please, please tell me this is a delayed april fool's joke

[sophiaserpentia]

LJ will now offer accounts which display ads on your journal and friend's page

But, hey! They'll be targeted ads, based on the interests in your interest list. Congratulations, you all belong to a focus group now!

Comments

[lassiter.livejournal.com]

Well, only a voluntary subset of users will be part of the focus group.

The Sponsored+ account level is an option for users who want access to premium features but would rather have advertising on their journal and Friends page and in the LiveJournal site than purchase a Paid account.

Personally, I've got no problem with it as long as it stays that way.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I'm selfish, but ... I'm a paid user and I'll never see an ad. No one will ever see an ad on my journal, either. I might, occasionally, see one if one of my friends goes Sponsored+ ... in which case I swat them in the head and pony up the five dollars to make them Paid. No sweat.

paid accounts

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

if there were many paid accounts I would be more
worried but the percentage of paid accounts is
very small and perhaps there will be little
temptation to hit on us, and more gained by
the paid accounts ad free so that more might
pay...
eudora ,the email access thing ,has had this
system for years with unpaid eudora subsidized
by ads.

[neitherday.livejournal.com]

I love the new ad system. Virtually any other site the size of LiveJournal would be forcing ads on all free users at this point, with the free users getting nothing extra for them being there. However, not only is LiveJournal not forcing anyone to have ads, they are giving people the option of having ads for extra benefits.

[sorchar.livejournal.com]

Usually, when I do a focus group, I get paid at least $25 an hour. Fuck that shit.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm not super-shocked by this, considering on MySpace, you get bombarded with ads every time you click a button. But then I think MySpace is the equivalent of late 90's Geocities sites...

[amokk]

It's a voluntary thing and Brad's said a few times he had to basically be hit over the head a few times to accept that there are people who want this.


So, people want to have it, people who don't want ads don't have to have them, so what's the problem here exactly?

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

You don't HAVE to have a sponsored account. But yeah, it makes me uneasy too.

[mystiphi.livejournal.com]

They can focus on me NOT using my free accounts !