There seem to be contradicting convictions on the possibility of advertisements being included in e-books in order to reduce their cover price (a move which could ease the reader protestations mentioned in The Maudster's post). While Sam Hollander claims that “None of the sources in digital publishing would agree that in-book advertising is on the horizon” (Hollander 2011), John Wheeler’s research in publishing trends shows a prediction that ads WILL start to appear in eBooks (Wheeler 2011). Could it be that in the six months between the first comment and the second we have seen a change in sentiment towards advertising?
Generally I would argue that the latter makes sense since, socially, we are already so conditioned to be interrupted by adverts, on tv, on the radio, in magazines and in newspapers.
It seems to still be in debate among publishing companies with varying conclusions such as Harper-Collins' plan to include ads in e-textbooks but not fiction e-books, where it deems it would be too distracting (Kobie, 2011)... though one wonders if it would really be so distracting in natural chapter breaks.
But I also think that if publishers have shifted their feelings on advertising it may be due to the resounding success of Spotify as a model for the music industry. We know that publishers have looked to the music industry for indications of what to do and what not to do with their own digitalisation, and perhaps the Spotify model is one of the 'what to do's'. Namely that users are generally happy to be interrupted by adverts if it means they are getting something else (music) for free / cheap. Plus there is the added revenue model in the incentive to pay to go 'premium' so as not to get interrupted by adverts.
As a magazine journalism student (who is nevertheless still very interested in eBook models) I'd be really interested to get thoughts on advertisements from the publishing students.
Hollander, S. (2011) “Listen to the Music: Lessons for Publishers from Record Labels’ Digital Debut Decade,” Publishing Research Quarterly, 27:26–35
Kobie, N. (2011) "Publisher considering ads in ebooks", PCPro.co.uk at: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/371191/publisher-considering-ads-in-ebooks [Accessed 22/01/2012]
Wheeler, J. P. (2011) “Publishing Trends 2011 to 2012, and the Changing Landscape (part 2 of 3)”, Spi-global.com at: http://www.spi-global.com/content-solutions-blog/content-solutions/publishing-trends-2011-to-2012-and-the-changing-landscape-part-2-of-3 [Accessed 22/1/2012]
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