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Ad serving technology represented by a comically rudimentary robot.
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Anyone who has had to use ad serving products like DoubleClick or Eyeblaster as part of their job know that the technology can be a
massive pain in the neck. They are slow, clunky, confusing, complicated
and often they only work in Internet Explorer.
One frustrated
colleague was even told by DFP support that their dashboard would only
work properly in Firefox, even though you were required to use Internet
Explorer to traffic the ads themselves.
In a strange move, Eyeblaster seems to have recognised the failures of the industry with a new microsite entitled
Digital Should Be Simple.
The site, clearly designed to go viral, consists of two videos
featuring a clunky Lost in Space style robot representing current ad
serving technologies. A frustrated user then airs her grievances with
somewhat hilarious results.
From the website:
"As we
know it, ad serving and digital campaign management is broken. There's
severe inefficiencies and dysfunction in whatever it touches. From
across the web, endless conversations speak to frustrations,
advancements and key topics in and around ad serving."
There is no mention of any brand behind the site except for a small Eyeblaster logo that appears during the video presentations.
This
just happens to to coincide with a customer communication sent to
Eyeblaster users on Monday, notifying users of upcoming updates which
will simplify the ad serving process for
publishers and
agencies, promising:
- 1-click ad publishing, no time consuming approvals
- Instant, fully functional tags for entire campaign
- Auto code generation based on custom preferences
- Click and grab tags, no more fussing with logins or
passwords
Whilst
it is a great concept, and anything that simplifies the trafficking
process will be welcome, the website itself echoes many of the
'oversights' that cause so much pain in the first place.
The site also pulls "endless conversations" from around the web
surrounding the issues with ad serving. Unfortunately
the conversations pulled from Twitter appear to be unmoderated and
don't have the effect that coudl be enhanced with a little moderation.The site shows a little lack of finesse -
attempting to go to
digitalshouldbesimple.com results in a 'Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)' error. A simple redirect should fix that.
Despite
the minor foibles, its great to see some steps being taken to simplify
ad serving and creative trafficking. Its an area that sorely needs
attention.
UPDATE: They have pulled the website offline but a whois lookup is still showing the site being hosted by Eyeblaster Inc.
Who knows if we will see the site return, but it could be a great way for Eyeblaster capture the frustrations of their customers is vital market intelligence. The company can use this information to guide their processes and upgrades, and eventually help them build a better product.
FURTHER UPDATE: The website now appears to be back online, with the site redirecting as it should. However it does not appear to be pulilng the social media content properly.
