Fuddy Duddies NOT

Editorial by Patrick Totty

Over the past three years we’ve been told more than once that we are old-fashioned, behind-the-times fuddy duddies for insisting that we’d never allow pop-ups or other irritating ads on our web site.

Now, even the New York Times has seen the light and come over to our way of thinking. (More about that in a bit.)

The conventional wisdom said that the way to get readers to respond to online ads was to make the ads as intrusive, irritating and obnoxious as possible. The fact that they would turn off a majority of readers was beside the point: Just as telemarketers bet that one out of every 100 people they pester might buy something, online marketers played the percentages.

The problem is that those percentages began rapidly declining two years ago. People trying to do routine work or research on the Internet found themselves constantly interrupted and assaulted by pop-ups. They soon began routinely closing the ads each time one would pop up, not even bothering to read them.

Rather than step back and examine their approach, online advertisers created ads that not only popped up but imposed themselves on viewers’ screens for 20 or 30 seconds. There was no way to turn them off until the time ran out. Other ads were programmed to skitter around the screen, like a puppy trying to avoid a bath, so that a viewer couldn’t catch them and close them.

The result? More irritation on the part of consumers and less-than-stellar performance by the ads. So the great minds of Madison Ave. went frantically looking for the Next Big Thing, wringing their hands and wondering where the magic might lie.

We told them where the mojo was three years ago when we introduced this web site. We said then, and have repeated it gently and consistently since, that our financial and format model is the magazine. Like any magazine, we try to offer content that will attract a certain kind of reader and we support the magazine by accepting ads from people who’d like to do business with our readers. After that, we leave it up to the readers and the advertisers to get together.

Slowly but surely, our approach has proven itself. People have learned that they can enjoy themselves on our site because they don’t have to worry about being importuned to buy something. What a concept! In the meantime, our advertisers enjoy a “click-through” rate 12x to 30x greater than any conventional pop-up or interruptive generates. People respond to their ads because they are genuinely interested and in the market. Who would have thought?

Others are catching on. The New York Times announced recently that it plans to abandon pop-ups and their ilk entirely in its online travel section and move over to gimmick-less ads like the ones you see on Cultural Travels. When an institution as venerable (and profit-oriented) as the Times decides to take a page from our book, we feel gratified.

On Staying Close to Home 

If you’re like many Americans who have put their overseas leisure travel plans on hold until the situation in Iraq is resolved, that doesn’t mean you have to abandon the idea of taking an interesting trip. You can still take an exotic – even a foreign – trip in your own backyard, North America. Here are a few of them:

Quebec – The people speak and cook French, and Montreal and Quebec are two of the continent’s prettiest cities. This is the alternate universe where North America has a Gallic flavor.

Mexico – This country is a world unto itself, with dozens of cuisines and ethnic groups, a fascinating history and a growing sense of itself as an important player on the global stage. With its deserts, attractive beaches, tropical rainforests, volcanoes, mountain towns and megalopolises, Mexico is varied and complex enough to require a lifetime of exploration.

St. Pierre and Miquelon – Located off the coast of Newfoundland, these two islands are legally a part of France. If you step on either, you are on French soil. That means bring your passport and pay in Euros while shaving 3,000 miles off your trip.

Costa Rica – A little tropical country that disestablished its military 55 years ago and decided to spend the money on education. The result is a thriving democracy that lacks the extremes of wealth and poverty found in most Latin American countries, and a real sense of optimism and opportunity among the people. From rich forests in the lowlands to its perpetual-spring climate on its central plateau, there’s an abundance of things to like here.

Victoria, BC – If you go to Quebec to sense a Frenchness to things, you go to Victoria to feel Englishness. This city’s public buildings, flower baskets, pots and beds, and low-rise architecture all have a distinctly English look to them. The weather, which is much like San Francisco’s, is fine, too, especially in summer.

Navajo Country – The Navajos, related to the Aztecs, live on the largest Indian reservation in the United States. Within that vast area (25,000 square miles) is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, including Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, Marble Canyon and Lake Powell. Technically, the Navajos are a nation within a nation. Though you don’t need a passport to visit their reservation, you are, in many respects, in another country when you’re there.

Monterey Park, CA – Thousands of Taiwanese and southern Chinese have settled in this city a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Hankering after the cuisines they left behind, they’ve attracted entrepreneurial chefs who’ve opened up modest little restaurants in the strip malls that dominate this city’s commercial landscape. The result is a concentration of the best Chinese food in the world outside of East Asia.

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