This is “Disadvantages of Online Advertising”, section 3.8 from the book Online Marketing Essentials (v. 1.0). For details on it (including licensing), click here.

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3.8 Disadvantages of Online Advertising

Learning Objective

  1. Understand the disadvantages of online advertising and the challenges involved.

Technical Obstacles

The nature of a lot of display advertising is intrusive, so pop-up blockersAny software or application that disables pop-ups on a Web browser. can often prevent ads from being served as they were intended by the advertisers. Most browsers now block pop-upsUnrequested window that opens on top of the currently viewed window.. There are also extensions available for the Firefox browser, such as Adblock Plus, that will block advertising on Web pages. Technologically savvy consumers are increasingly using these methods to limit the advertising that they see.

Connection Speed

Bandwidth can also be an issue, although this is a shrinking problem. However, campaigns should be planned around demographics in determining the richness (and investment) of interaction. For example, heart disease medication is likely to appeal to an older community with less money and slower connection speeds.

Advertising Fatigue

Consumers are suffering from advertising fatigueThe stage at which consumers ignore advertising because there is too much of it and it becomes repetitive., so while new technologies can provide great results, as soon as the market moves mainstream, it can get saturated. Consumers are increasingly ignoring advertisements.

Key Takeaway

  • Despite all the benefits of online advertising, there are definitely some disadvantages, which include technical obstacles, connection speed, and advertising fatigue.

Exercise

  1. Connection speed is listed as one disadvantage of online advertising. Can you think of a product or service whose campaign results may be inhibited by bandwidth limitations? Can you think of certain demographics that may not be reached as well with this medium?