ad blockers. Then you have malicious ads. You need to protect your OS as well. I think native advertising is the better way to go. When you see a subject you dont like, you can still avoid it. I think this site should use it over ads banners and pop ups.
i started using ABP no-scritpt to avoid windows of porn opening (SOOOOOO ANNOYNG) or the video about a guy winning LOOOOOOOOTS of money doing nothing! , or the xmas music on the ground of some annoying ad....
Add malwares , virus and what not to easy to hide on ads , the website could be clean , but if it pulls ads from some shady website....there are filters? yes , lots but stil , better safe than sorry.
To give MMORPG.com credit, I don't think I've ever seen intentionally deceptive advertising here.
I don't know about other gaming information sites.
EDIT: Just watched the video. It wasn't what I was thinking of.
However, I know the technique he describes quite well. A company I was a (minor) partner in a few years back produced what we called ADVERTORIAL content. A hybrid between editorial and advertising. This was 1997 and our stuff ran in major (Washington Post for example) newspapers all over the USA, as well as online for the newspaper sites, and our own data capture sites. If you're curious we were advertising mortgages.
Print and broadcasting have played this game for ages. Like he mentioned, at least back to the consumerism trend in the 1950s.
Personally, given my background, I suspect *ANY* information presented with an obvious agenda.
To answer the OP plain and simple YES. Maybe not exactly how Native Advertising is executed but in theory, yes. Most web savyy people know how to avoid these types of articles. Please believe the creativity of the agency's crafting them and the ability of legal teams to absolutely bend the laws and restrictions of Native Ads will have the savvy fooled one day as well.
To be honest I too prefer native ads than banner ads, popups, and visual trickery. Then again I can't stand making it half way through an article only to say to myself "OMG it's a f#ck!ng ad for [insert brand]."
I think what needs to happen is that news organizations that wish to be recognized as 100% authentic and trustworthy should be held to a higher standard by the FCC and not be allowed to do this. If any other "news" site wishes to live on the fringes of what's ethical let them. There needs to be a separation.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yep, it's the way of the future if adBlocker keeps getting used (and it will).
For our part, you'll likely see "Sponsored" content, which will come in the form of posts that have stickier placement on the home page, maybe a developer blog, or even a trailer. The publisher/ad firm will pay to have these have higher placement, and we'll flag them quite openly to you, the reader, so you know they're sponsored.
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Rather that then ad banners and pop up. Bring it Bill =-)
Oh, come now. Sure there is. Even if you don't count self-acknowledged game developers plugging and discussing games, which I think is fine, even great, when they admit who they are, there are plenty of shills, recruited fanatics and other sorts of henchmen weighing in on many, if not most, topics. It comes as shocking to some, "so and so game dev told his crowdforging followers to interact more on message boards and social media", but you know it's always been the case, maybe not so overt, but present nonetheless.
Mmorpg.com has operated heavily for some games (cough GW2 cough) pushing so far as to form site-oriented guilds and push especially astringent forum moderation against naysayers. Yes, of course it's happening, it's been happening for some time, and hey, maybe you don't see it because you're inadvertently "in that crowd" (yeh! don't talk smack about my game), but if you take 2 steps back and view it objectively, it's plain as day.
"Intentionally deceptive" is a pretty vague and subjective term, easily subject to plausible deniability. When you make money advertising, that is your job to influence people. Eh, call it grey area, call it what you like, but if you think for one flippin minute this is some "consumer advocacy" site, or some base for the betterment of the mmo genre, I have a couple bridges to sell you.
edit: Your first clue should be there is a store. Mmorpg.com derives revenue from selling the games they review. You've got to see that's a pretty heavy conflict of interest if you're going to argue impartiality.
Indeed.
Also of depressing note is "Add My Window" a company that will let your rent your windows to serve as billboards for advertisements (if you have adequate foot traffic in your neighborhood).
I don't think people realize how much they seal their own fate when it comes to this stuff. They don't want to pay for stuff, but they want to get paid for whatever work they do, or commoditize everything. It's a deal with the devil, and wouldn't you know it, people are more than happy to get on board for the short term benefits.
Works for me. I know where I can get a mortgage :-)
I edited my post after I saw the video. I thought by deceptive, the guy was talking about scammy [Obama signs new law, save millions on car insurance with this easy trick] or the [Idaho woman gives birth to a goat. Click for pictures] type "fake news".
As a business/website you need to find a balance advertising without being obnoxious with it. For instance, I refuse to sit through a 2min video Advertisement to watch a 30sec clip. It's NOT going to happen. If I can't find the video somewhere else, ad free, then I simply close it out and move on. This is what happens when you get too aggressive with advertising. People will find a way around it. Whether it's quickly scanning for that 'Sponsored AD' text (Which I have started noticing on all my news sites except Al Jazeera America and BBC) or making a program that forces it away, it's going to happen. Advertisers will evolve their practices, which we are seeing now, and so will everyone else with how to deal with them. Maybe the next Ad Blocker will specifically look for the 'sponsored' text and black out the articles.
I don't, nor have I ever, used an Ad Blocker. Downloaded it today and trying it out. This site is by far the worst I have come across. The most I have blocked on a page so far, besides this site, has been 5 ads. This site counter is at 31 on the front page and 17 where I am typing this. I now understand why people use them. That's excessive. This site also loads exceptionally fast for me now, when it was getting pretty slow.
The long-term side-effects of this are that the site has to close since they have no revenue. That eventuality is in the future while the benefits are very present. A lot of people will continue to use an Ad Block knowing what it may eventually lead to. You can see this type of, very human, behavior all over the place. I REALLY dislike this new form of advertisement for a lot of the reasons listed in that video. However, what else are they suppose to do? They will continue to evolve their practices and so will the users.
Sort of off-topic, but allow me to share this.
On forums, there are 2 types of people who at first glance, might not be easy to tell one from the other:
1. Marketing person pretending to be a fanboy
2. Fanboy pretending to be a marketing person
A professional marketer is at the very root a highly skilled salesman.
A fanboy is not skilled.
MARKETER
A marketer never gets emotional. They maintain poise even in the most uncomfortable situation, which in turn leads people to believe they are right in what they present, because they are ROCK SOLID in presentation.
A marketer never acknowledges a negative about their product. It is perfect, flawless, and a source of exceptional customer satisfaction. Any product objection is rationalized away, usually in a manner so that observers think the objecter is completely unfounded in their objection.
Smooth. Poised, well-liked.
FANBOY
Always gets emotional, often to the point of being obnoxious.
ARGUES negatives, drawing attention to the negative, instead of away from it. Often very aggressive, rude, bullyish.
Often seen as an annoyance, problem person.
Okay, that's it. Just sharing how I spot the two. I have had the pleasure of working with very impressive salesmen. They're like PR robots, relentless... and yet charming. :-) For damn sure I'm not one of them.
edit: splleling typo :-)
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
A lot of ads have spyware, viruses and malware.
I was using Nexus for Skyrim...a huge, well known site. And an ad was infected people who were using it. Luckily, I was using adblock so I missed that.
I refuse to see ads, as I have no interest in getting viruses. Even if the site is a huge, trustworthy site...one rogue ad can infect your PC. I believe its happened here at MMORPG.com too at some point in time, don't really remember.
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul