Do you ever click an adsense ad simply because you really like the free app you're using?
Posted Dec 27, 2010, 1:08 PM UTC
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yup. although I don't think I've ever clicked a mobile app ad because I was actually interested in it.
Conversely, I sometime click ads because the product/company/ad annoys me and I know that clicking it costs them money.
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Yes, I occasionally click on things I don't like. Specifically, right-wing politicians or advocacy groups that show up on sites like Talking Points Memo.
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You shouldn't click on ads on wap-enabled mobile phones. There are reportedly subscription traps that engage as soon as you click on an ad.
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Block premium messaging, FTW.
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I understand the need for ads both in the desktop and mobile spheres but I've never intentionally clicked on an ad. In the same way if I'm watching an ad based channel on tv ill record the show and start watching it 20 or so mins late so I can fast forward every ad break.
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I understand the need for ads both in the desktop and mobile spheres but I've never intentionally clicked on an ad.
I read these comments all the time when the topic of ads comes up, but if this was true for everyone companies like Google and Admob wouldn't be making record profits or be in business at all.
In one of my apps, I show an ad every 60 seconds and each ad gets clicked ~2% of the time. That's enough for a decent profit when you show enough ads so it doesn't matter if most people ignore ads.
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No doubt its not true of everyone and I'm in the minority. It always surprises me when I watch a recorded show at a friends and they let the ads run even though they could avoid them or anyone running a browser without some kind of blocker. I've just never welcomed them and seen them as intrusive no matter what medium they are on.
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I've just never welcomed them and seen them as intrusive no matter what medium they are on.
OK, but I'm sure you don't mind e.g. using reddit, google and other services that are supported from money made from unintrusive ads. I'd rather the ads weren't there at all, but then sites like this might never exist. I have a couple of Android games out where I have a free version and another version without ads (and no other differences). The ad versions make decent money and nobody really cares enough about the ads to pay to turn them off. I'm not saying your views are weird or anything, but the reality is that the ad supported models make a lot of sense to creators especially given that it's difficult to get money out of website visitors and app downloaders any other way.
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I do see your point and I must admit I have recently started adding sites (reddit being one) to my whitelist. I'm also fairly new to Android and ads in apps in general so there is an element of getting used to them that will come into play.
I suppose as this model becomes more prevalent i will have to adopt a more refined approach in the way I respond to ads rather than the blanket avoid or block measures I've used so far.
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yes, websites too.
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To support a developer I'll buy the paid version, if it exists.
Unfortunately in-app ads in Android are akin to the ads you'd see on Myspace: A lame gimmicky attempt to grab your attention...
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A lame gimmicky attempt to grab your attention...
How so? Admob, Mobclix etc. are all profitable businesses.
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There are quite a few "win a free ___" advertisements, and apparently lots of hot singles in my area that are just waiting for me to click here. If even 1% of those were true, I'd be a millionaire by selling the free stuff on eBay.
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But what's your point? They might be lame to you but these ads wouldn't exist if no-one was clicking them.
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The point is that the ads are a weak attempt to trick people into clicking. Specifically people who don't know any better. They expect to get free ringtones and ipads... It's cheap.
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Nope, but I'll always buy the ad-free version and I get really annoyed when one isn't offered at all.
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Yes.
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no.
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Admob's been acquired by Google a while back. But considering the fact that it took them this long to fix the Android Market search, maybe better mobile ads are still on the way...
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Yes I do sometimes I do it on YouTube to help fund a YouTuber that makes great videos. I also do it on a site I like and Apps as well.
But you can never tell people to click on a Ad Google will close your Adsense account if you tell people.
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No. I'd rather get the paid/donatr version to remove the ads, they are annoying as hell. I'm not running AdFree either (and you shouldn't either) because that sucks for the developers, but I keep emaling them for an ad-free version of their app in the market.
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Absolutely.
I do it on the web as well, I use adblock, but disable it on sites I frequent so they get some revenue.
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No.
Ads to me are just something I glaze over and NEVER pay attention to. They do not appeal to me, and I couldn't care less about them.
I see the colors in the corner of my eye, but I have never actually read one. They go 100% ignored by my eyes.
I run AdBlock on my PC for a reason.
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I click on them often by accident. I don't understand why they have to be so large and intrusive.. my phone's screen is not my desktop's monitor.
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No, because it would be incredibly pointless and naive. If you want to support the developer then just pay for the app. If the app only has a free version then you've already done your part.
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No.
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No. Because most of the time they are advertising some shit that is totally useless to me. E.g. right now on the APOD app: annoying animated gif: "Free & awesome mobile content" and "Bar Scene". No thank you.
And almost all of them seems to be offering US-only stuff, why are they wasting their bandwidth on me? One would think that Google, with all their internet knowledge, could filter the ads based on my location.
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That is exactly when you should click the ad!
Doing so costs the useless shit-peddler money for nothing and makes the app developer a bit of change.
Clicking on "bad ads" is literally the internet's version of "voting with your money."
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Clicking on bad ads tells advertisers "hey, this guy is interested in this stupid crap; lets show him more stupid crap" -- it's exactly when you shouldn't click on an ad. You should click on something that might mildly garner your interest. Afterwards, the ads will be closer tailored to things that would interest you.
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Nice try, Google!
I don't want the ad networks, advertisers, nor the buyers of either of their user's statistics knowing exactly what I like.
What you are suggesting is literally using your clicks to buy yourself more targeted advertising. Who honestly wants that?
What I was suggesting is using your clicks to increase the cost of selling bad products. In this touch-screen world, malicious ad-clicking is as close to "giving them the finger" as you can get.
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His point is that, by not clicking useless ads on things, you're (marginally) less likely to see them in the future. You'll see fewer bogus advertisements and Google makes more money from the things you do end up clicking on. The quality and click rate are figured into the cost of running an ad, so by artificially raising the guy's click rate, you're actually letting them advertise for cheaper.
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Yeah, I do that from time to time... but the 'only available/deliverable in usa' annoys the shit out of me...
/adblock ftw
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You actually feel like you're doing a good deed by doing this? I find it really cheap and pathetic. Grow up and pay them with your own money, not someone else's.
What's more: you can actually end up getting the developer's account cancelled by clicking and not buying - see http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/et3ul/fired_by_a_google_algorithm/c1apny9
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DON'T do this. They can track how many click throughs led to downloads, sales, page browses etc. Poor quality clicks means ad providers will pay less money per click. Also, the ad provider will then start only sending you low cost ads because your app isn't generating good money from the good ads.
This system also discourages devs from making the user perform accidental clicks.
Bare in mind that you're costing the ad owner money as well which isn't fair.
Usually I'll click the ad and then a link on the ad page, does that matter? Because if not I'll just stop wasting my time with clicking ads I don't care about.
The ad companies don't release too much information on this to prevent people gaming the system. The people that pay for ads will be keeping a close eye on and tracking what people who click on their ads do though.
For instance, I've seen some funny examples in iphone dev forums where people have complained that they paid ~$0.20 per ad click to direct people to their app and only 1% of those who clicked went on to buy the $1 app (i.e. a hopeless money making strategy). Seriously though, you need to consider that the person paying for the ad might not be able to afford to lose the money and it could be an individual running a startup with limited cash.
At best, you'll be passing on ~$0.05 to the dev by randomly clicking ads. It would be a better use of your time to donate to the dev directly though. I just don't think what you're doing is very nice to the third parties. It certainly doesn't tempt me to invest any money in advertising my games online.
The fact of the matter is, advertising matters nothing to me, it doesn't influence my buying decisions in anyway besides letting me know that a product exists. I have never clicked an ad and bought something from that link ever. At best I will use the ad to learn the name of the product/app, Google the product to see whether it is good or not, and then Google the cheapest place to buy the product/buy it directly from the Market without the referrer.
I do buy a good amount of apps, and I agree direct donations to the dev is the best way to go. But if there is no way to make advertising worth it besides buying stuff directly from the ad, I don't see how that model works.
Sounds like ads are useful then...
The dev will get money from clicks, I'm just saying that the whole ad supported model becomes problematic when a large number of fake clicks are being generated.