Do Ads Really Need to Be Clicked On, Anyway?

M.J. Rose has some thoughts about online advertising after yesterday’s post on whether clicking on ads really helps the blogs you read. Rose says she agrees with Seth Godin about creating “the most robust ad environment” possible, but she’s got a slight twist.

Godin emphasizes a scenario where advertisers have more opportunities to convert slightly interested consumers into purchasers, while Rose argues that conversion isn’t even the point—it’s about the increased exposure that comes with cheaper ad rates for online eyeballs. Most books, except for a handful written by established bestselling writers or dealing with hot topics, “won’t sell via an ad,” she says. “They will interest a reader via an ad,” though, and that should be enough: “Why are we suddenly judging ads by the most difficult criteria when for years publishers didn’t have any way to judge their ads at all?”

Anybody in the online marketing departments got any thoughts on this? And, circling back to the issue that started this whole discussion, is this vision of affordable ad territory really Good for the Bloggers?

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