Something that is a common thread you’ll see across the ‘net, whether it be what bloggers are doing or content providers, portals, etc. are putting forth is rating the advertisements. AOL has its ad poll, YouTube is holding its “Supervote voting, USA Today’s ad meter is well known as the “rule” that a lot of people follow in the coming days. What you’ll notice this year is that it isn’t as much of the individual being forced to get caps of the ads up on their own, like it was two years ago - on AdJab in 2005, that’s what we ended up doing - but more and more advertisers, if not all of them, are making ads available in decent resolution to outside partners as well as their own sites. The site I’m the most critical of, honestly, is GoDaddy, which has people putting in security codes to view the ad. I know that probably helps them with measurement and whatnot, but it’s annoying, kind of like trying to read Bob Parsons’ blog. I don’t want to have to click into every single post to read more than one line of text. Come on. Think you’re progressive? No, you’re growing pageviews.
But, back to business. AOL, looking to incent people - not just its traditional user base - to take part in the Ad Poll, has teamed up with Publisher’s Clearing House, which is one of the official sponsors for this year’s poll. Fans who vote on the spots will be able to register to win a $5,000 prize, and all entrants will also be entered to win PCH’s $10 million sweepstakes that will be announced on Feburary 28, 2007.
