Internet Advertising |
| In 1994, a new brand of advertising impacting every
consumer who has access to the World Wide Web was introduced. (1) An advertisement
on the World Wide Web is placed on a web page, with hope that the consumer
will click on the link, or displayed through a pop-up. But, advertising
on the World Wide Web is a significant moneymaker. The $3.8 billion spent
on advertising is larger than advertisements on billboards, and that is
only in the first nine months of 2002. (2) This makes World Wide Web advertising
effective, yet annoying. Advertisements placed on web pages are aimed at attracting the consumer to click on the advertisement, and get directed to that web page, hoping the consumer will purchase products from that company. Another way to advertise on the World Wide Web is through pop-ups, which occur when a company has an automatic link to certain web pages. Usually pop-ups contain images that do not represent the product. Two of the most prominent pop-ups on the World Wide Web are for “Orbitz” and “Amazing Xcam2.” “Orbitz’s” pop-up contains a thermometer, which has no relationship to the product really being sold – airline tickets. “Amazing Xcam2” pop-up displays girls in bikinis, enticing many consumers to click on it in hoping a porn site will appear. But, the company is really marketing a camera. Pop-ups market to the consumer by displaying a promising advertisement, when in reality the consumer is tricked into believing something that is not. World Wide Web advertising poses a problem by putting a hole in the consumer’s pocket. “Children are reported to spend $7.5 billion per year and to influence $132 billion of their parents’ spending” (3) all because of an attractive link on the side of a Web page and annoying pop-ups. |
| NOTES: |
| (1) David W. Schumann and Esther Thorson,
ed., Advertising and the World Wide Web (Mahwah, New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1999), 5. (2) Rishad Tobaccowala and Robin D. Hafitz, Will the Internet Become a Significant Advertising Medium? [magazine on-line] (Slate Magazine: Microsoft Corporation, 2003, accessed 30 January 2003); available from http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgi-bin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|ID=12|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe; Internet. Also available [Online]: LexisNexis [Accessed: 30 January, 2003]. (3) David W. Schumann and Esther Thorson, ed., Advertising and the World Wide Web (Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1999), 74. |
| Web sites |
| Title of Web page: Orbitz |
| Web address: |
http://www.orbitz.com/App/GetDealsDetailsContent? deal_id=nw_system_012803&source=of&type=b&referralcode=N2870.esp |
| Brief description: The pop-up that occurs, a thermometer on it that lists a very low temperature with the slogan, “Record LOWS Reported!” directs you to the main page for Orbitz. This pop-up entices the consumer to click and go to the page even though the consumer has no idea what the pop-up is for. |
| Source of Web site: Orbitz, LLC 2001 |
| Title of Web page: How to See & Record Everything |
| Web address: |
http://www.x10.com/home/offer.cgi?LND178,../ |
| Brief description: The pop-up that occurs has pretty girls in bikini’s getting their picture taken. Many consumers will click on the girls thinking an obscene page may show up, when in fact it will not. A page to buy a camera does. |
| Source of Web site: X10 1997-2003 |
| Title of Web page: Amazon |
| Web address: |
| http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/104-2338653-6733556 |
| Brief description: This web page has many different links the consumer can go to and buy many different products. But, along the side of the web page, there are advertisements for different companies. Some of these companies are, “BABIESRUS.COM,” “Marshall Field’s,” “Office Depot,” “Target” and “TOYSRUS.COM.” All of these companies want the consumer to click a link to the company’s home page, to sell the consumer a product. |
| Source of Web site: Amazon.com, Inc. 1996-2003 |