Monday, July 12, 2004

The Carolinas and online advertising

Isn't that just like a newbie blogger: Signs up a brand new blog and, within a week, takes 9 days off with nothing to say for himself. I was on vacation the past week in both North and South Carolina enjoying cool mountains and waterfalls. Being without internet for so long a time can be disconcerting, but rest assured that I'm back.

I noticed something interesting when I came back to my blog after so long. One of the reasons I picked blogspot was, aside from being free and easy to use, was that there was only one ad and it was unobtrusively at the top. The color scheme of the ad usually blended in, so that was also good. One other thing I discovered was how the ad scans for keywords in my posts and uses them to sell certain items like "The Godfather" DVD for my post on Brando.

I know some that are disturbed by this sort of advertising, particularly on Amazon, but I can't say that I am. The whole explanation of wanting to cater to specific consumer needs seems logical to me and even helpful. Griping about it these days seems futile since even Google, that search engine bastion of non-ads, will produce sales links related to your searches. Now it's true that some searches and keywords can be misinterpreted by computer AI, leading to uncomfortable ads. So, in closing, let this be a warning to anyone looking for cocktail recipes online.

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