My only criticism (and its a small one) is I don’t like being pushed the same product to often so the more useful well designed adds the better (less repeats though).

@Prydie

I guess I can’t say that anymore.

I believe the advertising model of the past 50 years is now busted. Given the option, I would much rather pay directly for ad-free content then have free content with ads. When I read a magazine or a newspaper I don’t pay any attention to the ads… I simply skip over them. That is my choice given that I bought the magazine or newspaper. I pay for satellite radio because I don’t like radio ads either. I don’t think that it is selfish to website block ads. With the internet, I pay for the computer and the bandwidth so I get to choose what is displayed on my screen. If you, as a content producer don’t like it, close down your public website and make it private and subscription-based. It is that simple.

NB: If you haven’t caught any episodes of CBC’s ‘Age of Persuasion’ you might want to check them out. Public radio… no ads

Because of the internet, we’ve become accustomed to this idea that “content should be free.” In a few years Don may not be able to steal any content because no one will be able to afford to create it.

In my mind, this type of attitude is a result of a very high level of selfishness. If Don, or anyone who feels they have the right to steal content, were asked to do their work for free I am sure they wouldn’t be so keen. You don’t go to a restaurant and expect to be fed for free. You don’t go to a gas station and expect to have your car filled for free.

In all honesty, this is a situation that has been created by content consumers, not content creators. Is it our responsibility to fix the problem? No. However, if we want to continue to consume we need to at least appreciate that someone somewhere is trying to continue to feed our selfish needs. If the ads surrounding the content flash, move, even play sounds, we should be grateful that we have this incredible opportunity to participate in it all.

I’m guilty of some of the very things Michael has mentioned, and feel guilty that I’ve allowed my selfishness convince me that I “deserve” free content. No content, no matter how good or bad, is truly free. In the end, it always costs someone something.

I don’t think Michael was implying that anyone who uses an ad blocker is a “content thief,” but it is important to think about what all this blocking or simply ignoring of ads really means for the future of content. If everyone just stops looking at or clicking on traditional ads, the content providers are either going to have to charge for their content or find a much more egregious way to slip us little doses of advertising. I think Michael alluded to this in his post.

Also, I don’t think we’re all giving love to Fusion just because the ads are “pretty.” It’s about the relevance. I will agree that most advertising on most websites, television, etc. these days is pretty awful in terms of design, but they’re worse in terms targeting. I think Fusion has a certain amount of advantage here because the typical viewer they’re targeting is extremely narrow. But that’s not to say that traditional advertising can’t do a better job at targeting.

Yes, I use an ad blocker, but I have added exceptions for Fusion and The Deck. If any other ad networks start getting it right like those two do, I’d be happy to ad them to my exceptions list. I don’t mind seeing “ads” for things that I deem interesting and relevant. As Michael pointed out in his post, at that point it basically ceases to become an “ad” at all, and in a way it suddenly becomes part of the content.

This is a great discussion, though. I’d love to hear more from both sides.

And feel free to call me a content thief. I honestly couldn’t care less.

For the record, I am not one who normally clicks ads. I am exactly the person you described: the user who reads the NYTimes while subconsciously ignoring the ads. But Fusion Ads catch your eye, because they look like something you would have made. Their clean design was the straw that broke the camels back and made me decide to get back into design and blogging (I went cold turkey in 2004).

So I guess I wanted to say “Thank you.” I suppose it wouldn’t be an understatement for me to say that I would hope one day that I’d be able to publish Fusion Ads on my site; not for money or exclusivity, but because it would be an honor to be able to share content of that caliber with my readers.

Keep up the good work.

Each morning, I’ll open Tweetie, and see an ad for a product or service that either I’m already using, or one that I’ve strongly considered. I don’t mind how many ads you’re serving or how many times I see them – I never get tired of seeing the “Ads by Fusion” caption along with a small graphic and text description.

There’s a great xkcd comic (http://xkcd.com/570/) that could probably sum up the disaster that is most modern advertising. No matter how legitimate the product advertised (or the site hosting the ad), users have been trained to ignore and dislike these ads. Fusion’s helping to retrain us to like ads again.

Unrelated: For Safari AdBlock users wanting to block everything but Fusion and The Deck, add two custom filters which allow content from anything with “deck” or “fusion” in the URL.

Fusion, as well as benefitting websites and weblogs through advertisements and readers benefiting through relevant ads, I think it’s important to mention that you’ve helped a fair few people discover new weblogs through Fusion. I can’t say I’d heard of half of them prior to them joining the network.

Though the concept and ideals behind Fusion are very similar to The Deck, I think you’ve trumped them in the sense that the majority of your ads are simply more relevant to an average joe. A lot of what The Deck advertises I simply couldn’t afford. Fusion on the other hand serves a lot more “people relevant ads”. So, in other words, I can go a step further than clicking on the link in the ad – I can make a purchase.

I’m very excited to see where Fusion is going.

PS: I know you joked about T-Shirts, but Fusion stickers would be awesome, seriously.

Keep up the good work, guys. I know if I ever need ads, I’m coming to you guys first.

Along with the success and sellout comes the group of people that comprise the network, all of which are linked together under a common ambition in delivering content that is valued. Much success in expanding and continuing to reel in products worth mentioning and using.

About ads. I know FusionAds since it was called The Plank (at least I knew the ‘coming soon’ page). I’m happy to see that the development and the great ads.
The advertisers are well chosen and the Ads are relevant — at least to me and most comments tell that they are relevant to many others too.

I wish you all four good, luck and a great sense for ads.