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Dumb Adds Coming to Mdk 9.2


pmpatrick
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MdK has changed their ad info site 3 times today and now it appears screen saver ads are out. They also say that the ads will be easy to removed. However, I don't see how you can remove the installation ad/ads. So, I guess it remains to be seen what mdk will actually do and what the ads will do. The installation ads are what bother me the most. Why would any business pay such a high price for a supposedly one time ad? (of course, I'll see it more than once cause it takes me a few times to get the install I want :wink: ). I hope the install ad/ads are not spy/ad ware that are deeply embedded in 9.2 and send info to the advertisers. I do think mdk was trying to pull a fast one and had to back off due to all the negative comments. As a result of this, I find it a little hard to believe them right now. Time will tell(duh!).

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Hey, everybody lighten up a little. Mandrake needs to make a buck - so let 'em. Usually free stuff at least requires sending in a coupon or answering a stupid questionare. This should be much less annoying. They say the ads can be removed, they won't be in paid copies, and they're not saying they won't release the downloads 'til after the boxed copies are out - none of that kind of stuff. So they haven't fscked things up bigtime yet.

 

They just want (need) to make a buck so they can continue to offer a kick-ass distro for FREE to everyone, as soon as it's ready. What's so bad about that?

 

Do the ads suck? Hell yes they will. Am I the least bit upset about it? Hell no. Way better than no more Mandrake. Or going back to Winshaft and paying for almost everything...over and over...remember?

 

BUT...if they want to acutally SELL more copies, they really need to get the MandrakeStore straigtened out, work on customer service and support, and squash bugs better before each new release. Then they'd have something that customers would be happy with, tell others about, and sell enough copies that maybe this kinda crap wouldn't be necessary to stay afloat.

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CrashDamage, the point is that they are not focusing on improving customer service! They are still looking for fast money instead of smart money.

 

It takes money to make money. Maybe MDK hasn't reached the break point, yet.

 

I imagine the installer ads will be like we have all seen before, only instead of mandrake advertising their services during the installation, it will be some third party and bookmarks are easy enough to edit.

 

I think we need to wait and see exactly what it is that is causing all the howls before we scream any louder. :wink:

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The installation ads are what bother me the most.  Why would any business pay such a high price for a supposedly one time ad? (of course, I'll see it more than once cause it takes me a few times to get the install I want :wink: ).

 

Well if MandrakeSoft is right, the number of Mandrake users out there (3 million was that?) if they all at least see the message once, then it probably worths $7,500. It's not about whether Ads can get people to buy something, it's also about publicity. McDonalds probably don't need ads to remain well-known and perhaps competitive in many regions around the world - and obviously not to inform people about their "product lines". Yet it is constantly selling ads in TV to incorporate a fashionable/up-to-date image to customers that McDonalds is a popular brand.

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To zeroOw

 

I don't know how to encase your statement like you did mine :wink: , but here goes...first off McDonalds does not(or any business for that matter) advertise just for publicity....they advertise to make money :wink: I doubt that McDonalds would ever consider a one time advertisement, because one time advertisements do not work. It takes multiple ads to sell your product and in multiple time slots. And, yes, ads ARE to get people to buy something or they wouldn't be called ads :D and, yes you are right about publicity, but you do not get publicity with only one ad....no way, no how. So, I still wonder about the actual purpose of mdk's install ads...they do not make sense to me. and, yes, mdk has included ads for themselves and I understand that, even though they tend to be rather annoying, I mean after all you are installing mdk, do you need to be reminded of that time and time again? :wink: All I hope is the ads mdk will use will not be spy/ad ware that is deeply embedded in the system. I like mdk and I do want them to make money, but the reason I switched to mdk from M$ is to get away from what m$ was trying to impose on us, I just don't want to see mdk doing the same thing. The last thing I want to do is cause hard feelings towards you or anybody else, so please realize this is just my opinion and nothing more. I look forward to the new mdk release and will definitely try it out, but I do not like ads.

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Mandrake need's money. If somebody pays them for a one-time add, it's that persons own fault if they get nothing out of it. Either way, it's an add, and it's more money for Mandrake to stay afloat, and personally I support it just has I've always supported them (even buying a mandrake club account when I don't run Mandrake anymore-well, until 9.2 comes out and I put it on my server). Mandrake is just looking for a way to get more income, since an open source business model can be hard to keep afloat.

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To zeroOw

 

I don't know how to encase your statement like you did mine :wink: , but here goes...first off McDonalds does not(or any business for that matter) advertise just for publicity....they advertise to make money :wink:   I doubt that McDonalds would ever consider a one time advertisement, because one time advertisements do not work.  It takes multiple ads to sell your product and in multiple time slots.  And, yes, ads ARE  to get people to buy something or they wouldn't be called ads :D   and, yes you are right about publicity, but you do not get publicity with only one ad....no way, no how.  

 

Well, suppose McDonalds stop selling ads for a month, will their restaurants sales go down? I think it differs place by place, but probably not in some regions due to the already well-known franchise (maybe different in US where they got many competitors like Burger King, but McDonalds probably has no match in many Asian countries). It will be interesting to conduct such an experiment.

 

As for the ads to get people buy things, again it's differed case by case. I think many brand such as "this is SONY" no longer serves to promote a product, but an image. You can say this gets people to buy SONY products but it can hardly be traced down to any particular product anymore (in an ad to promote SONY). In US, the ads on broadcast TV can cost millions of dollars just for 15-30 seconds, so $7,500 won't be much relatively. In the case of SONY or McDonalds, where they probably secured a great market share over many regions, the further increase in market share is unlikely to happen (or marginal at best) due to ads (unless they are getting into new market). They just don't want customers to forget they are fashionable (i.e. they are not old brands only in the mind of old people), and that they don't want existing customers to feel a "brand absence" or go for something more fashionable (again because of new ads).

 

In the case of online advertising, only very few can generate great revenue for product sales, but the case is improving with sophisticated market matching technique (eg. such as an ad of IT product besides an IT-related article in NY Times - all done automatically thru AI and CMS).

 

It more or less follows the same strategy as email adverstising. If only 0.5 percent of 3 million Mandrake users are interested at a product and buy it, it might already well worth $7,500. Then again it is not the average 3 million Joe users we are talking about. They are more likely technical literate people, so not all product/brand category will be effective in this situation, but it is still possible, for example, to advertise some Linux-related IT product to get the 0.5 percent potential customers needed, who may not be you nor me, but as far as email advertising worked in about 0.5 percent people of a large base (according to a study I read, but forgot the source already), I don't see why it cannot work with Mandrake advertising, though the product being advertised at least should not contradict the value of open source community to be effective and users not being turned off.

 

EDIT: As for the one time thing, you already explain it a bit. My home has 2 PCs so at least two times of advertising for me :wink: . For users who aren't turned off at the homepage first shown up in browsers and interested to buy stuff there (eg. Amazon or Barnesandnobles), that potential could go further, but then I only expect 0.5 percent users fall for it to be more realistic, does it worth it? Only the company can do the math (if they are selling high margin product, they should know it better if this marketing channel could be effective or not).

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Will the boxed version have it? And will the amount of ads increase over time?

 

I don't blame them, they need the cash. I'm probably going to buy the boxed version of 10.

 

If the amount of ads increases , and becomes more obtrusive, i might reconsider my purchase. It isn't cheap for me. I don't want to buy adware.

 

James

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Actually, JohnJ, it doesn't mentioned yes or no on their website. However, the newsforge article blatantly states: "Duval said the boxed versions of Mandrake 9.2 will not include any paid ads, but that the free download edition (the choice of 90% of Mandrake users) 'will now include several additional ads, in the bookmarks and in the screensavers.' He noted there will be no annoying pop-up ads."

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