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Obnoxious expanding ads that take over the whole screen

 
  • Obnoxious expanding ads that take over the whole screen

    I love Last.FM and have been a member for years. I don't mind regular ads. But what kills me are those obnoxious, intrusive ads that expand and take over 3/4s of the screen and prevent you from clicking on anything else.

    They are irritating, they do NOT encourage me to check out the product (in this case, David Guetta album -- I DO NOT CARE!), and it makes me hate visiting Last.FM and using the site.

    This is sad and sucks because I've been using the site for years, but honestly, these ads are just too much and cause extreme frustration -- I cannot click on or see anything else!

    Please limit them to regular ads that stay in their place -- I understand the need for revenue and ads, but this is a whole other level of obnoxious. Thank you for your consideration.

  • I am going to take a stab in the gloomy darkness...

    Clicking the 'X' on these type ads is the only way to make them deflate, which constitutes a 'customer click' It's one of the latest marketing stratagies on the web and you are correct, "It doesn't compell users to purchase the product" However, the advertisers themselves do not care, because our frustration tends to be directed at the web service and not the real culprit, which happens to be the advertisers of the products themselves.

    The ads usually work with 'Flash' and Lastfm might be simply selling space for a Flash ad, including all its applications, like the pop outs and expansions you are seeing.

    Mind you, I am just taking a wild guess here, as only LFM staff could really answer this accurately, but it is a logical guess, why LFM take little control over the inserted advertising features.

    I can also guess, not very many end users, offer feedback about these ads, directly to the advertisers, product distributors and marketers, as you have done here - you offer a valid complaint, but it is directed at the website and not the product.

    Simply put: Lastfm have the Flash ability and space, already in place. The advertiser of the product manipulate that space, which is the annoying part.

    More: Take note, that although you are frustrated with the advertising stratagy and you stated, "You do no care about it", you remembered the ad was for an album from "David Guetta". The advertiser knows you will not click to navigate away from LFM and look into purchasing their product. However, the next time you are in a music store and you happen to see that album on the shelf, you will remember some of the finer points of the annoying ad and may purchase the product right off the shelf.

    Edited by CrybKeeper on 4 Feb 2011, 15:26
    • Joyuna said...
    • User
    • 4 Feb 2011, 15:26
    Agreed, there was a little bit of discussion here but no real satisfying response.

    I totally understand that websites require money, especially something like Last.fm, but there are so many ways to advertise that don't rely on such user-unfriendly methods as popping up in front of the webpage.

    ~Joy
  • The Last.fm advertising team have guidelines and specifications which an advert must pass before it is shown on the site, e.g. no audio, nothing spammy, or that would otherwise go against our community guidelines or Terms of Use.

    We also collate feedback via the various channels open to users regarding ads and use this to update these specifications from time to time to ensure that ads are not intrusive.

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