International readers have been seeing more ads on the BBC News website. (Click on the image for a larger version).
The comments on the BBC Editors blog offer a snapshot of reaction from readers to the advertising.
Some have commented on the clumsy way the ads have been integrated into the site:
- “I don’t mind ads on websites but hopefully your web designers can learn to place them in a way which is not so intrusive.”
- “I doubt very much that you would add any other feature to your carefully designed site the careless way that you seem to have chucked the ads in.”
- “The ads completely dominate the page and totally distract from the content. They look simply ‘stuck on’ – as if a graphic designer wasn’t involved in the process.”
- “While it may be a necessary business decision, you really ought to get some of your design people working on a much better execution of said necessary evil.”
No doubt many at the BBC share these sentiments and would have liked to have redesigned the website to better integrate the ads.
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[...] BBCNews.com readers criticise ’stuck on’ ads – Reportr.net “I doubt very much that you would add any other feature to your carefully designed site the careless way that you seem to have chucked the ads in.” (tags: internet advertising webdesign bbc) [...]
Maybe in the US, we are so inundated with advertising that we become just a bit oblivious, but I did not notice any change.
Hi,
I don’t object to ads, but the ad-space at the top of the page disrupts one of the best laid out and integrated page structures to be found anywhere on the web today. Put the ads down the right hand side or at the bottom.
If ads are the price to keep such a resource available, that’s a small price. Many of my colleagues have the BBC as their home page because of its quality and the BBC’c reputation. You are truly a global asset and although your primary responsibility is to the UK, you have a moral responsibility, IMHO, to keep the candle burning in the dark.
thanks and rgds
Mike
I fervently hope that the BBC website doesn’t end up being on a par with BBC America on TV here in the US. That is mostly utter rubbish, cluttered with commercials and mindless shows such as “Cash in the Attic” or endless old repeats.
I’d happily pay a fee to have an ad-free BBC website and access to more Radio 5 live programs (I’ve noticed these are becoming more and more restricted to international users).
Ironically, I’d been happy enough with ads on other websites I visit. When I saw the mess the BBC had made of their site, I finally got around to downloading an ad blocker. So now I don’t see any ads on the BBC pages, just a mildly irritating blank area at the top. I left it so all the other sites I visit get their ads seen by me, just not the BBC. Kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think?
Allister
Yes, prompted by the BBC’s vandalism of its own site, I was prompted to get an ad-blocker too: the one I have actually collapses the blank area where the ad would go, so that the site appears exactly like it did before!
But, I live and work in the UK, and I can see the ads when I’m at work.
So, the software that determines where the viewer is situated isn’t that accurate then is it?
Ads for overseas readers? Well, yeah, ok – I can see why the Beeb want to do that and it’s fair enough.
But, the positioning, the white-space balance and the nature of the ads! Appauling. It’s a kin to having an inflatable sofa and a mini-fridge installed in the Louvre.
Sort it out BBC!
Well, i see little wrong with the ads on the bbc site.
I hate these ads on the BBC website because they slow the site down. It used to load instantly but now there is a pause of several seconds during which the page is white.
Also I keep getting an ad with a picture of a sweaty Lance Armstrong on it, which is actually pretty offensive. If you were reading a newspaper and someone kept sticking a picture of a sweaty Lance Armstrong in front of your face every time you turn a page wouldn’t you eventually want to punch them?