Our product is focused on being an online marketplace for student artists to interact with local, interested buyers. Using an advertising revenue model for the product would have the immediate upside of not having to rely on taking a percentage of sales from student artists, and instead allow them to keep 100% of what they earned. Potentially, buyers might be more inclined to support those artists with purchases, knowing that their payment will go directly to the artist (though this might not necessarily be the case, as many already accept the fees that come along with many online purchases). Depending on who we have advertising contracts with, the advertisements can be a good way to integrate our product more with the campus community through advertisements of various campus events, departments, or groups. That, in turn, could help increase traffic to our app. The immediate downside would be the experience to the buyer; they would have to scroll past advertisements that may feel like a hindrance as they search for a piece. Depending on how we design the fit of advertisements on our pages, it can be quite distracting if it takes up too much space or covers up essential buttons.
Regarding the internet overall, these pros and cons can be generalized. The ad revenue model can help keep funding sites, while the site themselves don’t need to take money from their users. Similar cons apply, but as Ethan Zuckerman says in the “We Know What You Did” podcast, the larger concern is the data that is being collected with advertisements. He notes how alarming it is that most people are used to the idea that with the Internet comes surveillance, and how we are already used to seeing advertisements (even if they aren’t the popup kind) on a nearly daily basis. While the data can be redirected for more targeted advertising, as we’ve seen already, it is building a picture of what we like, and by extension who we are. The danger of misusing that information is clear, but luckily it is being critically analyzed from an ethical and safety point of view today, and there are also smaller solutions to managing data collection and distribution.
