Publishers planning ads in e-books

[Therin of Andor]

I have plenty of Star Trek books and I like the way they look on my shelf.

And many of them have ads in them.

 

[AN_D_K]

When not working or gaming I don't like to look at screens.

So do I. That's why I got a kindle that uses e-ink and doesn't look like a screen.

I'm also loving not having as many storage boxes of books

 

[ST-One]

When not working or gaming I don't like to look at screens.

That's why true eBook-readers have eInk-screens.

I have plenty of Star Trek books and I like the way they look on my shelf.

And many of them have ads in them.

Exactly.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Surely all this will mean is pressing the "page turn" button once or twice more during the course of the ebook?

Not. A. Problem.

 

[Kataaran]

If they start putting ads in ebooks they'll start getting feature creep. It won't just be an image banner it'll be an image with a lump of security busting javascript to keep track of stats, just like doubleclick do ATM.

AdBlock for ebooks anyone?

 

[kkozoriz1]

You're dreaming if you think that mid to long term this will mean lower prices.

Sorry, I should have been clearer: I will not pay for any e-book. So if it ain't free, I ain't reading it.

Sadly, though I don't remember cable TV being ad free. Before my time, I guess.

Cable TV wasn't free. It was ad free which is why you paid for it. Now, you're paying even more and there's ads all over the place.

 

[JWolf]

Fuck them. I won't buy e-books with ads. Not only is it the principle of the thing, I don't want some damn video popping up right in the middle of when I'm trying to read.

ePub is your friend. Strip the DRM, delete the advertising content and done. I've seen some eBooks with advertising at the end of them. All I do is delete the content, edit the OPF to also remove the deleted content, and maybe edit the NCS and internal ToC. That's not a lot of work really. And it means no wasted space at the end with advertising I don't need and don't want.

 

[JWolf]

The article does mention free or heavily subsidised.

Also to pick out of the article is the crap ways they are thinking of doing it. Just sticking ads between each chapter. That alone shows that they don't know why they are doing.

They are still thinking in print and pages. It's a digital media. They should be thinking of making the most of advertising around the shopping for the product. Tech-wise ebook formats should be looking into methods of making an ad pop on when you load the book each session rather than appear between chapters.

To do stuff like making an advert appear when an eBook is loaded would have to be done via the reading software, not the eBook. Most software cannot handle adverts. So either the adverts are inserted into the eBooks or the reading software is modified.

 

[AN_D_K]

To do stuff like making an advert appear when an eBook is loaded would have to be done via the reading software, not the eBook. Most software cannot handle adverts. So either the adverts are inserted into the eBooks or the reading software is modified.

that's why I said tech-wise and ebook format. Especially in a closed format like kindle this could just be done tomorrow.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I don't like e-books and cheerfully await their demise, so -- no skin off my back.

 

[JD]

A long as it doesn't interupt the actual story I can up with ads. Just keep them at the beginning and end of an e-book.

 

[Therin of Andor]

And it means no wasted space at the end with advertising I don't need and don't want.

Did you used to rip out the advertising pages from the MMPBs?

 

[BillJ]

And it means no wasted space at the end with advertising I don't need and don't want.

Did you used to rip out the advertising pages from the MMPBs?

You obviously haven't noticed how intrusive electronic advertising is in this day and age. I have multiple higher-end machines and had to get the AdBlock add-on for FireFox to get web pages (including TrekBBS) to load with any speed.

It's 'apples and oranges' when comparing print ads with their electronic counterparts.

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

The more annoying the ad, or the more frequently it assaults my senses, the less likely I am to buy the product. If I'm buying a novel, I'm not accepting ads (unless I'm paid to watch them and it's my choice whether or not to do so).

I can see them inserting an ad mid-story, with a timer that forces you to stare at it for 30 seconds before continuing to read. How'd you like that?

 

[Therin of Andor]

You obviously haven't noticed how intrusive electronic advertising is in this day and age.

You obviously have never had to try and get your potential buyers' attention and sell a product you know they'd want to buy, if only they realised it was out there.

 

[BillJ]

You obviously haven't noticed how intrusive electronic advertising is in this day and age.

You obviously have never had to try and get your potential buyers' attention and sell a product you know they'd want to buy, if only they realised it was out there.

That's the sellers problem... not mine. With the various web sites I visit, I doubt I'm missing out on much if I don't see an eyesore advertisement. YMMV.

 

[kkozoriz1]

From the article noted in the first post:

"Some Wowio e-books have three pages with promotions: an introduction and a closing page each with an ad, plus another full-page ad. The company also is experimenting with techniques to insert ads between chapters and to target ads using profile information that users submit to its website, says Wowio Chief Executive Brian Altounian."

Inserting ads between chapters? Collecting user information? Yeah, that's what I expect of my novel reading experience.

 

[JD]

If they actually start putting ads between each chapter I'll be avoiding that company or going back to paper. I wouldn't mind if there were a few adds, but one after every chapter would get damn annoying.

 

[Christopher]

I can see them inserting an ad mid-story, with a timer that forces you to stare at it for 30 seconds before continuing to read. How'd you like that?

I'd just do what I do with ads on TV or Hulu: look elsewhere for 30 seconds.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Those 30 seconds are mine as long as I paid for the book.

Will the writers start getting paid for product placements? Will the writers see any money from the ads and do product placements for a few extra bucks?

It's a slippery slope I don't intend to head down. I've got a big library and i"m well into middle age. I can stop buying new books just like I stopped watching TV.