Banner advertisements, why do we care?

If you have done any web surfing at all, I'm sure you've seen plenty of advertisements. Unfortunately, that is a fact of life here on the web. Currently I spend about $70 per month to support this web site. If it grew too large, it could easily run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. As long as the cost is low, I'm willing to foot the bill. However, whenever a site starts getting expensive, the webmaster needs to find another way to pay for it. Out here on the web there are really only three ways to accomplish that. One, the webmaster could convert the site into a commercial web site that sells a product or service. Two, the webmaster could charge admission. Three, the webmaster could sell advertising space. I think selling advertising space is the best as long as that space is one (note I said ONE) ad per page. I am willing to download an ad if it helps to keep a web site noncommercial. Of course, companies will stop buying this ad space if it does not produce results. So I do my part, every once in a while I'll see an ad that looks mildly interesting and I'll click on it. Sometimes I end up at a site that really sparks my interest, sometimes I don't. But by clicking on the ad, I show the company that one more person found their ad at least interesting if not totally effective.

I encourage people to click on banner advertisements (those rectangular ads you see on most web sites) because the alternatives are not pleasant. For example, one alternative that is being tested on several web sites (the first being MSN of course) is called "interstitial advertisements." An interstitial ad is far more intrusive. When you click on a link at a site that is using interstitial ads, you do not jump right to your destination. Instead, first a full page advertisement appears and several seconds after that page finishes loading your browser will start loading the page you had wanted. Basically, we are going back to the network TV days with interrupting commercials! Yuck. I propose that you should ignore every interstitial advertisement and click on some banner ads instead. If we show the companies that interstitial ads are not effective, they will stop using them. Unfortunately, I do not honestly believe enough people will ignore the interstitials.