Leo Laporte - author, tv and radio host, and podcast pioneer - recently made an appearance on the Adam Carolla podcast where he talked about the advertising, traditional media, and the internet. Leo said that advertisers were leaving more traditional media like TV, print and broadcast radio for more targeted content that is distributed via the internet. He said that especially in these times of economic hardship, advertisers are seeking to sponsor content with an audience that they know is more likely to be interested in and engaged by, and that if they are provided quality content, consumers will be more riveted by and engaged by that content.

I think that Leo has a very good point here. When less people are reading newspapers and watching TV, it makes more sense to advertise in places where you know that the audience is part of a certain demographic and interested in certain products. And with the dynamic nature of the internet, this could translate into more targeted ads. For instance, if you go to download an episode of a Leo Laporte podcast episode, an ad for a current sale at a local technology store could be inserted into predetermined spots in the podcast. This ad could be updated every time someone downloads it so it is always current and always targeted. I think that there are all kinds of reasons that companies are turning to the internet for ad spending, and I feel that the increasing amount of money they spend online is justified. This line of thinking leads me to believe that ad spending on the internet is going beyond the simple banner ad that every web surfer has learned to ignore, to become something that the user is actually interested in. I monotize all of my sites by providing targeted advertisements that I choose because of the known demographic and their interests. For instance, on a site that is related to iPhones, I put ads for iPhone accessories and other tech products, while on a site that is related to the hit TV show Family Guy, I link to merchandise for that show and other products that I think those fans would like. Contrast this method with displaying general interest ads on all of these sites. Instead of ads targeted for the demographic, I could display debt consolidation and gambling ads on all sites. Of course there will be people who have unpaid bills and need to lose weight and click through to and buy something from the ads, but far less than they would if they were shown targeted ads. Even though it would be much easier to use the same ads on all sites, it is worth it for me to tailor the monitization models to each site. This is because I try to do what works best, which in the end helps the advertiser as well, which in turn causes them to budget more money for this type of nontraditional internet advertising. Hopefully Leo and I are right and this helps the internet grow with quality content.

Here is a clip from the episode of Celebrity Jeopardy with Sharon Osbourne, Bill Cosby, and Sean Connery. I don’t know why they keep letting that Sean Connery back, he’s such a trouble maker!

You know those Burger King commercials where they give somebody who’s never eaten at Burger King a Whopper?  Well check out what happens when they go to Romania and try it.

Here is the story of Clayton Bigsby, the black white supremecist. (from Chappelle’s Show)

Clayton Bigsby - video powered by Metacafe