Anyway, it raises a very important point, not just for the advertising web but for IT in general.
it seems part of the catalytic nature of IT, that it does both increase efficency and reduce effectiveness of ads. because the increased exposure reduces the effectiveness in our minds, the omnipresence of ads online will cause their prices to fall, causing the need for more ads. it's like a death spiral. however I'm wondering then how could print and tv ads survive for so long? maybe one solution might be to actually decrease the number of ads on the web - to maybe one prominent, shortly displayed ad per page (could there be a study measuring the average screen/page share for ads in print and online media?).
or if that fails: IT costs have also been decreasing every year, hence even if facebooks revenues might stall, ever lower server costs might allow them to keep a profit. nowadays a one man show can in many instances run a small business on the web with thousands of clients.
Anyway, it raises a very important point, not just for the advertising web but for IT in general.
it seems part of the catalytic nature of IT, that it does both increase efficency and reduce effectiveness of ads. because the increased exposure reduces the effectiveness in our minds, the omnipresence of ads online will cause their prices to fall, causing the need for more ads. it's like a death spiral. however I'm wondering then how could print and tv ads survive for so long? maybe one solution might be to actually decrease the number of ads on the web - to maybe one prominent, shortly displayed ad per page (could there be a study measuring the average screen/page share for ads in print and online media?).
or if that fails: IT costs have also been decreasing every year, hence even if facebooks revenues might stall, ever lower server costs might allow them to keep a profit. nowadays a one man show can in many instances run a small business on the web with thousands of clients.