Archive for August, 2006

Google Video Ads

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006

Google sent me an email the other day asking whether I’d take part in a month long trial by placing video adverts on BabyVsBaby.

I figure I’ll learn more by saying yes than no and so I’ve said yes.

googleads.jpg

My thoughts so far:

  • The ads are quite large. Surely there must be a clever ajaxy way of making a small preview that grows when the user clicks?
  • Before you click the ad, the view is rather uncompelling. (See screen grab above.)
  • Like all internet advertising, success depends on relevance. Currently the box is playing two adverts, one for a kids TV show (fair enough), and another for a bit of computer hardware (probably less interesting to fans of baby photos.)
  • I really have no idea whether this is a blind alley or the next big thing, but my gut feeling is that video adverts are probably going to best placed on video websites like YouTube.

Anyway, hopefully I haven’t breached any confidentiality agreements by posting this, and don’t ask me about the money side of this because A. I can get booted out of Adsense for discussing such things and B) I won’t know how much money it earns until people click them.

So, if you fancy a look at the possibly future of web advertising then go to babyvsbaby.com now.

UPDATE! I’ve just watched the kids TV ad properly and it’s a thing of weird perverted genius. Wonder Pets. By day they are classroom pets, and by night they are superheroes who save poorly dolphins and elephants. Who says focus groups can’t create mind-boggling art?

UPDATE 2! The campaign is now over, and Google sent me a lava lamp to say thanks. Which was nice, but I don’t really need a lava lamp and so I’ve given it to my newsletter co-writer Dave. Hopefully this is now rocking his world.

UPDATE3! Dave has given the lava lamp to his girlfriend as a birthday present. Shush! She doesn’t know that he didn’t pay for it.

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I am a technology correspondent. Fear my tech

Tuesday, August 8th, 2006

Blimey. Had to get up at the unfeasibly shit time of 7:30 today to go on the radio, as I have the occasional job of being the stand-in technological correspondent for Phill Jupitus’s breakfast show.

The brief is basically to bring in some noisy toys and witter about them for two 5 minute slots.

The trick? Send emails to the usual suspects (Firebox and Iwoot) and blag some gear. I mentioned this to a journalist the other day and she said, “Shit! Don’t give away the trade secrets!”

Good Vibrations
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First off we talked about a USB massager, which unsurprisingly plugs into your PC and then vibrates. Maybe it cures backpain, but the best thing is that the vibrations make it walk across the desk. I imagine you could also use it on your sex-bits.

DIY Cylons

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My second item goes down better, as I’d brought it in as an excuse to tell a little story that had happened to me:

“I didn’t want to keep my wife and son awake by reading into the night, so I looked about to buy a torch I could strap to my head. A bit of ebaying later, no problem, I find one. The only problem? Wearing it attracted moths to my head. I even poked my own eye trying to swat one.”

Anyway, it mainly goes down well as wearing it makes me look like a complete arsehat.

Let the drums do the talking

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Ah! The USB Finger Drums. What can you say about this? It’s just a good novelty to play with.

And so it’s time for a break and they play another record whilst I set up my final item.

Turn Turn Turn

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Found this item and I just went “yeah! this’ll work for a 6 Music audience.” What self-respecting 30 something geek with a huge record collection wouldn’t want a USB turn table?

Actually the best bit about this, is that I went for a coffee after the show and left the deck outside the cafe when I grabbed a taxi. I had to make the cabbie drive back to get it. “Bleeding ‘ell you were lucky mate” was what I heard all the way home.

Any other business

  • Jupitus played Suedehead by Morrissey as I finished up, a more paranoid or egotistical person than I would think the opening lyrics “Why do you come here? And why do you hang around?” might have been picked for mischief.
  • I was told off for not bringing a list of links in. Bad me, hence I’m making a big fat blog post here to make up for it.
  • I asked if I could plug my book sometime, and was told, “You can plug it, but not here” Gah!

Link round-up

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