Business Insider broke the news yesterday, saying Buzzfeed is “ditching its anti-banner-ad stance to better cash in on its huge audience” by relying on global third-party display ad technology. And they’re going for the duopoly of Facebook and Google to help them: the Facebook Audience Network and the Google DoubleClick Ad Exchange are their partners. The news is a bit of a blow against those who proclaimed the end of advertising amid the rise of subscriptions, but Buzzfeed’s making a smart move: For all the brand power they have, it’s still tied to the attention economy, not a targeted niche of users. Besides, they have to make headway on their revenue potential if they expect to make that rumored 2018 IPO.
But Maybe Banner Ads Aren’t Terrible?
Buzzfeed’s years-long vendetta against the banner ad might have been misguided to begin with, as a 2013 article from Digiday reminds us. Maybe bad banner ads are to blame, rather than the concept of banner ads at all. At their core, banner ads are just a cheap, targetable way to get ads in front of those who need them. As long as no one’s bringing back those annoyingly garish flashing ones from 2003, we can all learn to live with banner ads once again. To go back to that Game of Thrones analogy, this is like if the white walkers all turned out to be cool guys after all. Hey, we do know they have way less in-fighting. Read more advice on advertising strategies at TechCo
