When it comes to the Internet, I usually accept that more advertisements are going to pop up as companies continue to invest in their online presence. Facebook’s sidebar is going to have ads that know me just a little too well, and any YouTube video I want to watch will be preceded by a commercial.
For the most part, this kind of stuff that doesn’t really bother me, and whining about it seems like a waste of time. However, I also realize that there comes a point where ads become too intrusive in the online experience.
Last weekend I had a clarifying moment when I was browsing one of my favorite news sites. I opened an article that seemed interesting and started to read it. After a couple of seconds, the text faded and the top image of the article turned into a video box. Before I could read the story, I had to watch a 30-second advertisement.
It was one of those moments when I didn’t quite believe what I was seeing. I was being forced to endure a video ad in order to access written content. The thought had never occurred to me that this could happen because it just seemed so ludicrous.
It’s not as if this is an entirely new concept. Commercials are everywhere online, including rollout ads and before other videos. The same is true of articles, with various pop-ups and preload ads standing between users and content.
Still, this latest evolution made me realize just how intrusive online advertising has become. It really is everywhere now, but it managed to do it at such a slow, calculated rate that we rarely think about it. In a way, it is kind of ingenious and shows just how talented marketing executives are.
Advertisements evolved, even outside of the online realm. As I write this, I’m watching the Super Bowl – an event celebrated for the creative, funny commercials that debut. Millions of people gather around their televisions to see what exciting new ways they can be sold every type of product from car insurance to beer.
We just accept that there’s no way to get around being sold things when we’re watching a football game, messing around on our phones or just trying to watch a cute kitten video online. But where is the line being crossed?
A year from now, will I be used to watching a short video before I can read the news? Two years down the line, will a Google search require the same? It’s hard to imagine where advertising will spread to next, but the new ways it continues to surprise me makes it clear that no matter what the medium, it’s only a matter of time.
There’s just no getting around the fact that to enjoy the digital age, you have to deal with the digital ads. For now, I can only hope those 15-second clips have some relevance to the site I was trying to visit in the first place.
