All mass media from print to the mobile phone have utility because of the content they deliver or the service they enable (such as communication in a mobile phone). Almost all mass media depend on advertising for sustenance. However, advertising when delivered very frequently and without relevance becomes a nuisance.

I still remember some of the ads I saw as a kid in comic books and magazines such as the Readers Digest. The magazines had fewer (and quieter) ads. These days, I get calls from my mobile service provider where a pre-recorded voice advertisement starts playing when I answer the call. This is intrusive, doesn’t provide any value and is extremely irritating. If this was not bad enough, the service provider also started SMS spamming to advertise a call prohibit service (paid for of course).

Today, as different mass media from print to blogs jostle for one’s attention, it appears that the ability to switch off ones attention from unwanted advertising will become as important as consuming information. Advertising suffers from the tragedy of the commons. However, the following attributes seem important from a perspective of making ad consumption a better experience.

1. Predictable placement

With my newspaper, I know I will not see any ad on the editorial page and maybe one ad on the front page. With search engine ads too, the location and number of ads are mostly predictable. Most Web pages and blog pages are un-predictable in both the ad location and the number of ads shown. While a predictable ad location on web pages might cause people to tune out ads, an unpredictable location might make them tune out the website altogether.

2. Timing of the ad

With a TV serial, we know when the ad slot will start and how long it will last. This allows one to anticipate the ad and adjust ones disposition. Throwing up a popup ad when a website is loading slowly is bad timing. Calling a mobile subscriber who is attending an important event to play a pre-canned message is equally bad timing. Getting an ad when one is not expecting it creates a negative image of the brand being advertised.

3. Relevance of the ad

Of all the ads I see, about 95% are irrelevant. This is a pity because there are many ads that are informative and useful. But these get crowded in the din of irrelevant advertising. While search engine advertising is more relevant than other forms, it suffers from the curse of a limited vocabulary (the average search query is between two to three words). A richer vocabulary seems to be required for more targeted (and useful) ads. Search advertising is also pull based and one has to enter a query before seeing ads. Hence the discovery element that is present in advertisements in other media forms is missing.

4. Ability to switch off attention

Consumers should have control on how many ads they would see and should also be allowed to switch off d attention when they are not inclined to watch ads. The print medium has this attribute; if one has seen an ad before in print, one can avoid reading through it again. Before Personal video recorders, one could not do this with television. Even today, one cannot do it with live television. Sometimes, in a one day cricket match in India, the same ad is telecast 100 times during a seven hour match. Even the best of ads can get tiring after a time.

All this leads to the question: What is the ideal ad experience? For me, it would be an advertisement system that was not intrusive, somehow understood my needs and also allowed control and ability to switch off.

Are there any other attributes you can think of that characterize a good ad experience?