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Archive for October, 2006

Order Levitra

Wednesday, October 18th, 2006

Since launching Fanpop Order levitra, earlier this summer, I've had the good fortune to see much more of the web than I have in a long time (courtesy of the Fanpop 100). Sharing my own discoveries with other fans as well as checking out those recommended by my peers has been thoroughly enjoyable. It has also taught me a little more about what makes a good site and - perhaps more importantly - it has reminded me what makes for a bad, bad, bad website. Köpa levitra online, As a result, I've become even more acutely aware of the things that really, really piss me off as an end-user.

I could write a long treatise on what makes for a bad web experience, but for this article I just want to focus on advertising strategies that are a complete turn-off to users. Now I know that advertising is a necessary part of the web, so don't jump on me for being anti-advertising, order levitra. I'm not, For levitra online. But I am a staunch advocate for user-centric product design. For me, the rules of user-centric advertising are pretty clear. Here are the advertising tenets I like to live by (along with some corollaries):


  1. Advertising should not upset user expectations.


    • Advertising is not content.

    • Advertising should not hijack user navigation.

    • Advertising should not create confusion.


  2. The amount of advertising should be proportionate to the benefit received by the user.

  3. Advertising should target your users appropriately.

  4. Advertising must never directly jeopardize your traffic.


In order to properly explain these rules, Pennsylvania PA Penn. , let's just jump into the online strategies that scream "screw you, user!" and violate one or more of the above tenets (I'm gonna completely skip the much reviled pop-up and pop-under, because the conventional wisdom on those is pretty much established)

In no particular order...
1. Ads in RSS Feeds Order levitra, This one gets my blood boiling. It really does. Advertisements should not be in RSS feeds. Why, levitra online cheap, you ask. Simply put, it violates all four of my advertising tenets above.


  • Advertising is not content, order levitra. RSS feeds are effectively data feeds. Köpa billiga levitra, When one makes use of a data feed, one expects pure, unadulterated information.

  • Advertising in feeds is confusing. The benefit of RSS is its ability to aggregate multiple sources so that you can scan through massive amounts of data quickly. Interspersing advertising into a feed can undermine the efficiency of RSS consumption (even when the advertisements are properly called out).

  • RSS content feeds are already providing a real benefit to the syndicator in the form of traffic. Incorporating ads into the feed tips the value equation firmly in the favor of the advertiser.

  • Order levitra, RSS tends to be used by power users, early adopters and avid internet consumers Do you really want to antagonize these users?


2. "Pre-roll" Ads on Short Video Clips

Pre-roll ads are video spots that run BEFORE a video you requested is presented to you, kopen goedkope levitra. Here are my problems with them.


  • You really can't justify forcing me to watch a 15-second clip in order to see a 60-second piece of content after it. Not when all that's waiting for me is a low-resolution clip with bad sound and only semi-entertaining content. For my money, clips under 3 minutes long aren't worth a 15-30 second pre-roll ad, order levitra. Give me a 30-minute high-quality program and I'll change my tune.

  • I've got alternatives. Køb billige levitra, Case in point: I don't bother with Battlestar Galactica clips on SciFi.com anymore because they employ this tactic. I can't stand it. The BSG webisodes were what, 2 minutes long and mostly just "meh". Order levitra, Did I really want to sit through an advertisement before the program began. Hell no. So instead, Maine ME Me. , I just looked for the clip on YouTube (which thankfully did not implement pre-roll ads).

  • This kind of advertising completely puts your traffic at risk. Am I going to browse around and experiment with new, unknown content as much. Am I gonna bother to watch that 30-second clip of a cat dancing on its hind-feet (and was only rated 2-stars by your users) knowing I have to endure a 15-second advert. Moreover, am I gonna bother embedding that clip on my blog knowing my audience will be subjected to the same, order levitra. North Dakota ND , Doubtful.


3. Big Ass Splash Pages

Hard to believe that large, legitimate websites still use these, but they do. In fact, my former employer makes extensive use of them (1up.com), buy levitra online without prescription.

Splash pages violate most of the above tenets.


  • Order levitra, When I punch your url into my browser's address bar, I want your site, your content, not a page that is exclusively devoted to an advertisement or splashy marketing material.

  • The advertiser/user benefit ratio is totally skewed when it comes to splash pages. I mean, literally, you are giving the user ZERO, Acheter levitra bon marché, nothing, nada. The site owner and/or advertiser, reaps ALL of the benefit on the initial page load. Frankly, when I see something like this, Ohio OH , my first inclination is to hit the home button on my browser and start over. Honestly folks, when you see this tactic an alarm in your head needs to go off and say: "This site wasn't made for users, this site was made for advertisers. I'm outta here!", order levitra. Købe levitra online, Seriously. Users deserve better. Advertisers, don't get me wrong, making money is a great thing but you don't need to go about it so shamelessly.

  • Finally, not only does a splash page put your traffic at risk (why risk getting people through the front door to your site, Indiana IN Ind. , of all places!) but it also could jeopardize your SEO by obstructing the search engine spiders crawling your site (check out this recent SEOMoz article on this very subject).


4. Inline Keyword Advertising

Ever see those obnoxious double-underlined, hyperlinked words in news articles that also launch pop-ups when you hover over them. (Here's an example Order levitra, ) If so, you've enjoyed the wonders of IntelliTXT, Kontera, Adbrite and other companies with similar services that allow content-rich sites to sell keywords IN their articles and news stories.

This type of advertising sucks in so many ways it's hard to keep count. Washington WA Wash. ,


  • First, the blurring between content and advertisement is completely breached. The only signifier that the link is an ad is for those aware enough to know that the double-underline represents "advertisement".

  • Secondly, these ads completely mess with user expectations about hyperlinks. The general expectation is that a hyperlink within an article will take me to more information about that article, not launch me into a sales pitch.

  • Don't even get me started on the mouseover popups...


5. News articles totally obscured by advertising

You know what I'm talking about (here's a perfect example of this phenomenon); the news article that looks like spam, the article that doesn't start until you scroll down below the two large rectangle ads, thhe news article that is scrunched off onto the side of the page and is forced to awkwardly word-wrap around a constant flow of boxy ad units, order levitra.

I hate them too.

Ads within articles might perform well with some users, but they also run the risk of totally interfering with the readability of the content. Ensuring that your site looks like a big spam-topia is certainly not the kind of impression you want to leave your users with.

These are the advertising tactics that totally piss me off as a user and (often) send me packing for another site. I'm sure there are other obnoxious advertising tactics out there (and who knows, maybe we are inadvertently doing some of them on Fanpop - I certainly hope not though). Feel free to add yours to the comments section below.

For more information on web design, advertising and web marketing feel free to peruse the following Spots on Fanpop:

.

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Buy Levitra Without Prescription

Thursday, October 5th, 2006

Buy levitra without prescription, No, I'm not talking about Heroes, the awesome new show on NBC, I'm talking about my personal heroes. One of the perks of starting a little company is that you have an excuse to reach out to people you've admired from afar. I've gotten to talk to and meet Paul Graham, buy levitra online cheap, the founder of Viaweb which later sold to Yahoo. Wisconsin WI Wis. , and the man behind YCombinator. If you haven't heard of Paul before, I highly recommend reading his inspirational essays, Oklahoma OK Okla. . During the early stages of forming Fanpop, his essays were extremely helpful and insightful, buy levitra without prescription. They give very practical and tangible tips for anyone thinking about starting a tech company. Levitra farmacia a buon mercato, Another person's writings and advice that inspired me was Guy Kawasaki, the managing director of Garage Technology Ventures and the chief evangelist for the Macintosh at Apple Computer. His blog, cheap levitra no prescription, Signal Without Noise, Comprar en línea levitra, was a constant source of entrepreneurial wisdom and guidance. The thing I loved about his book, The Art of the Start, Levitra online kopen, and blog was how real and matter of fact they were. He calls bull shitake when he sees it. He cuts through all of the fluff and got right to the point, buy levitra online. His down-to-earth Hawaiian personality was clearly evident throughout his writing. It was so refreshing to hear such honesty and candor, buy levitra without prescription. Cheap levitra online legally, Check out this keynote speech he gave that gives you and idea of how cool this cat is.

I started an email exchange with Guy last month and this past Monday Guy was nice enough to invite me to breakfast. Needless to say, levitra delivery, I was a little nervous about meeting him. New York NY N.Y. , All those fears were allayed right away when we started comparing notes on our Motorola Qs within the first minute of meeting. Buy levitra without prescription, It's always nice to meet a kindred spirit. :) We talked about a lot of stuff, but eventually he wanted me to give him a demo of Fanpop, buy levitra from canada. He was impressed with what he saw and posted a "reality check" about Fanpop on his widely-read blog. Køb discount levitra, Digg it. We've gotten a ton of traffic from the post and hopefully I'll get to see Guy again real soon.

Some of my favorite heroes in recent months have been some of our passionate users, buy levitra without prescription. One that stands out in particular is Joshua Olson, New Mexico NM N.Mex. . He joined Fanpop as monkeypup and instantly just "got it". He reached out to us with some constructive feedback that was almost a carbon copy of our product plans along with some other really good suggestions. It was amazing to me that a user would go to the trouble to write such detailed suggestions. Buy levitra without prescription, But it was obvious to me that he liked the site and wanted to make it even better. I really admired his passion and commitment to things he believed in regardless of what he got in return. Joshua posted this awesome blog entry about Fanpop. But he really blew me away when he offered to spruce up our pathetic MySpace page and start a Fanpop campaign via MySpace because he loved the site so much. I personally think MySpace is garbage and the UI is horrendous which made me throw up a little at the thought of even having to go back there. I never thought I'd use the words beautiful and MySpace in the same sentence, but Joshua worked his magic and converted the ugly default template into a beautiful MySpace profile for Fanpop. I could hardly believe it myself, but he pulled it off and for that we are grateful to him. If we could have even a handful of users as dedicated as Joshua, we just might make it in this crazy web world.

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Buy Soma Online Cheap

Wednesday, October 4th, 2006

We're long overdue for another Fanpop list from our popular Viral Videos Spot Buy soma online cheap, so I thought I'd throw together some mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, how-the-heck did-they-do-that videos displaying just how amazing the human mind and body can be. Otherwise known as the "holy crap!" videos. Some are musical, Ohio OH , some are athletic, and some are just mind-boggling. Enjoy.

15, Hawaii HI . Amazing Soccer Goal

The title pretty much says it all, buy soma online cheap. The goalie must feel pretty dejected after this one.

14. Ordering soma overnight delivery, Guitar Kid with Chops

This is a pretty famous video that went around the web of a mysterious kid who plays a wicked arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon. Turns out he's a 22 year-old Korean guy. Buy soma online cheap, Kid or adult, he plays a mean guitar.

13. 720 Dunk

You've heard of 360 dunks, osta alennus soma, but check out this kid pull off a 720 (okay maybe it's really only a 540 but still!) dunk in the middle of a game.

12. Order soma online cheap, Unbreakable

Not that you'd ever want to get hit by a speeding car while riding your bike or scooter, but if you did, you'd want it to happen like this.

11, buy soma online cheap. Dude Surfs Massive Wave

I've seen waves, Alaska AK , but this was like a tsunami. This guy either has huge cajones or a death wish. Colorado CO Colo. , No idea if he makes it out alive or not.

10. Ridiculous Ping Pong Rally Buy soma online cheap, Sure, you play ping pong with your dad in the garage or basement sometime. But trust me, you've never played like this, cheapest soma online.

9. Four Year-Old Drumming Prodigy

Another musical genius, φτηνές φαρμακείο soma, but this time, it's a toddler tearing it up on the drums. You won't believe it til you see and hear it.

8, buy soma online cheap. Crazy Quarters

Trust me, Vermont VT Vt. , if this guy wants to play drinking games, make sure it's beer pong. Nebraska NE Nebr. , 7. Pen Spinning/Twirling

I used to be able to twirl pens in high school, but this is ridiculous.

6, buy cheap soma online. One-Legged DDR Buy soma online cheap, I can't even play DDR with two-legs. Check out what this guy can do with one.

5. Cheapest soma prices, Urban Ninja

He can leap tall buildings in a single bound...he's the urban ninja. Kids, don't try this at home.

4, buy soma online cheap. Freaking Amazing Can Tossing

You know how you like to pretend you're Michael Jordan and try to aim for a trash bin when you toss out your soda can, buy soma from canada. Well these French guys take it to a whole new level.

3. Soma no prescription, Unbelievable Korean Archery

I think they should have cast one of these Korean guys as Legolas instead of Orlando Bloom. Buy soma online cheap, 2. Russian Spiderman

Not to be outdone by the Urban Ninja, these Russian guys do the craziest stunts I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure they're uninsurable after this video got around on web though.

1. The Human Camera

So maybe you're saying, yeah yeah, anyone can be crazy enough to toss themselves off buildings or practice can tossing for hours or get smashed by a car and walk away or fly through the air and do two revolutions before dunking a basketball...but I guarantee you, you can't do this. This guy Stephen Wiltshire shows us just how amazing the human mind can be, buy soma online cheap. After I saw this, indeed I had to say "holy crap!".

Hope you enjoyed the videos. If you think these suck and have better ones, then put up or shut up by posting them to the Viral Videos spot. Until then, we'll leave the light on for ya.

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