Ad firms lose control over online business due to bad quality and lack of technical know-how

Many traditionally offline sectors moved into the digital era with a sense of high-handed complacency. They were the experts in their own businesses and they would handle this new digital channel as they saw fit. This attitude has brought many of these industries, e.g. the music industry and the news media, nothing but trouble. According to an article ran by the Washington Post, the advertising sector is another good example of this.

The rule of thumb with newspapers is that a reader of the old print edition bring 15 to 20 times more advertising revenue than an online reader. While media do have their responsibility in this matter, the editor makes a compelling argument that advertising agencies carry much of the blame, too.

There are two main issues with online advertisement. First is that ads, mostly in the form of banner, are often hideously ugly. This goes so far that even people working in the ads industry tend to resort to ad blockers not to be confronted by the work of their colleagues. Apple, by nature not a firm specialised in designing ads, has started to offer this as a service for firms wanting to advertise on one of Apple’s platforms. One of the creative industries being told how to do their jobs by what is in essence an engineering firm is another sign that the online ad industry has trouble to cope with the demands of the digital era.

Secondly, as advertising became more and more high tech, with issues like data management, behavioural targeting and analytics, the traditional advertising industry lost its control over their services. Again, it were firms with a more technical background, like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo that gained the upper hand.