I’ve written before about the plight of being in the content business. It’s getting harder to make money (let alone a living) as a writer or podcaster (I should know, as I do both). That’s no surprise.
One side effect I haven’t written much about is how this struggle impacts the web: specifically, its user-friendliness. The race to make ends meet has led to websites that are damn-near impossible to read.
It’s not because the content is of lower quality. Rather, it’s the way publishers are integrating ads into every spare pixel of the screen. Speaking of which, some ads take over your screen until you manually dismiss them.
Then there are the video clips that follow you down the page. They result in slower load times and distract from the page content (yes, I understand the concept of what ads are supposed to do).
The result is information overload that prevents users from consuming the product. There are some websites where using Firefox reader view is the only way I can read an article without losing my mind. I can’t imagine the impact these sites have on someone with ADD.
It’s all reminiscent of the early 2000s, when pop-up ads drove us crazy. This was before the push for web standards and accessibility. I feel like we’re returning to those times, only with fancier packaging.
Publishers need a better solution, though I’m not sure what that is. I do believe that turning your website into an intrusive mess isn’t helping the cause.
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