April 6, 2004

Surprising Reaction to IntelliTXT

IntelliTXT, an interesting contextual advertising product from UK founded Vibrant Media, double underlines marketer-bought words in articles and when a user mouses over them, a paid search-style ad is displayed. Journalists don't like it.

The AdAge article referenced is largely negative. This quote in particular is worrying:

"If it looks like a pop-up, feels like a pop-up or interrupts like a pop-up, we might as well just assume consumers will outright hate and reject the format," said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer of Intelliseek, a Cincinnati research firm that tracks online consumer buzz.

How does it look, feel or interrupt like a pop-up Pete? The ad is only displayed when a user mouses over the word. The control is with the user. The ad seeks permission before being displayed.

Then there is the usual harking about Church and State issues. But journalists should be complaining to their publishers, who choose to implement the advertising option. Keep in mind the decision rests with the publisher not the consumer like earlier versions of similar systems (anyone remember Flyswat?).

I am actually an early fan of the format. Mainly because things need to change for contextual advertising to work.

Niki Scevak: Analyst, Jupiter Research.

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