Reddit introduces a new ad format that looks similar to posts made by users | TechCrunch
Reddit is introducing a new ad format that looks similar to posts made by users on the platform, the company announced on Thursday.
In early testing of the new format, Reddit found that free-form ads outperform all other ad types in average click through rate (CTR) by 28%
Translation: users mistakenly click it 28% more, before realising that it isn't actually content
along with increased community engagement when comments are enabled.
Translation: more "fuck your ad" complains in the comments.
More importantly, I predict that the move will increase the usage of ad blockers within the site. Dressing ads as content feels like a bad idea - I feel like users interpret this as a sign of hostility, trying to "deceive" them. I'm not sure on that though, I'm half-drunk through the whole day and I don't have data to back me up.
More importantly, I predict that the move will increase the usage of ad blockers within the site.
Sadly a lot of Reddit's traffic comes from mobile, which now only allows the official app that Reddit can fill with however many ad posts they want.
That's a fair point, but: if you drop the distinctiveness between ad and content too low, phoneposters go elsewhere. Because not even phoneposters want that noise. So it's still a bad idea.
They been doing these ads for ages, sometimes they would leave the comments open and I'd google a better competitor and advertise them in the comments.
That's also a common strategy. Someone will ask about a product that is actually the competitor's product, and then they'll reply to that post with a bunch of shill accounts saying "actually Acme doodads are better. Get them on the official website because Amazon is evil". Then a bunch of people get duped into thinking they're reading legitimate reviews from real people.
The remaining users on Reddit don't care. They've intentionally dumbed down the site to get rid of people who do care, and attract more people who don't. They can't even be bothered to understand how things work.
Nah, you right tho
I like "I don't have data to back me up".
I'm gonna try to remember to use that whenever I doll out my feefee based opinions.
Well, they're pretty much the same thing anyway. I just felt that it wouldn't be honest to pretend that I have knowledge that I don't; and knowledge comes from data, so...
(Another cool word to use this way is "to hypothesise".)
Why only half?
Gotta leave room for later
Not enough booze.
Haven't that been a thing for tears now? Or have they found a way to make them even MORE post like, if so I would like to know how, because the ones I have seen you basically have to learn to recognise what titel they have to be able to tell them apart from posts.
