This is something I’ve been writing on for some time. Advertising should give more value to the consumers. The enigma where advertisers spend more money on ads while the users spend their money on “ads blockers” must stop.

The winner will be the advertiser that will find a way not to just promote his brand but give the users a value to their web experience at the same time.

A fundamental shift is taking place in the Internet space where only advertisers who form RELATIONSHIPS with consumers will succeed. So contextual advertising will have to become “more contextual” and more personal. Ads will have to become “useful”. Consider Dooplr.com – a website that allows users to share travel plans. Now ads from British Airways to a frequent traveller may be fine because they actually aid the user to travel. British Airways would then have to become a part of the inner circle. “A friend” so to speak. One may even sense a situation where users will choose the relationships it has – with brands and advertisers. So users may be able to choose advertisers from who it seeks to receive advertising. This essentially builds up long-term relationships.

So one may see a situation where one sees short-term advertisers throwing content at consumers for targeted promotions, and one will see long-term advertisers who look to build consumer “friends” and consumer communities. The sense is that only those who build relevant long-term relationships will succeed. Relationships need to be essentially non intrusive.

To me, quality, high-value tasks, conversion, etc… all come from a fundamental understanding of what it is your business is trying to accomplish. Why do you have a website? What are your business goals? With any measurement strategy, these must be properly defined beforehand and the metrics you choose should be derived from these goals.

Dan Piche