This is the opinion of online media director, FCB Headspace’s Joanne Scholtz, who stresses that, over the past few years, the online media seller has boosted the number of ads he or she allows on the site's home page because they know this 'positioning' delivers relatively better value. However, the consequences for advertisers of this misguided decision are dire.
"If you want to advertise on a portal home page these days, you barely stand a chance of being noticed," Scholtz says.
"On most sites you will notice at least two annoying casino ads in addition to a number of promotions for sister sites, companies or products – as well as executions from other advertisers. Given this cluttered environment, there is very little opportunity for your message to be seen. However, banner costs in these environments have not decreased, despite the fact that one’s share of voice has declined greatly."
The straw that broke Scholtz’s back and prompted this view was a proposal she received earlier this week.
"First of all, the proposal was meek, to put it mildly," she sighs. "For example, it made no mention of impression rates, and there were no minimum guarantees suggested. In fact, it didn’t even list the ad size. Secondly, when I went to the site and the specific page in question, there were eight other brands advertised on the page.
"The media owner was seriously suggesting my client's brand to be one of nine featured on that page! If it had been offered at a next-to-nothing rate I may have considered it, but the investment required was steep due to the niche industry the site operates in.
"Ek vra maar net, what advertiser would pay full price for a 9th of the inside front cover of any glossy female title? If online media owners think media strategists are still ignorant about the value of online advertising, they need to think again," Scholtz concludes.
