- About 20% of programming is advertising
- Linear, interruptive (unless you recorded it earlier and
can fast-forward)
- Actually pays for the service (although pay stations still
have commercials)
- Limits programming based on advertising value (stations
will only carry shows that get audiences in good proportion
to the cost of the programming, so quality programming is
dropped for cheaper programming on a regular basis.)
- About 70% of all the mail received by the households surveyed
is bulk-rate advertising junk. This may vary widely, depending
on your credit rating, home ownership status, etc.
- Nonlinear -- you can just throw it away
- Common vehicle for fraud and scams, although less so than
phone
- Bulk Mail was subsidized by your tax dollars for many
years. The government decided that it was worth it to the
economy. However, this was recently changed, and bulk mailers
now pay most of the cost of mailing.
- Bulk mail and circulars generate several pounds of paper
garbage per household per week. Unlike its electronic cousins,
it is a resource hog.
- Up to 75% of the content of some magazines is advertising,
but most newspapers keep it well under 50%. Don't kid yourself...
the only reason they make the publication is to run ads.
- Nonlinear -- you can skip the advertisements quite easily
- You pay for the publication, and the publishers charge
people to advertise in it. That's why publishing is a very
good industry to be in, and successful publishers are very
rich.
- May actually add visual appeal and even information value
to the publication
- Like bulk mail, the daily paper can pile up a lot of garbage
in a week.
I am not offering arguments for or against bulk e-mail here,
I am just giving you some statistics to compare. It seems relatively
clear that bulk e-mail is not really that different than other
advertising methods, all of which seem to have some pretty serious
negative points. However, because it is so new, bulk e-mail
is not regulated the way other types of advertising are, and
this certainly affects its current status. Future regulation
of bulk e-mail might resolve some problems associated with the
practice.
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