Beyond the Banner Ad
"So far, Web advertising remains a tantalizing promise, rarely reaching its potential for letting advertisers communicate personally with customers so they can customize their messages. Even as a mass medium projected to generate more than $5 billion this year, Internet advertising consists mostly of silent text billboards that flash a few tiny words and images."
posted on September 5, 2000 08:18:37 AM new eBay and Mediaplex Sign Five-Year Advertising Technology Contract
"Prior to reaching the agreement, Mediaplex implemented a successful test demonstrating that eBay's banner ads could carry dynamic data including a photo of an item, the current bid price, number of bids, and time remaining until the auction closed. The test delivered a click-through rate significantly higher than eBay's average rate."
posted on September 5, 2000 02:08:58 PM new
From the article cited at the top:
"Even with bigger, intrusive Internet ads---which pop up uninvited in separate windows--people can click and close them faster than they can leave a room during a TV commercial."
Key word: uninvited
Key change needed: "people can" to "people usually want to"
Some of the ad ideas mentioned sound like more like a TV commercial, complete with the passive rather than direct marketing, but most sound annoying, and a few sound more intrusive from an information-gathering standpoint. Some good ideas from an advertiser's perspective perhaps, but this is all the more reason for me to keep active content and cookies turned off except when I can be convinced to turn them on.
I click far, far more often on the small, unblinking, cookie-less banners that still remain to this day, than the annoying ones that have prompted me to filter the latter -- but I guess I am very particular at the kind of advertising style I'll listen to, and likely spend more on companies that have a good reputation than on companies that have tons of ads.
If other ad styles hadn't ticked me off to the point of blocking them, I could see liking an ad that contains current statistics, like the Thunderbird or airline/hotel thing, if it didn't try to follow me around with tracking or other nonsense.
The one thing that keeps occuring to me, and here I'll be flying off a tangent, is that I don't think the Web is simply a new form of television. Sure, it is more interactive, and that can be taken advantage of (for good and bad), and yes, it is partially taking over some of the time that people used to lavish on television, yet the ads, even with the interactivity aspect, still sounds like they're going for TV style flash. OTOH, maybe the interactivity aspect implies they're finally "getting it," but something still feels "off" about the idea, and I'm not talking just about possible profiling problems.
The advertising industry has struggled for an effective metaphor online, yet I wonder if there is really one that wouldn't overrun even the growing capacity of the Internet framework.
Yet, I'd hate to see the "free" content go away, so there you have it -- a mess.
Interesting article, nonetheless. Thanks for citing it.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
posted on September 5, 2000 10:18:32 PM new
WARNING!!! UUB TURNED SOME OF THE CODE INTO SMILEY FACES!!! I HATE UUB!!
I AM NOT GOING TO DELETE THE CODE. IT IS TOO LATE. EVERY SMILING SMIRKING FACE WILL HAVE TO STAY!
Is anyone else who runs AdSubtract having any problems with the eBay search page loading ?
For the past month when I try to open the eBay search page it hangs trying to load a hiden ad tracking gif and a banner from eBay/Superstats/Hitbox2. Windows end task doesn't respond and I have to hard boot into safe mode, shut down and reboot.
It turns out this is the problem: Superstats and eBay are trying to execute the following command to disable AdSubtract (specifically) and load the the gifs.
(THE CODE IT TRIES EXECUTE TO DISABLE AdSubtract)
!-- // Start of AdSubtract JavaScript block; you can ignore this. // It is used when AdSubtract blocks cookies or pop-up windows. document.iMokie = "cookie blocked by AdSubtract";document.iMferrer = "referrer blocked by AdSubtract"; function iMwin()
{ this.location = "";
this.frames = new Array(9);
this.frames[0] = this;
this.frames[1] = this;
this.frames[2] = this;
this.frames[3] = this;
this.frames[4] = this;
this.frames[5] = this;
this.frames[6] = this;
this.frames[7] = this;
this.frames[8] = this;
this.length = 0;
}
// End of AdSubtract JavaScript block. -->
(AFTER IT TRIES TO DISABLE AdSubtract IT THEN TRIES TO LOAD THE AD TRACKING GIFS)
// BEGIN WEBSIDESTORY CODE v6 (ebay)
// COPYRIGHT 1998-2000 WEBSIDESTORY, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. U.S.PATENT PENDING.
if (window.onerror){_we=window.onerror;_et=1;};
function _se(_ms,_ur,_el) {
if ((_ms.indexOf("Access"!=-1)||(_ms.indexOf("access"!=-1)){
_rf=escape(document.referrer)+"";
if((_rf=="undefined"||(_rf==""){_rf="bookmark";};
if (_et==1){window.onerror = _we;};_oe=1;
document.write(_x2+_ar+_rf+"&ec=1"+_x3);
return true;}else {return false;}}
window.onerror = _se;
_dt=(new Date()).getHours();_et=0;_ce="";_oe=0;_ss="na";_sc="na";_ln="";_pl="";_ja="na";_sv=11;
_bn=navigator.appName;if(_bn.substring(0,9)=="Microsoft"{_bn="MSIE";};
_bv=Math.round(parseFloat(navigator.appVersion)*100);
if((_bn=="MSIE"&&(parseInt(_bv)==2)) _bv=301;
if((_bn=="MSIE"&&(_bv>=400)){_ln=navigator.userLanguage;}
if(_bn=="Netscape" {if(_bv>=400) _ln=navigator.language;
if(_bv>300) for(var i=0;i<navigator.plugins.length;i++)_pl +=navigator.plugins[i].name+":" };
if (document.cookie.indexOf("HC="!=-1){_ce="y";}else
{document.cookie="HC=y; expires=Wed, 1 Jan 2020 00:00:00 UTC";
_ce=(document.cookie.indexOf("HC="!=-1)?"y":"n";};
_ja=(navigator.javaEnabled()==true)?"y":"n";
document.write("<script language=javascript1.2>";
document.write("_sv=12;_ss=screen.width+'*'+screen.height;_sc=(_bn=='MSIE')?screen.colorDepth:screen.pixelDepth;if(_sc=='undefined'){_sc='na';}";
document.write("</"+"script>";
document.write("<script language=javascript1.3>";
document.write("_sv=13;";
document.write("</"+"script>";
_x2="<img src='http://ehg.hitbox.com/HG?hc=we42&hb=DM5008035ORA62EN3&n="+_pn;
_x3="&cd=1&hv=6' border=0 height=1 width=1 name='_hb'>";
(THIS IS THE HIDDEN TRACKING GIF IT IS TRYING TO LOAD)
_ar="&bn="+escape(_bn)+"&bv="+_bv+"&ce="+_ce+"&ss="+_ss+"&sc="+_sc+"&dt="+_dt+"&sv="+_sv+"&con="+escape(_ct);
_ar+="&ja="+_ja+"&ln="+_ln+"&pl="+escape(_pl)+"&rf=";
_rf=escape(top.document.referrer)+"";
if((_rf=="undefined"||(_rf==""){_rf="bookmark";};
if (_oe==0){if (_et==1){window.onerror = _we;};
document.write(_x2+_ar+_rf+_x3);};
(THEN IT TRIES TO LOAD THE BANNER).
<!-- // Start of AdSubtract JavaScript block; you can ignore this.
// It is used when AdSubtract blocks cookies or pop-up windows.
document.iMokie = "cookie blocked by AdSubtract";
document.iMferrer = "referrer blocked by AdSubtract";
function iMwin() {
this.location = "";
this.frames = new Array(9);
this.frames[0] = this;
this.frames[1] = this;
this.frames[2] = this;
this.frames[3] = this;
this.frames[4] = this;
this.frames[5] = this;
this.frames[6] = this;
this.frames[7] = this;
this.frames[8] = this;
this.length = 0;
}
// End of AdSubtract JavaScript block. -->
var code = " ";
function ss_escape(s) {
plus=0; s=escape(s);
while ((plus = s.indexOf("+") > 0) {
s = s.substr(0,plus) + "%2B" + s.substr(plus+1,s.length); }
return s; }
var br=navigator.appName+parseInt(navigator.appVersion);
if(br=='Netscape2'); else {
var tda=new Date(); var jra=tda.getTime(); var nber=1000000000;
var rnber=0; var iaj=9301; var icj=49297; var imj=233280;
jra = (jra*iaj+icj) % imj; rnber=Math.ceil( (jra/(imj*1.0)) *nber);
var mded=Math.floor(tda.getTime()/10800000) % 10;
var smded=new String(mded); var n=smded+'ses'+rnber;
var s_s="stats.superstats.com"; var s_a = navigator.appName;
if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera" != -1) superstats_appn
var s_s = "stats.superstats.com"; var s_a = navigator.appName;
if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera" != -1) s_a = "Opera";
var s_av = parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);
var _p; var _s = _c = _v = _k = ""; var _j = "1.0";
var _g = window.location.href; var _r = parent.document.referrer; var _o = navigator.platform;
document.cookie = "ssAllowCookie=true";
var s_mc = " " + document.cookie + ";";
_k = (s_mc.indexOf(" ssAllowCookie=" >= 0 ? "Y" : "N";
if (s_a== "Netscape" {
if (!_p) { _p = ""; _i1 = _i2 = 0;
while ((_i1 < navigator.plugins.length) && (_i2 < 30)) {
_s_t_a = navigator.plugins[_i1].name;
if (_s_t_a.length > 100)
_s_t_a = s_t_a.substring(0,100); _s_t_a += ';';
if (_p.indexOf(_s_t_a) == -1)
_p += _s_t_a; ++_i1; ++_i2; }
_p = "&p=" + ss_escape(_p); }
if (s_av >= 2.02) _j = "1.0"; if (s_av >= 3) _j = "1.1"; if (s_av >= 4) {
_s = screen.width+'x'+screen.height; _c = screen.pixelDepth; _j = "1.2"; }
if (s_av >= 4.06) _j = "1.3";
_v = (navigator.javaEnabled() ? "Y" : "N"; }
if (s_a == "Microsoft Internet Explorer" {
_p = ""; if (s_av < 4) _r = ""; if (s_av >= 3) _v = "P"; if (s_av >= 4) {
_s = screen.width+'x'+screen.height; _c = screen.colorDepth; _j = "1.2"; _v = (navigator.javaEnabled() ? "Y" : "N"; } }
if (s_a == "Opera" {
if (! _p) { _p = ""; _i1 = _i2 = 0;
while ((_i1 < navigator.plugins.length) && (_i2 < 30)) {
_s_t_a = navigator.plugins[i1].name;
if (_s_t_a.length > 100) _s_t_a = _s_t_a.substring(0,100) + ';';
if (_p.indexOf(_s_t_a) == -1)
_p += _s_t_a; ++_i1; ++_i2; }
_p = "&p=" + ss_escape(_p); }
_j = "1.0"; _v = "N"; }
if (! _p) _p = ""; if (! _g) _g = ""; if (! _r) _r = ""; if (! _o) _o = "";
code = ''(THIS IS THE BANNER)
+ '<img name="banner1_'+n+'" src="http://' + s_s + '/' + 'b.cgi?u=ebay1&n='+n+'&fg=2&r=' + ss_escape(_r) + '&s=' + escape(_s) + '&c=' + escape(_c) + '&o=' + escape(_o) + '&g=' + ss_escape(_g) + '&a=' + ss_escape(s_a + ' ' + s_av) + _p + '&j=' + _j + '&v=' + _v + '&k=' + _k + '" border=0 width=1 height=1></a>';
document.write(code); }
If anyone else is having problems please let me know. Thanks.
posted on September 6, 2000 05:27:32 AM new
"It turns out this is the problem: Superstats and eBay are trying to execute the following command to disable AdSubtract (specifically) and load the the gifs. "
NOPE ... That is the ADSUBTRACT code you are seeing. I don't see anything resembling it on the source code for either the old or new search pages. (I snuck in with a browser that just shows page code, and the word "adsubtract" is nowhere on the page)
I think your copy of AdSubtract is perhaps corrupted. Uninstall it, shut down your computer, restart, and reinstall.
posted on September 6, 2000 08:30:28 AM new
Abacaxi: These commands are trying to be excecuted from 2 Java files.
ss.js sent from http://pages.ebay.com/included/js/stats/ss.js
and hitbox.js sent by http://pages.ebay.com/included/stats/hitbox.js.
I ran the Java code and converted it to text so it could be read. This code is hidden and would not appear on a source code page.
I don't know how AdSubtract could embed code in Java files sent from and eBay server. I have uninstalled and reinstalled AdSubtract with no change in the results.
posted on September 6, 2000 08:55:58 AM new
Interesting ...
I retrieved the javascripts and saw nothing about AdSubtract in them, so they have somehow learned how to detect it?
Write to the support for AdSubtract and let them know there is a bug or something that shows up on ebay.
