Are we over-commercialised?

[Conrad Braam]

No capatalist or socialist or even political comments please.

When the majority of programmer websites are 50% advertising pixels, are we reflective of where life in the digital medium is going. Do we even see the adverts anymore? Do the animated giffs grog your browser just a tad? Are we just immune to the moving pixels inducing primal urges to jump-out and click?

You tell me.

[Siddhartha]

I am definitely immune to advertisements.

However, I can think of people clicking ones that they find interesting. I rarely find online advertisements interesting.. For that matter, a lot of TV advertisments bore me so much that I also don't watch some channels that specialize in these.

[.pcbrainbuster]

Now that I think about it I no longer even notice the ads as I did a few years ago...

[RaleTheBlade]

For that matter, a lot of TV advertisments bore me so much that I also don't watch some channels that specialize in these.

Why would you wanna watch a TV channel that does nothing but show ads?

I too have become immune to the ads, especially the stupid "Answer this question and get a free whatever!" ads. Ive read about people who have actually won stuff from ads like those, but they're extremely few and far between. More or less, ads that I find amusing (Like the MS Visual Studio 2008 ads), I will actually watch because they can be pretty funny sometimes.

But for the most part, I too am immune to the ads everywhere I go. And pop-ups are going out of style too (thank the gods!).

[cilu]

No, you're not immune. The best ads are those that target your subconscious. And whether you want it or not, many ads hook in your subconscious and surface without you knowing it.

[Siddhartha]

That is called subliminal-advertising.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_advertising

AFAIK, in many countries this is illegal and in some cases it can be performed only with explicit permission from the police or law enforcement agencies...

[DHillard]

What ads?