The internet is not just a series of tubes. My God! It’s full of links!
Today, while my mind was contentedly numb and was clicking things on the internet like a monkey pushing a button for a reward (mmm, banana!) I happened to click a link that led to ABC News.
What can one say about the ABC News internet experience?
First, before you even get to the page, you are subjected to a full page advertisement and the option to “skip this ad.”
Here’s the link that aroused my ire and prompted this post: ABC News
The next thing you notice is that your browser says, “Hey. Psst! I have prevented a popup window.”
At the top of the page is a giant banner ad. It’s moving, of course. It’s flashing and trying to get your attention.
Near the top right of the screen is a rectangular ad area that flashes every five seconds or so, encouraging you to click “Play” to watch more about some ABC television show.
And then, without your prior consent, on the left side of the page and embedded in the article, is a video window. It automatically starts to play, sucking up your internet connection and most annoying of all, it begins to pump out sound from your speakers!
That’s just damn rude.
What’s the etiquette of stealing bandwidth from people who decidedly did NOT click “Play” on your video? And then surprising them with sound?
Is your baby laying in your arms asleep? Too fucking bad, says ABC News. We’ll wake that son of a bitch up. We have gots to get paid, yo.
Angry, I immediately located and clicked the MUTE button on the fucking thing. I was almost shocked when it actually worked. Alas, I was not that shocked when the click also brought up a popup window with yet another advertisement. Shit, I thought my browser was blocking those? Apparently not this one.
In the time I’ve been composing this post, that embedded video has been happily playing. Each time I go back and glance at that tab, the video is still playing, thankfully still without sound.
In a smaller box, still within the article, is embedded more advertising. This time a small box labeled “sponsored links.” Scroll down a bit to the bottom of the article and you’ll find two more boxes of sponsored links.
All told I found no less than five items on the web page labeled as “advertisement” or “sponsored links.” This does not include the ad I was forced to skip to land on the page. Nor does it include the two popup windows (one blocked, one that got through.) And, lastly, it does not include the commercial video that started playing with sound when I first loaded the page.
Hey, ABC News. I got a question, and then I have a follow-up. Greed much? And why are you such a bunch of motherfuckers?
I can’t help but wonder what percentage of internet traffic is bandwidth consumed by video and sound that no one ever requested? I bet it’s a lot. It probably ranks right up there with spam and porn thanks to the greed of organizations like ABC News.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Television networks are the same people who decided to stick their logo on the corner of the screen when watching their programs. God forbid we forget what channel we’re watching. Except during commercials, of course. And then they decided to build in commercials during the programming in the form of moving images advertising the next show you should be watching. And then, naturally completing the progression, they added sound to those moving promos in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Fuck the viewer. The viewing experience be damned!
Never again will you be able to watch a show without being bombarded at the same time with commercials for the next show.
How much is enough? When will they say when? How many times do they need to get paid?
I’ve got an idea. How about making a web page that is informative with actual content and making the advertising proportional to the rest of the page? And how about keeping video and sound from coming on unless we ask for it?
Is that too much to ask? You betcha!
Is the audience the customer? No. The advertiser is the customer. And they’ll never ever let you forget that.
Moderation is not a word in the Advertiser’s Dictionary. Just how many boats can you water ski behind?
Hey, ABC News. Can I please read a news story without you spamming the fuck out of all five senses? That would be great.
Shouts from the Abyss 
Since I studied Media, they used to not have any commercials with broadcast news…then, they added commercial breaks and eventually, if you ask me, it has become completely commercial. I don’t just mean Nescafe threatening to pull it’s ad revenue money if you played a story about shade-grown coffee. I mean all the “entertainment” that comes with your CNN (or whomever) news itself.
I can’t watch CNN anymore. For a while there, it seems like NBC was less BS but I got pissed at them for something years ago.
They need to straighten up their arses and go back to completely funding their news branches (the multi-media corporations that own them) without demanding revenues from those time slots/ programs. When you demand a profit from news, it affects content.
Of course, you’re talking about the web-page but that should be treated the same way, IMO.
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That’s a good point about the ethics of journalism. Many news organizations claim they don’t let advertising money dictate how they cover a story, but that’s a bunch of bullshit. Human nature says otherwise. You’re not going to do hard news on companies that pay your way. Ever.
I don’t mind a little advertising. I understand they need to eat, too. But I think things have gone too far. Pretty soon news anchors will have things like Google logos tattooed on their foreheads.
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Seriously! Its completely annoying and I have found myself that if I get on a site, no matter what it is, and they start popping up ads or they automatically start playing an ad in the side bar I immediately close out and find another that has what I am looking for. I do not like to be slapped in the face, eyes and ears with BS every time I click on a site. They lose me immediately.
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Mega dittos. Of course, just by visiting they probably get credit for “impressions” or something like that.
But I agree with you. Eat my mouse dust, suckers! 🙂
The video thing is just stupid. But pumping out sound without permission is unconscionable, in my humble opinion.
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I would love to put an old gypsy curse on whomever invented those little ads for shows that play while you are watching another show. Those are the worst!
But, yeah, second worst is websites crawling with ads and sound. And, from news sites that should be concentrating on content, not trying to sell you something. It’s ridiculous.
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What do you need to make that curse happen? A little eye of newt? Let me know, I’ll help you get it!
I can almost abide a small promo that flashes on the screen for a few seconds. But then they started animating them. Then they made them little movies of real people. And then they added sounds. All taking place while the current show is in progress!! It’s just nuts.
I heard about something recently. I forget what it was called. Something like marketing overload or marketing blindness or something. The point being that the more they hammer us in every possible way, the more of a backlash there is and the less effective their efforts become. In the past it was “banner blindness.” So they had to keep making it bigger and flashier and more attenting getting.
If they keep this up there is going to have to be a paradigm shift. Some sort of real game changer. Personally I look forward to selling ad space on the inside of my eyelids.
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I hate popup ads, but free ecrap is the worst. I HATE sound on websites, don’t care what kind of site, what it’s for.. I’m listening to my iTunes or the sound of my own voices debating dinner, don’t need someone else’s noise budding in uninvited. You’re right that we’re not the paying customer (my cable bill begs to differ!); our eyes, clicks, unique IPs are being sold to the advertisers. So the websites shove as many ads down our throats and dollars in their wallets, then they wonder why we click off and get our news elsewhere. Assmonkeys.
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Good term. I wish I’d thought of it. Assmonkeys!
I’m a proud member of the Back Button Brigade. Force sound down my throat and I’m outta there.
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Assmonkeys, I love that.
Things like youre describing just ensure I’m not going back to a site. Yeah, they’ll get their .0003 cents by force feeding me for that one visit, but it will never be .0006 cents
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Yeah, I agree. This is always a problem. Not just ABC, a ton of sites do this and it bugs me. If I want a video I’ll ask for it. It is a well known rule of web design not to play shit on pages when people pop in. These big sites have been ignoring that rule because they get traffic anyway. You’ve got to vote with your money (clicks in this case).
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“And then they decided to build in commercials during the programming in the form of moving images advertising the next show you should be watching.”
I HATE THAT!
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