A debate about the prospects of online advertising has been raging at TechCrunch following a guest post by Wharton Professor Eric Clemons titled “Why Advertising Is Failing on the Internet.”
According to TechCrunch, the post: “Sparked a blogstorm and 600-plus comments, most of them filled with rage. Even Danny Sullivan, the normally unperturbable editor-in-chief of SearchEngineLand, couldn’t believe that Clemons could be serious, and let loose in his own post.”
You can view the fight, aka “Steel Cage Debate On The Future Of Online Advertising: Danny Sullivan Vs. Eric Clemons”, here: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/28/steel-cage-debate-on-the-future-of-online-advertising-danny-sullivan-vs-eric-clemons/?ref=nf#comment-2675629
I couldn’t resist joining the fray and posted the following comment:
“How about citing some valid and relevant research about the effectiveness of online advertising in this debate? For example, at Comscore, based on more than 200 studies, we've definitively established the effectiveness of online display ads in increasing site visitation, trademark search queries and both online and offline sales -- despite minimal click rates and irrespective of whether users want / don't want to see the ads: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2587 Our research will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Advertising Research. Perhaps the good doctor should read it. Online advertising will continue to grow because it works.”