IM through Ads

I recently came across an Adsense ad on John Tp's blog. Here is a screenshot of the same. The advertiser in this case was John Chow, a technology blogger. It is a new concept floating around called 'IM through Ads'. Why this is interesting is because of the unconventional way to target the audience. Instead of the usual universal way to target audience from all blogs alike, this is a new way to focus audience site by site. Why should this be effective? I consider an effective strategy on two main counts. (1) Though ads on most counts are not effective owing to the 'banner blindness' factor, it isn't that the audience does not even pass a cursory glance at the ad. An ad titled, 'I Love JohnTP.com' is given a second glance simply because the audience does not expect any website to advertise on its own webpage. (2) There is a more critical aspect to it. JohnTP, in this case is a popular blog in itself with over 800 subscribed readers and many more loyal audience. This means that this audience knows that 'JohnTP.com rocks!' - as is mentioned in the ad. So, this is a humble way to reach the audience. The ad is akin to saying, 'Your favorite blog is awesome, no doubt! By the way, take a look at my blog. You might find it good too...' The ad hence does prove effective in capturing new audiences. Is it Legal? The next question that follows naturally is if this method is legal. At first thought, it does seem illegal for me to use a trademarked logo of another company in my ads. Isn't that infringement of copyright rules? Apparently, the law is with JohnChow in this particular case. This follows from a case Google won over Geico over a similar suit that the latter had filed against the former. So, rest assured, you shall not be penalized for using the above strategy. In my opinion, if you are going to use the above strategy for popular websites, it shall and will pay.