Skip this Ad

I've been noticing a plethora of landing page ads on some of my favorite websites.

You know, those full screen, unwanted, irritating, 20 second ads that interfere with your browsing experience. I can't imagine that these ads ever actually work - unless their sole purpose is to drive you to a "premium membership" (read: ad free, at additional cost) experience.

What's really happening, of course, is that Marketers are teaching me to immediately look for those 3 words that usually appear in the upper right corner of the "web litter"...."Skip this Ad".

And while the hosting sites must benefit financially (at least in the short term), I can't imagine that this tactic engenders long term site readership loyalty.

If your website includes the words "Skip this ad", it's time to think about what you're really accomplishing - continuing the work of B.F. Skinner..

As a typical reader, I can now recognize a site ad and hit the "Skip this Ad" link in under 1 second.

And I'm betting you can too.