There is a hot debate about how we will have ads in the conversation market.
My 5 cents.
We still all think of ads. Maybe ads are themselves passe in the new medium of conversation.
Hugh has promoted his friend the Bespoke Tailor.
Why would I want to continue to be bombarded with ads when my aggregator will have a commercial section of my friends who answer my need for services?
How will I buy a car in 5 years time? I will go to a few trusted sites where cars will be discussed. Then I will choose. How will I buy an appliance or gadgets now? I go to a trusted site. How will buy my food? I think that I will be able to go to trusted sites that link producers that I trust to me.
Don't we have to look more deeply?
It is so hard to break free from a pervasive mindset. With the advent of the web, we just put print online - the conventional mindset. Now that we see the value of the web, we are still thinking in terms of ads - the same old deal.
We know that they don't work very well anymore. Only 15% convert in the auto industry versus over 70% for WOM.
In 5 years time most ads will be for soap and cat food
