A Spade Is a Spade, An Ad Is an Ad

I don't know about you, but I feel vaguely insulted every time I click on a Forbes.com link and land on their full-page rich media ad. It's not that they're serving the ad, mind you, even if the format is intrusive

Forbes welcome screen.jpg I don’t know about you, but I feel vaguely insulted every time I click on a Forbes.com link and land on their full-page rich media ad.

It’s not that they’re serving the ad, mind you, even if the format is intrusive. It’s the message in the upper right hand corner providing users with the option to “skip this welcome screen.”

Forbes appeals to an educated and sophisticated business audience. The overwhelming majority of Forbes readers are certainly smart enough to recognize an ad when they see one. What Forbes is serving up here is an ad. Nothing remotely “welcoming” about it.

Forbes is not only doing their readers a disservice by running this message, but their advertisers as well.

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

2y

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource
Announcement Alert from Lee Arthur
Weekly briefing | Digital Transformation

Announcement Alert from Lee Arthur

2y

Announcement Alert from Lee Arthur

Announcement Alert!! Read More

View resource
The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index
Whitepaper | Digital Transformation

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

3y

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

The Merkle B2B 2023 Superpowers Index outlines what drives competitive advantage within the business culture and subcultures that are critical to succ...

View resource
Impact of SEO and Content Marketing
Whitepaper | Digital Transformation

Impact of SEO and Content Marketing

3y

Impact of SEO and Content Marketing

Making forecasts and predictions in such a rapidly changing marketing ecosystem is a challenge. Yet, as concerns grow around a looming recession and b...

View resource