Testing Kontera “In-Text” Ads

24 Replies

1. Jason adds this Comment:

   Say it ain’t so! I *abhor* in-text ads… they distract so much from the content, and never ever provide anything useful.

   December 5th, 2006 at 7:57 pm

2. Weiran adds this Comment:

   Personally I think they’re very annoying! Text ads are one thing, even banner ads, but javascript in-text ads are too far IMO.

   Beings down the whole site a bit.

   December 6th, 2006 at 1:59 am

3. Remco adds this Comment:

   You probably got a good deal to do this…so Alex tell us, what did they offer you for your content soul?

   December 6th, 2006 at 3:57 am

4. Alex adds this Comment:

   It’s very interesting to me that you guys feel so strongly about this. A number of sites I visit use this type of ad and it’s never put me off in the least. I saw Kontera’s in-text ads on Jeremy Zawodny’s site last week, got curious and signed up. I’ve got no idea how the ads will perform, hence the stated goal of a one month trial.

   December 6th, 2006 at 10:16 am

5. Richard adds this Comment:

   I must agree with the previous posters that link ads are the worst idea ever.
   They devalue the real links on the page because you can no longer trust that it isn’t just another advert. Given that the hyperlink is the whole point of the web, it seems a real shame to ruin that.
   I assume link ads have a better click through rate than other ad types. But how much of that bonus is due to deliberate user choice, and how much is a result of being confused. To me, link ads are the online equivalent of the “You may have won $1 million!!! Just turn up to our informative time-share seminar to collect your prize” type junk mail. They promise value (a link to more information on the topic), but in reality offer nothing but a sales pitch.
   Just my 2c

   December 7th, 2006 at 8:57 am

6. Alex adds this Comment:

   The links have a rather different styling so it should be fairly easy to avoid them if you’re uninterested. The little hover-over thingy also makes it clear that this is an ad before you click on it.

   I really don’t know if they have a better click-through rate or not, which is why I’m doing this test. At the end of the month, I’ll have some real data to work with and I hope to have another discussion then.

   December 7th, 2006 at 9:14 am

7. Kevan adds this Comment:

   Ugh - they’re nasty. As I scan articles, I tend to run the mouse over text, causing rollovers to hover. Plus, sometimes they are relevant, other times they use the wrong meaning of a word - which I suppose can actually be humorous sometimes…

   I know they’re differently styled, but I tend to subconsciously visually and mentally avoid things that I know are ads. This makes it hard to actually read an article, because I am fighting my desire to keep moving on, scanning past that section of text. This results in a negative tension while reading, and generally puts me off on sites as a whole when I see them.

   December 7th, 2006 at 9:32 am

8. Elaine adds this Comment:

   Oh, those inline ads annoy me to pieces. Sorry.

   December 7th, 2006 at 10:23 am

9. Alex adds this Comment:

   I’m sensing a theme here - is this a vocal minority or a vocal majority?

   December 7th, 2006 at 10:24 am

10. Cliff adds this Comment:

    I don’t mind most ads. But I hate the green hover link type of ads like Kontera or any of the other similar ads. It gets in the way of the article, it is annoying, and I don’t ever care about the ads. It usually makes me not go back to the site. So, as far as my opinion, its a vocal majority.

    December 7th, 2006 at 10:33 am

11. Alex adds this Comment:

    Ok, I’ve changed this so that only searchers see them for the time being.

    December 7th, 2006 at 11:23 am

12. Brett adds this Comment:

    I’m just shocked at how many people actually read the website itself. RSS!

    December 7th, 2006 at 11:37 am

13. Alex adds this Comment:

    My site is just so beautiful - they can’t help themselves.

    December 7th, 2006 at 12:13 pm

14. Matt Smith adds this Comment:

    Thank you for turning them off for the regulars. It seemed a shame to clutter up your new design with those things.

    December 7th, 2006 at 9:51 pm

15. Geof F. Morris adds this Comment:

    Turning them on for searchers is a great call, Alex.

    Here’s the thing: they look cheap and make it look like you sold out, moreso than any old normal ad would.

    December 8th, 2006 at 6:49 am

16. Alex adds this Comment:

    I find this conversation both bizarre and fascinating.

    December 8th, 2006 at 8:04 am

17. Remco adds this Comment:

    I agree with Geof - it does make you look cheap. But now your the classy lad I always knew you were! Thanks for turning them off and turning me back on. Wait a minute…that didn’t sound right…

    December 8th, 2006 at 12:31 pm

18. Roman adds this Comment:

    I actually really like them, I have about five sites and three blogs I am currently using them on. The reason I like them is that they offer a great product that can and does actually correctly analyze the page, also any time I have a problem they are there to help. I just got a new account manager last month who has already helped me improve my eCPM by 20% which is great for my revenues.

    December 29th, 2006 at 1:34 pm

19. Rodney Shupe adds this Comment:

    I have created a plugin that makes adding Kontera’s ContentLinks to your WordPress blog a breeze. The plugin makes it easy to add the necessary Kontera JavaScript and has options to control the placement of the ContentLink ads.

    The comments on this site certainly have me thinking about an option which I currently do not have which would allow administrators to turn off the ads for logged in users.

    March 14th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

20. Ryan Trembath adds this Comment:

    I realize this an old post but I found your page researching kontera ads, and since I came through search they’re displaying.

    Looking through the ads’s on this page I would have to say they are irrelevant to anything I might click on.

    I’ve noticed this problem with a lot of Kontera sites, is it a lack of advertisers or bad technology?

    May 17th, 2007 at 9:53 am

21. Goodbye Kontera | alexking.org adds this Pingback:

    […] turned off the Kontera in-text ads that had been shown to people on their first page load if they came in from a search engine. […]

    November 13th, 2007 at 2:04 pm

22. Andrew Jensen adds this Comment:

    So, out of curiosity, what was your final reason for killing the Kontera ads? Just doing some research into them myself right now, and all I’m finding from the blogger/author field is lots and lots of criticism though some website owners love them to death.

    December 5th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

23. Alex adds this Comment:

    Try reading the link right above your comment.

    December 5th, 2007 at 8:00 pm

24. Anon adds this Comment:

    to me it’s pretty simple, any website I find that display in-text ads, will *never* receive support in any kind from me, and when I don’t flee right away to never return, I just take what I want and leave to never return.

    this is the worst kind of ads on the web ever, intrusive and ruining simple things such as reading text of moving through a web page.

    December 21st, 2007 at 6:09 am

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