To Click Or Not To Click

     It has been brought to my attention that there is a growing misunderstanding in the Internet that it is a bad thing to click on ads!  Why?  Well, there is a host of hand me down ideas, everything from “Big brother will get my personal information” to “What a cheap way to make money at my expense!"
     When you go shopping, say at Wal-Mart, do you say to yourself “I will not look at anything in this store because the products Wal-Mart has displayed on their shelves is just a cheap way to get me to buy?” Of course not!  So, why is it so horrible to click an ad on the net, view the products offered by the advertiser and take it or leave it?
     It appears to me that most of the problem can be found in over exposure.  That is, in the beginning, it was inviting to viewers to see content ads placed at unassuming locations on a web site.  The ads actually added ‘color’ to the site much like driving into Vegas and seeing all the beautiful rotating displays.  The problem is that, if the entire country looked like Las Vegas, you would grow weary just driving around and probably stay home.  This 'over exposure' to ads has desensitized the public to clicking on ads.
     Everyone has ads placed on their sites, except those who refuse to ' lower their self-esteem' or those who really don’t need the revenue.  Some sites will not run any ads hoping this ploy will increase traffic to such a point that when they do, profits are much higher. Other sites inundate you with ads running everywhere, again ‘Welcome to Vegas’.  Any psychological way to get viewers to ‘click’ can be found on the net.  One really intrusive way to demean your site is to place ads in the content in such a way that it becomes an obstacle to viewers.  There's nothing like trying to read an article while dodging image ads!  Then too, people actually throw sites up with virtually no content except tons of ads, thinking the public is just going to ‘click’ away!
     The site I write for, AlphaLane.com, offers article and ad submission at no cost to the client. Chris, a personal friend and the IT manager, is always asking my opinion on whether ads appear obtrusive or well placed.  At first, I wondered why he obsessed with ads so much.  But, now I realize the effect it has on the public as to how you present your site advertising.  It has become a ‘touchy’ subject with many webmasters, since the revenue of free sites depends on how ads are displayed.
     Another unfortunate scenario that turns viewers off about advertising is the scammers that are all over the net. These predators cause great mistrust in the viewing audience by scheming rip offs day and night!  Many users have told me that they will not click ads because they are afraid of getting their personal information stolen.  It is true that you must be cautious when giving personal information to anyone on the net.  And there are unscrupulous sites that inundate you with pop ups, redirects or screen freezing.  But these sites cannot get any relevant information about you from clicking on ads; only if you volunteer personal information can it become a problem.  These sites quickly loose their advertiser support when complaints are filed.  All you need to do is contact the advertiser on their site and report them.  History time!
     People, do you realize that the only reason you can surf the net and look at all the glitter and wonderment is because of advertisers offering to pay your way!  These well meaning businesses, whether small or large, want you to simply view their products and are willing to pay publishers ( those web sites you visit ) to offer the medium by which you get there.  The majority of advertisers are not out to steal you life, your car or your soul, just to get you to view their products.
     So, where is Internet advertising headed?  Without the freedom to advertise and the endorsement of the viewers, the Internet will digress into something less than what it should be.  You see, when viewers get a collective mindset to ignore the bread and butter ( advertising ) of the net, a void is created that must be filled! The eventuality is a policed, government owned entity that tells you what you can view and what you can’t do. Each time you refuse an advertiser for whatever biased reason you have accepted, you add one more weighted stone on the scale toward losing your Internet freedoms. 
     Now, I’m not saying you must click on all ads in order to protect the Internet.  What I am suggesting is that you grow up and be responsible enough to make decisions on your own and not follow the crowd with a close minded idea set to ignore advertisers.  Advertisers need your support and so do the legitimate publishers that work hard to design the vehicle for advertising.
     Advertising is the backbone of the free enterprise system and if you refuse to support advertisers then they will not be able to support you or be there for you when times get tough!