Old experience without ads

Let’s talk about ads. Some people love them and some people hate them. As brand stewards, we’re looking for places to put our messages; aperture moments in which consumers are receptive and likely to pay attention. But to consumers, all they see are roadblocks to desireable content. Roadblocks often manifesting themselves as commercials, pages in magazines, and homepage take-overs online.

New experience with ad

But imagine if advertising enhanced the way consumers interact with desired content. Some brands, such as Dove with Go Fresh, have begun to air mini series during commercial breaks for shows like Gossip Girl. Since their commercials feature one of the show’s stars, Dove has successfully turned a roadblock into a connection opportunity. And in magazines, advertorials have long blurred the lines of selling versus informing. But online, making ads work with the content that someone seeks has yet to be perfected. Well, so I thought.

This week, while visiting a site I frequent almost daily (dictionary.com), I was startled by the advertising. Not startled like, “Oh look at these dancing babies for Evian water,” but, in a good way. For those that have visited dictionary.com, then you share my sentiment that the experience is marred by its cluttered layout. On the site, users are forced to wade through an experience lacking the nurturig touch of a good experience architect (XA). This week though, the site seems to be trying something new: using the ads to clean-up the user experience. And they want to know what you think of it too. (There’s a link to email them feedback dead center on the home page.)

Although the advertising is featured quite prominently, the ease of searching is significantly enhanced. To illustrate, upon landing on the page now, the search field is moved to the center of the page. There are no distracting columns of text and banner ads. Rather, the new layout delivers a clear nod to search engines such as its parent company, Ask as well as Google and Bing. And with the ad more prominently featured, I’m sure dictionary.com is making more money than its traditional banner unit inventory.

So, we now have a win-win situation – improved UI for the visitor and probably more money for the site. An experience that has been enhanced due to the advertising. (Gasp.) I wonder how long it will take Google, Bing, and Ask to start wrapping their search fields in a advertisement?

Kai D. Wright