“True View” Brings Skippable Ads to YouTube. #trueview

Over the years, YouTube has become bloated with useless ads that no one cares to watch or listen to. The standard practice these days is to press play, mute audio, and switch to another tab for 15-30 seconds. But thanks to a new ad format that YouTube started rolling out today, less time will be wasted “killing time” as we wait for ads as users will now have the ability to skip ads…

The harsh reality: Google TV will feature unskippable ads.

Google TV really looked like a legitimate contender for my living room until these words were confirmed by Google TV project manager, Rishi Chandra: “Google TV ads will not be skippable”. Bummer. If you think about it though, Google is a company that thrives off of advertising. Of course they’re going to do anything and everything in their power to get ads in your face. Except with Google TV, these ads will supposedly be more targeted than ever, somehow equating to a winning solution for end users.

We’ll see about that.

Still think Google TV is all it’s cracked up to be?

Ubergizmo

Apple preventing 3rd parties from using location based ads. Saving the spoils of visual nuisances for themselves?

Ads. Consumers hate them with a passion, though they’re a necessary evil. Consumers like free stuff. Developers, producers, and manufacturers like money. Advertisements help to bridge the gap between the two, giving end users free or greatly reduced access to products and services while those making said products/services still get paid.

With the big push to the mobile internet, manufacturers and developers are struggling to find ways of making money on this new medium. Again, ads swoop in to save the day. In the instance of the iPhone and App Store, mobile advertisements allow apps to bare it all for low cost/free while still bringing in some moola for the devs. Geolocation makes mobile advertising even more effective as it allows ads to more specifically cater to the end user which in turn increases click-thru. Well, it used to anyway.

On rumors that Apple is planning to launch their own mobile advertising service, the California based fruit company has begun sending out notices to developers warning them not to use location based advertising and to instead use the embedded GPS chip for “useful content”. If the rumors turn out to be true and Apple is simply kicking out competition so they can have the whole mobile advertising realm to themselves, “the pot calling kettle black” is hardly strong enough.

To be clear however, it’s all speculation for now as Apple — in true Apple fashion — is tight lipped about any upcoming mobile advertising plans (if any). Think they’re pushing out the competition to better their own position?

MacNN

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Blinking LED ads to thrust us into the 9th circle of advertising hell

Using something as simple as blinking LED lights has incredible possibilities for fast and easy transmission of information and data. Now if someone in the gadget world such as manufacturers and 3rd parties can create apps and services to allow end users to interact with one another, this technology could really take off. Geeky dreams and hopes aside, one industry that is looking to employ such technologies is one that we could stand to lose a bit of interaction with — advertisers.

Advertisers in Japan have figured out a way to tweak the technology so that LED’s attached to ads can beam information to your phone. In their defense, the ads aren’t intrusive in the sense that you’re going to get beamed repeatedly as you walk down the street. Instead, users who see a billboard or ad and are seeking more info can point their phone at the sign and receive more info. While on one hand another way for ads and advertisers to invade our lives sucks, but at the same time, the technology in itself is really cool. It saddens me to even lust after such things as the US is years away from actually embracing and using any such technology for our mobile devices. What do you think: Is the technology so cool that even the ads won’t push you away? Or is it business as usual with these advertisers…?

Mobile Crunch

Ads, ads, and more ads coming to a cellphone near you.

Love your cellphone/smartphone because it gives you relatively ad-free hours of internet exploration and usage? I’ll admit it’s not my first praise for using a smartphone for getting around the internet, but it’s certainly one of my top reasonings. That’s all set to change for the worse in the near future. The impending doom is coming to us thanks to AdMob and their new “Interactive Video Ad Units” which more or less translate to “pain in the ass” for you and I. Ads make freemium models possible and allow end users to enjoy many fruits at free or reduced cost. So ads certainly have their place. But AdMob’s new “Interactive Video Ad Units” are anything but pleasant. The first category of IVAU consist of your typical manually activated video ads in which the end user has to initiate playback. But the second category is the one that really has me not looking forward to the day these arrive — automatically activated videos.

Navigating the web (as often as I do) has me wasting minutes upon minutes per day sitting, waiting, and watching stupid video ads that I can’t skip or even “look around”. My smartphone is the last frontier if you will as it is unbound or polluted with this digital filth. Such joys won’t be enjoyable much longer. Gee I can hardly wait, sitting on the train/bus/walking around town trying to read a quick review on a restaurant only to be greeted with an un-skippable 60 second ad seems like a blast. /sarcasm.

Mobile ads are good in certain instances. Automatic, forced video ads? Not so much. Are you dreading the day?

Internet Evolution

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Apple’s Black Friday sale prices spied?!

Even if your Christmas tree is a bit sparse and your holiday meal is a microwave dinner delight, you can rest assured that you won’t lose any sleep over any of Apple’s pricing this fine Black Friday. If a leaked poster is to be believed, Black Friday 2009 will be quite a winner for Apple with a rather rare showcasing of generosity by the Cupertino giant. The supposed discounts as they appear:

• Up to 15% off of all accessories, hardware, and software

• Up to 25% off of all Macs (Hello 27″ Core i7 iMac)

• Up to 30% off all iPods

• **iPhone and iPod Shuffle excluded

A bit bewildered as to why iPods, the device that is losing steam is getting the most off? That’s the answer to the question — slowing sales means deeper discounts. Well, I assume anyway. As for the rest of the deals, they look pretty darn good. Enough to coax you into opening that wallet of yours?

BGR

Mall of America debuts unobtrusive text-ad service

After the earlier post foretelling of potential advertisement madness on our desktops, this form of advertising being rolled out inside the Mall of America is actually pretty well done. The service is a text message based ad service created by MallCall International and titled: ‘MallCall, The Text Best Thing.

I know what you’re thinking: “Oh great, my phone getting blown up for all kinds of useless coupons”. But that’s just the thing, it won’t be “blown up” non-stop day in and day out. You have to opt in for the service by texting a special number located above the entrance to the mall to begin receiving the ads. Further ensuring this isn’t a nuisance, ads are only sent out during mall hours. Keeping your inbox under control, the service resets each day meaning you don’t have to worry about reoccurring texts showing up even after your day trip to the mall. Though, we mere mortals do have some power. At any point during the day, whether you’re at the mall or not, simply texting “stop” to the number previously mentioned will cease ad delivery.

It is definitely a unique, clever, and well thought out plan. Anyone that ventures to the Mall of America have anything to add?

Textually > Mobile Marketing

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Apple patent of doom: Ads becoming native desktop annoyance — God help us all.

Think those one or two pop ads you always encounter when online are bad? That’s nothing if a patent from Apple gains any traction. An OS full of annoying pop ads and annoying placement may very well soon be coming to your desktop. Though in the age we live, patents and copyrights have become more tools for preventing innovation and saving your ass from lawsuit by filing patents years in advance of a planned release…if a public release is even ever planned. Why ruin the desktop environment with Viagra ads and weight loss flyers? The reasoning is a novel one though — a free, ad supported OS. Kind of like an infected Linux: Free and full of ads. Super. I can generally look past ads on free apps that are add supported, but a full fledged OS with crap content lurking behind every window, waiting for each and every click I make to bombard me about how fat I am and that I need extensions in certain areas? Ya, I’ll pass. A free ad supported OS would spell “win” for many however. Are you one of them? Or are you plenty happy paying a little more for an untouched, clean, and clutter free OS?

Engadget

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With every poorly constructed instructional video comes an epic parody — Thank you Microsoft

We all like a good joke. A good parody video making fun of someone else’s short comings. What could make you laugh? A skateboarding dog? Fat chick on a bike falling off? Or how about an attempt by Microsoft to drum up interest in Win7? In all reality, the last option wouldn’t be “laughing” funny. Instead, it would be more like good god this is horrible I want to hang myself funny. However, in our lives we need a good hearty chuckle. Naturally, a loyal Mac user took some time out of his busy day to give us all a dose of youth elixir in the form of a remixed Microsoft Win7 Launch Party How-To. Except this one is worth watching (eh — so so). For your pleasure, and to make it easier on you oh dear reader, both the original and remixed videos are right inside. Sit back and relax, it’s quite a laugh (not so much).