The Restricted Advertising Blues
When Blythe, Rachel, Lynn and I took over AAR, we decided to take a fresh look at virtually everything at the site. One of those areas was advertising.
Since the inception of advertising at AAR, the site has offered authors only what was termed Restricted campaigns – in other words, ads for specific books weren’t permitted to appear on review pages. Unrestricted campaigns were reserved for everyone else, including publishers and other sellers of goods and services.
We thought about this issue a great deal. We need advertising revenue to keep the site going and Unrestricted campaigns, because they offer significantly more page views, bring in higher fees than Restricted ones – a definite consideration. But, honestly, beyond that, it just isn’t the editorial norm to separate review pages from book advertising.
The New York Times does it. The Washington Post does it. Virtually every review publication does it. And now we are, too.
As of a few days ago, book ads began appearing on review pages. We trust and believe that every single one of our readers will understand that an ad is an ad and a review is a review. And, yes, since the ads are dynamically generated, there will be occasions when an Elizabeth Hoyt ad will appear on an Elizabeth Hoyt review. We think you’ll understand the difference.
Right now, every author who bought a Restricted campaign is now benefitting from Unrestricted access – and the higher number of page views that go along with that. From this point on, however, Restricted campaigns are no longer available.
We remain dedicated to all the big things at AAR – including a renewed commitment to the honest and fair reviews for which we’ve always been known. But this is an important change here at the site. And we just wanted to be upfront with our readers about it.
-Sandy AAR
Thanks. I can live with the flickering ads – everybody has them – but the reloading was driving me batty.
This is long overdue. I am thankful you have taken this step as it is important for keeping this site going. Anyone who can’t tell the difference between an ad and a review isn’t a very discriminating reader and you are under no duty to “”protect”” such a reader. carol
MaryK – the flash ads flicker, but should not reload now. Let us know if it is still a problem for you.
Thanks, everybody, for your comments.
MaryK, the “”flickering”” that you refer to allows the ads to convey more than one message and there’s no going back from that. I haven’t heard anybody else complain of the reloading issue (and I’ve heard many complaints, trust me) but I’ll ask Rachel to look into this.
Bottom line is that ads are how we pay for the site. Simple as that.
I have an issue with the way the ads have been acting lately. I’ve never liked “”flickering”” ads – the ones with 3 different shots to each ad. The flickering is distracting. But lately, when there’s an ad change my browser page reloads and does the reloading click – not when an individual ad flickers but when there’s a change from say the Kindle ad to the AAR site ad. When I visit AAR, I have to mute my computer. It hasn’t happened at any other site so I’m hoping there’s some way it can be tweaked.
I’m with Jane O., ads don’t bother me either. Please, we’re inundated with professional athletes that have logos plastered all over them promoting one sponsor or another. We can handle a little advertising. Although I should confess that I gave in and bought “”For the Love of Pete”” because of the banner…hey, I said I could handle advertising, I didn’t say I was immune to it!
I think that’s a great idea.
Ads never bother me. I’m an expert at ignoring them.
I think this is a smart decision. As a reader, I definitely understand the difference between an ad and a review and don’t confuse the two. And since I rely on AAR as my go-to source for book reviews, I definitely don’t want to see you disappear due to revenue issues. Keep up the good work.