Oh man. I just happened upon the Minneapolis StarTribune’s home page this morning and was confronted with the gaudiest, most intrusive ad I think I’ve ever seen on a newspaper site (click the thumbnail below). I had heard that the StarTrib does this, but I’d never seen it in its full glory. Is this where the industry is headed? Are there no standards at McClatchy anymore? This is worse, even, than the Sac Bee US Home ad from earlier this year.

UPDATE: I thought about this more on the commute in today, and I’m even more upset. Not by the asthetics, but by the poor business sense behind this. The K Hovnanian Homes ad gracing the StarTrib home page is neither contextul nor relevant nor effective on the most basic branding level. The SacBee ad, at least, effectively conveys a message: “Look how happy you’d be if you bought one of our homes! Our Homes (see pretty picture at right) = Happy People. Heck, a new home might even improve your love life!”

Contrast that to the StarTrib ad, which is basically the homebuilder’s logo slapped on the page 500 times, and at an angle, no less, so that it’s hard to read. The black background makes it all uninviting. What exactly are they trying to sell me? The related box ad in the right column is better — except that when I click on it, I’m taken to the K Hovnanian corporate home page, instead of to information about local homes for sale in the Minneapolis area. It’s effectively a dead-end for me as a consumer.

I suppose that, with the media industry in turmoil, I should feel grateful for any advertising dollars flowing our way. But the benefit here will be short-lived. At some point, someone will come along and help that home builder develop an ad or marketing campaign that actually drives sales leads. And the money they are spending on the StarTrib home page will vanish.

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