Major web advertiser tries to ghettoise the Internet
BoingBoing recently published an extraordinary allegation - a reader claims Yahoo’s new web ad publishing network tries to insist that non-US web surfers must not see their ads. Of course this is very difficult if not impossible for a potential content publisher to guarantee - but imagine if it was? If successful, Yahoo would be responsible for ghettoising the Internet just in order to make their ad network more efficient. I’m a little disappointed the media hasn’t picked this up yet - I can imagine the furore if some French ad network did the same thing to American content…
This is not a new problem, by the way. There have been repeated attempts to produce artificial national restrictions to Internet-distributed content. The BBC’s Creative Archive License for example appears only to allow UK residents to re-use their material.
March 29th, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Interesting! Although, what I am not sure national restrictions and preferences are all that artificial - afterall, different nations have different laws on advertising (what is mere puffery in one country might be false or misleading advertising in another), religion, etc. Copyright and libel laws differ slightly in various countries as well.
You say they are doing this ‘just in order to make their ad network more efficient’ but how can you be sure this is the reason?
I predict the real reason is that Yahoo or its advertisers might not want to get sued for advertising something that is illegal (eg, pharmaceuticals) in one country, but perfectly legal in the U.S. So, I suspect that Yahoo is playing defense here, not offence. Remember - they were the defendants in the french case dealing with online auctions of items that were illegal in France but legal in the U.S. and elsewhere.
So, the claim that Yahoo is trying to ghettoise the internet seems overly-strident. This is particularly true when you consider that a Channel4 show, if sold to the U.S. or another country will have its UK adverts ripped out and replaced with adverts more suitable and lawful for the host nation. So, you are right there is nothing new here - but I am not so sure it is a ‘problem’, but just a reflection that this is a big world with many differing legal systems.
March 30th, 2006 at 8:21 am
Thanks for that, Russ - I admit I didn’t think through the possibility that Yahoo was being defensive here. Given that, I wonder if Google and the other ad networks have similar terms and conditions. I’m guessing not (yet?) or BoingBoing would have said something, I imagine. A better answer for this problem (if it is a problem) might be to try to segment the ads into a central “uncontroversial” stream and a couple of ‘national’ streams so you could opt to distribute only ads appropriate for everyone or (if you wanted the additional revenue and were able to restrict access) additional ads that would only be acceptable in your country.
April 10th, 2006 at 7:25 am
I can’t quite believe that this allegation is true. If it is true, then I can only imagine that this is the start of a huge shift in how the Internet will be used and viewed.
If there is truly a move to control who sees U.S. advertising it will undoubtedly prove to be to the economic benefit of Yahoo. Google and the other Internet ad groups will more than likely follow suit.
Perhaps Yahoo aims to earn more advertising revenue in the long term by charging advertisers extra for the chance to have their products/services viewed by people in particular parts of the world.
In addition to this, Yahoo might even start charging those of us who live outside the U.S. for the privilege of being able to access U.S. advertising. It’s possible that a lot of Internet surfers find advertising content more interesting than editorial content, and are even willing to pay for it. Many glossy magazines have more ads than editorial.
Certain ads in certain parts of the world could be worth a pretty penny. The porn industry/pharmaceuticals industry could, on the one hand, be controlled more but, on the other hand, both advertisers and potential buyers could be charged to advertise and view products/services, respectively. Sounds like handsome profit for Yahoo to me.