In traditional media, impression has always been the key performance indicator: the TV show with the highest rating; the radio show with the most audience; the newspaper with the most circulations; or the magazine with the most subscriptions; they sell the most ads at the most expensive prices. The thinking behind it was simple: the more people see your ads, the better chance that someone will respond to it.
Translate that into Web terms, the sites with the most traffic should be able to sell advertisements at the highest prices, shouldn’t they? Well, out of the top 10 websites (in terms of traffic) in the US, only one profits from selling advertisement. And they do it in a way that is completely different from any traditional media.
So when sites like hits4pay.com comes along and proudly offers to pay you for clicking on the ads they send you in their emails.
It makes me wonder:
1) If you are a marketer, would you pay for clicks, knowing that most of the clicks come from people who aren’t even remotely related to your target audience?
2) If you are a consumer, would you sell your clicks at 2 cents each, knowing that your inbox will be filled with irrelevant advertisements?
I guess I could understand high school kids selling their clicks to earn a little extra cash. But what do you think is the ultimate motivation behind the marketers who buy clicks: to increase “brand awareness” or to impress their bosses?
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