This week I read that Seimens “bought the background” of the Huffington Post. Meaning that if you clicked outside of the main content area (in other words to the far left, far right, top or bottom) of the site, you were directed to a Seimens ad.
I went to HuffPost and could not find this in action — it appeared that their background was neutral and not linking to anything.
A day later I open Pandora for music while I work. Music played without interruption for 30 to 60 minutes, then, between songs, a voice came on to tell me that Pandora streaming is being brought to me by Pepto Bismol. What the heck? I make the Pandora screen active and sure enough, Pandora had been swathed in pink goo.
So, is this the face of the future of web advertising? And can we hope for a little less pink?
Sep 30th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Carl Hunt
I wish I had screen captured this, but I was listening to Pandora and it said something like “Want to see the lyrics for this song?” and had a link. I clicked the link and the process for highlighting the Lyrics tab was sponsored by McDonald’s (not the Lyrics tab itself). We need to get a sponsor for patrons asking where the bathroom is! They ask the question then a big sign pops up behind the circ or ref desk. Cha-ching!
“Directions to the bathroom” brought to you by Hot Pockets!