Today, paid ads began appearing in the accounts of all Entrecard members. Some people freaked out, although it has been at least three weeks since the initial announcement was made regarding the new system and the new potential for both members and those who want to advertise their site or services through the network.
Due to the large number of questions and problems that have been on the minds of members (including myself), I waited a few time for the initial dust to settle and see what happened, how the Entrecard staff would be dealing with the problems, and more. As you might well know, few questions were answered initially and some still haven't been answered.
This will be the first post in a series of using the advertising system, what it means, and more. You can follow these posts and any new ones by clicking on the Advertising Network label/tag at the bottom of the post.
My Initial Thoughts
Timing - It probably wasn't the best idea for the staff to roll out the system on the weekend. It means that some members probably would have seen the new system much more quickly than if it had been rolled out during the week, and bugs would have been exposed to more members at once - most of the members have more time to "drop" cards on the weekend than during the week.
Prior Insight - No one really knew what to expect from the new system until it was rolled out, quite quickly at that. How were members to know what to do when they saw the new ads within their Dashboard? How could they see what ads that had approved or denied?
Bugs and Errors - While I didn't see too much out of the ordinary, I am sure that some other members weren't seeing the intended ads/banners while the new system was being implemented. This really is in the control of the developers and staff, although the person on the front-end could have been using a script or browser that didn't render something correctly, etc. Again, this is minor at this time, since they are still reportedly working on bugs and the errors.
Overall, I think the new system will work in the long-term, but I have to see how many advertisers there are on average coming into each blog, and how well the entire network views these ads.
This post was kept short, as it is just my initial reaction - look for more upcoming posts on the new system. Please don't forget to follow this blog via Twitter or Subscribe via RSS to stay on top of Entrecard news.
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