Show HN: My new project - Making Ads Fun

by ashraful • 15 years ago

18 28 15 years ago

corin_5• 15 years ago

Truthfully (and, sorry, quite bluntly) I can't imagine this seeing any success or going anywhere. There are already places for people who want to do things (e.g. answer surveys) to earn points (aka prizes), if I want to do this then I will go to those sites, not wait hoping an advert appears.

ashraful9• 15 years ago

But would you not consider this to be a better alternative to a plain ad.

Also, the sites you talk about are rather shady. You need to fill out lengthy surveys that collect your personal information. Here you are simply presented with tasks that are designed to expose you to the brand, not steal your information.

corin_5• 15 years ago

I wouldn't consider it better, no. For one thing, I don't think it will improve user engagement. For another, I think users who are enticed by these adverts are not the users you want to engage (not to say they aren't worth anything, just not much).

GMali• 15 years ago

I actually see them being quite successful tbh. At least for a while until everyone gets used to them and starts ignoring them like it always happens.

nollidge• 15 years ago

The example screenshots are almost unreadably small, even with the little zoomed-in area. I realize you can click on them, but why not just zoom the inset full-size to begin with?

pstuart2• 15 years ago

Bah! I don't want ads that are fun. I want ads that are selling me things I want.

ashraful9• 15 years ago

There are two ways in which we plan to do this.

1. Your friends can "share" ads with you, so you get to see ads recommended by your friends.

2. Some ads will have rewards you want and so you'll interact with them. Some will have rewards you don't want and so you'll ignore them. We will learn from your interactions what type of ads and offers you like the most and try to serve you ads you are more likely to interact with.

Plus we'll also use information you share with us to present ads to you. For example, if we know your location we'll be able to show ads from local businesses.

pstuart2• 15 years ago

#1 and #2 are still more of the same "social advertising" bullshit. The last bit is where it gets interesting.

revorad2• 15 years ago

I generally hate ads, but I see some educational value in this. Hope to see it in action. Are you going to put it on Facebook?

ashraful9• 15 years ago

I used Facebook and Starbucks as arbitrary examples. I would love to have Facebook as a publisher, but I don't think they'd abandon their own ad platform and integrate a third-party one.

revorad2• 15 years ago

I'm sure I have seen ads in the form of polls on Facebook.

Hisoka3• 15 years ago

I don't like this at all. And I wouldn't consider this fun. Where exactly is the game in this? You're just answering poll questions.

dkokelley2• 15 years ago

I don't think you truly understand the concept presented. This is not about answering poll questions (although that is one example). This is about making ads more rewarding to the audience. Now, ads are obtrusive, obnoxious, and act as roadblocks to the things you really want. (Want to watch this TV show? You must pay 7 ads worth of your time.)

By making the ads engaging, the audience actually enjoys the interaction. The ad is no longer an obstacle, it's a reward (or at least, the path to one). The ads don't have to be about answering poll questions. What if you could play the McDonald's monopoly game from Facebook? I love the monopoly game.

Hisoka3• 15 years ago

No, I do understand.

It's a fake engagement experience - I know they're trying to sell me something. It's like a car salesman who invites you to dinner so he can secretly establish rapport and sell you a car afterwards.

As for playing Monopoly from Facebook, that's totally different than what your screenshots were implying. That's a more interactive ad experience, but that's not a new concept. People have been doing that for years.

swlkr• 15 years ago

I suppose this is a DoubleRecall competitor? If I were going to put my money on either of these projects/products I'd go with double recall, looks like it takes less effort on the part of the person viewing the ad.

tadruj2• 15 years ago

Thx for the vote of confidence for DoubleRecall. I think that this is an interesting idea but there are lots of obstacles to cross with any engagement ads, so it's definitely an agility test for the concept and the team, not so much about which product is the best. The one who gets the flag with any engagement product will be big bucks :) and we're running and jumping hard.

ashraful9• 15 years ago

Hey. I'd love to talk to you, both about your product DoubleRecall, and about your experience as a non-US based startup.

Please email me at inltih@gmail.com

ashraful9• 15 years ago

Actually its quite different from DoubleRecall, in the sense that DoubleRecall is presented as a road block. Users are forced to interact with it in order to continue their session.

PLAY is a replacement for display ads. Users interact with the ad only if they choose to do so.

Show HN: My new project - Making Ads Fun

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