A editora-chefe do site do Guardian, Emily Bell, diz neste artigo que os anunciantes finalmente estão começando a entender a internet.

Segundo Bell, apesar dos marqueteiros ainda acreditarem que precisam incomodar o usuário com imagens piscando, algumas coisas irritantes (e estúpidas, IMHO) como os pop-ups estão desaparecendo e investimentos em publicidade on-line estão amadurecendo.

Bell destaca tb que o Guardian Unlimited vai fechar as contas no final deste ano fiscal... Ou seja, a versão on-line do Guardian/Observer já consegue andar com as próprias pernas.

For publishers, the fact that online advertising is beginning to come of age is undoubtedly good news. Guardian Unlimited will break even for the first time this financial year, largely on pursuing a model of advertising revenue - something that only as recently as three years ago many industry pundits thought would be impossible..

Bell destaca tb o poder viral dos blogs (se usado coretamente... é claro)

In the next few weeks we are launching a major new blog for all our commentators plus outside bloggers, academics, writers and journalists, called Comment is Free (you'll be reading more about it here in the next week or two). As part of that launch we will only be spending money on advertising on other blogs, rather than traditional media. The viral power of the blogosphere, when harnessed correctly, can deliver far better results than much more expensive advertising on radio, television, or even print.

... e o anúncio da Pontiac que busca credibilidade com a ajuda do Google de maneira inteligente e em linha com a nova mídia.

In a recent ad campaign for Pontiac cars in the US, the manufacturer just used a shot of a Google search box with "Pontiac" written into it, suggesting that if a purchaser did not trust what the manufacturer said about the car, then they should use the internet to find out what others say about them. It took 20 years before anyone made a penny out of advertising on commercial radio, but within three or four years small websites with the right economic model were able to make money from advertising. Advertising is fast becoming the revenue source for the web it once was for old media, but it may be some distance away from people using the cliche once said of TV - that the ads are the best part.

Aguardo ansiosamente os gênios da publicidade tupiniquim começarem a entender a internet.

Aí quem sabe no futuro próximo vou conseguir viver produzindo conteúdo independente de verdade... sem as limitações impostas por interesesses inconfessáveis e departamentos comerciais que fazem parte da realidade da mídia tradicional.