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Allowing Comments on Ads

Submitted by kpaul.mallasch on Thu, 02/16/2006 - 4:35pm.

Steve Outing wrote up something about Muncie Free Press (Comments on Ads: A Radically Good Idea) yesterday. While the ads on comments is something I started a couple months ago, I do know of at least two other websites that have been doing it for a while. (Although they're more 'techie' oriented...) First, of course, is Rusty Foster's Kuro5hin (aka K5) which has been allowing advertisers to choose whether they have comments on ads for many years. The other example is over at ThreadWatch, a community SEO/SEM blog started by Nick Wilson (of Performancing.com fame) and now run by SEO Book.

Outing wrote:

Count me as an advocate of media sites allowing public comments to be added to content -- and I mean all content, including ads. (Of course, that's probably a radical view, considering that many major media sites continue to resist even allowing reader comments on articles.)

...snip...

Of course, there are some challenges. Foremost, what if a competitor or vandal tries to trash the reputation of an advertiser unfairly? There would need to be a mechanism for the advertiser to request that a customer comment be removed, and the website would need a well-thought-out set of guidelines about what circumstances warrant removal of an offending comment. Just because a customer gives a restaurant a bad review shouldn't be enough, for instance.

I'd also recommend that advertisers be given the option of not accepting comments -- but that they also be educated about the benefits of direct interaction with customers and potential customers.

He brings up some good points, which I try to answer in the comments. ;)

On a related note, I'm trying to get ahold of Rusty Foster (K5) and Nick Wilson (Performaning) to see if they'll share some of their experiences with allowing comments on ads.

While their audiences are techier by nature, I'm sure there are things that came up that are worth noting for people interested in this type of interactive advertising.