If you follow the search industry at all you’ve probably heard about the furious bar room fight between Danny Sullivan, Editor in Chief of Search Engine Land and Eric Clemons a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sullivan vs. Clemons: Debating the Future of Advertising
Mr. Clemons threw the first punch when he authored a post last week on TechCrunch entitled “Why Advertising is Failing on the Internet”. From my vantage, I thought it was an interesting and provocative post, especially his comments on how the challenges facing the advertising industry have nothing to do with the medium, and everything to do with the message. In summary, the fundamental problem with advertising is that it’s simply not trusted, not wanted, and not needed.
However, other parts of Mr. Clemons post we’re much less interesting, borderline ludicrous, and apparently down right infuriating to some, including Mr. Sullivan.
Like any self-respecting Irishmen who feels provoked, Mr. Sullivan, responded with a barrage of editorial punches and kicks to the head, stomach, and rump of Mr. Clemons. As a former collegiate wrestler and an Irishmen myself — I found it highly entertaining.
Now that the dust has settled, it’s clear that the brawlers agree, more than they disagree, about the future of advertising on the Internet. The biggest take away is that “advertising” will continue to undergo deep and fundamental changes, both offline and online, because consumers:
- do not trust advertising as much as they do other sources of information
- do not want advertising to interrupt their experiences and are capable of “tuning it out” when present
- do not need advertising to inform their opinions in a hyper-connected and socially-networked society
All of that being said, there’s not a snow ball’s chance in hell that advertising is dying. It’s just changing.
“Transparent conversations” and “authentic content” are becoming the most trusted form of advertising.
Quality businesses that openly participate in conversations and regularly share authentic content with members of the public will become more discoverable in all forms of search (organic, paid, local, mobile, social, etc) and they will grow faster than business who fail to participate.
No one can argue about this — not even Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Clemons.
