news flash: if not for advertising, the internet would not exist
At least not at we know it. Then again, neither would television. Or radio or newspapers or professional sports franchises. All depend on willing audiences of content consumers. But the naivete demonstrated by the congressman cited in the article below (see post) simply mirrors the attitude of many otherwise well-informed people who believe that the Internet is somehow “free” and exist without advertisers - and that we should be similarly free to opt out of advertising messages yet still get to the online content we enjoy. While we’re at it, we should be able to get news without paying the journalists, listen to music without paying the musicians, and download photos without paying the photographers. Wake up. Content isn’t free. All media exist because marketers need to find sufficiently large audiences to support their businesses. It’s that simple. The Internet isn’t a magical portal to information and entertainment and Facebook friends. It’s an advertiser-funded medium. What are these people thinking?
Here’s the article:
When Carly Fiorina commented during the last presidential campaign that John McCain wouldn’t know how to run a company, she was spot on. And she was ex-communicated from the McCain campaign for her honesty. I’m reminded of her rather astute observation this week because the latest rumblings of government regulation of Internet advertising have to make a sane business person how politicians think.
Take for example Rep. Rick Boucher who is talking about introducing legislation that would give consumers an opportunity to op-out of ad delivery technology or institute third party opt-in and verification. It would stagger the still growing ability for companies to collect behavioral yet otherwise anonymous information. Most people I know count on politicians to improve their economic conditions and domestic security. With all the things that a politician could be an advocate for, how do you choose control of Internet advertising? Does this guy get out of bed and think “healthcare, no. Budget deficit, no. Taxes, no. Unemployment rates, no. Internet advertising….. Whoa, hold the phone. Get me a meeting.”
If anyone I know in the digital marketing business ran their business like most politicians run their lives they would get fired and with good reason. This is a complete waste of time for the House or Senate because the outcome will be nil. There’s no way that this effort results in anything that internet targeting companies do, and no way it should change the business models of online media companies who by the way are struggling to make money. I wonder if anyone in the beltway knows that. I wonder if they know that the entire structure of journalism is at risk these days and that retail has moved on several levels to an online foundation.
This is a legitimate issue for the FTC and the aforementioned Internet companies. The FTC has endorsed self-regulation. I have every confidence that the IAB will rally its resources as it is already doing and make whatever changes are necessary to increase the awareness that consumer receive regarding their data that is used for targeting. The issue should never have gone beyond the FTC and Internet companies, who have always acted with a good balance of business, technology, and customer experience in mind.
