In-text advertising

[David]

Does anyone have a view on in-text advertising?

I've just been approached by what appear to be a very reputable company who would like to run in-text advertising links at CADTutor. You may have seen it on other sites. They are double-underlined links with pop-up ads as you mouseover (example (http://www.startvbdotnet.com/dotnet/dotnet.aspx)). Personally, I haven't found them too intrusive but I am aware that there is a limit to the advertising that can be placed on a page without making it uncomfortable for the user.

In-text advertising can be done in conjunction with AdSense and I'm tempted to give it a test run. The company is called Kontera (http://www.kontera.com) and they are partnered with Yahoo! and have some very big advertisers (Dell, Sun Microsystems, Virgin Media etc.) They operate a 50:50 revenue share and claim a CTR upwards of 2%.

What do you think?

[rob]

That would really annoy me!! I know the links are double underlined but I expect in-text links to go to another area of the site.

Sorry to be so blunt but I would probably stop using your site if I were already a user.

[James]

I really don't like them either. I think they are cynical too, feels like tricking the user into clicking them. I think they cheapen sites they reside on.

(Then again, as a webmaster, if they pay more than AdSense I might be tempted if I had a text-rich site).

[David]

Hmm, perhaps it's just the $$$.

I think I'll test out the system just to get some experience of it but in principle I agree with you. The last thing I want to do is upset my users. Thing is, these in-text ads are becoming more widespread and maybe once people are used to them, they'll be more acceptable. I'll keep you posted.