Here's a catchy name for the ad bubble - we could call it "advertising-supported software." Or, for short, ASS.
Google isn't ASS, because Google ads aren't really ads. They're more like the shelf slots that Safeway sells to food vendors. Google is a store - the world's biggest store, browsed by full-text search.
(In fact, if I was Goog, I'd separate the UI into two intents, with a radiobutton or something: either you're shopping, or you're searching for information. The latter is a free, spamless service that supports the former.)
I think FB will have to learn to make its money the old-fashioned way - by providing valuable services. FB is a valuable service - it makes $5 per user a year, from ads. How many FB users would drop the service if they had to pay $5 a year? And how many other services can FB add? Dropbox anyone? Dropbox isn't ASS...
Advertising is a crappy way of funding services. It chiefly exists because of payment friction. Startups are supposed to be the future. Is crap the future? Is your project ASS? Great, but have a plan to exit before the ASS bubble pops. Some of us remember the first era of "eyeball valuation"...
Google isn't ASS, because Google ads aren't really ads. They're more like the shelf slots that Safeway sells to food vendors. Google is a store - the world's biggest store, browsed by full-text search.
(In fact, if I was Goog, I'd separate the UI into two intents, with a radiobutton or something: either you're shopping, or you're searching for information. The latter is a free, spamless service that supports the former.)
I think FB will have to learn to make its money the old-fashioned way - by providing valuable services. FB is a valuable service - it makes $5 per user a year, from ads. How many FB users would drop the service if they had to pay $5 a year? And how many other services can FB add? Dropbox anyone? Dropbox isn't ASS...
Advertising is a crappy way of funding services. It chiefly exists because of payment friction. Startups are supposed to be the future. Is crap the future? Is your project ASS? Great, but have a plan to exit before the ASS bubble pops. Some of us remember the first era of "eyeball valuation"...