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March 30, 2005
Boston.com
Boston.com, generally my first stop to check breaking news (well, kinda - more on that in a minute) is about to require registration. An informal study of BunkoSquad staff shows that visits to a site that require registration go down about 60%, but we're going to give this a try.
Here are their stated goals:
1. We want to know you better. Seeing how many users read a story or do the crossword puzzle is limited research; we want to give you more of the stories and features you like.
OK, here's what I like. I like the big news to be front and center on the home page. I don't like the (admittedly-easy-to-turn-off) rotating front panel that would sometimes show me automotive news and make me search for the real news. If I want to search for the real news, I'll search CNN or Fark instead.
I like to read about the Celtics. If you go to the Globe sports page, you generally have to scroll down past baseball, football, hockey, college sports, girls' highschool lacrosse, and updates on the 2012 Olympics to get any coverage of the C's. This is during basketball season, mind you.
2. Our advertisers want to reach those who are most interested in their products. So if you live in a certain geographic area, for example, one of our retailers might place an ad for a store near you on the pages you visit.
Actually, I'm pretty aware of the stores near me. There's that one Indian restaurant that I haven't tried yet, but I doubt that I would have missed that it exists. I'm sure I'll see ads for Central Square stalwarts like McDonalds, Blockbuster, Starbucks, and Foot Locker...all of which I could find almost blindfolded, and all of which I could find in any town in America.
It doesn't really matter, though, since I consider myself about the most adproof person around. 75% of what I buy is used. I go to the mall 3x a year (before Christmas, and a couple times to hit the Best Buy discount-DVD bin). The chances of me buying a car, or refinancing a loan, or asking my doctor about some new pills, is as close to nil as the chance of me starting to follow girls' highschool lacrosse. So ads don't really bother me (at least until this happens). Plug away.
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Comments
Jesus. The day they have TV on the T is the day I . . . uh, the day they have *working* TV on the T . . . guess I don't have to worry about getting suicidal yet. Some of those scrolling LED displays are still scrolling about the Ted Williams Tunnel being due to open soon.
Gave you a nod on the Globe thing on A Lot More Bleeding, because you think of everything before I do. Bastid.
Posted by: Secret Agent Cathy | April 4, 2005 08:34 PM
