A Spade Is a Spade, An Ad Is an Ad

Rebecca Lieb | May 18, 2007 | 0 comments

Forbes welcome screen.jpg I don't know about you, but I feel vaguely insulted every time I click on a Forbes.com link and land on their full-page rich media ad.

It's not that they're serving the ad, mind you, even if the format is intrusive. It's the message in the upper right hand corner providing users with the option to "skip this welcome screen."

Forbes appeals to an educated and sophisticated business audience. The overwhelming majority of Forbes readers are certainly smart enough to recognize an ad when they see one. What Forbes is serving up here is an ad. Nothing remotely "welcoming" about it.

Forbes is not only doing their readers a disservice by running this message, but their advertisers as well.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rebecca was previously VP, U.S. operations of Econsultancy, an independent source of advice and insight on digital marketing and e-commerce. Earlier, she held executive marketing and communications positions at strategic e-services companies, including Siegel & Gale, and has worked in the same capacity for global entertainment and media companies, including Universal Television & Networks Group (formerly USA Networks International) and Bertelsmann's RTL Television. As a journalist, she's written on media for numerous publications, including "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal." Rebecca spent five years as Variety's Berlin-based German/Eastern European bureau chief. Rebecca also taught at New York University's Center for Publishing, where she also served on the Electronic Publishing Advisory Group. Rebecca, author of "The Truth About Search Engine Optimization," was ClickZ's editor-in-chief for over seven years.