Eric Edelstein

It’s an early slightly chilly Friday morning, and after 5 hours sleep, i’m ready for the day. (I didn’t go for the walk, as it was too dark when I woke up)

So I spent my time that I was meant to be walking, checking my email and replying to my email and facebook messages.

…and then I visited moneyweb.co.za and saw the ad on the left. Exactly that size - nothing doctored. If you click it, I’ve taken a screenshot of the page that I saw. The ad looked interesting, and I couldn’t read the writing as it was too small, so I clicked it thinking I’d go through to the website.

It opened up my email editor ready to send an email to “events @ mg.co.za” - no subject line, just a new mail addressed to the mail & guardian team.

And yes, my 13″ mac might have slightly small resolution, but with mobiles and pda’s and other small devices being used more frequently:

1. DON’T HAVE AN AD WHERE THE WRITING IS TOO SMALL TO READ

and…

2. IF THE VISITOR CLICKS ON THE AD TO FIND OUT MORE, DON’T GIVE THEM AN EMAIL ADDRESS, RATHER TAKE THEM TO A PAGE WITH MORE INFORMATION

i was wondering whose fault this was, and decided it’s a combination. Mail & Guardian or their ad agency should plan their campaigns better, but even if moneyweb is using a ROTATING ad server, they should know what is appearing on their home page (it was their HOME PAGE), and recommend changes.

Advice to M&G - change the ad, or link to a site with more information - YOU’RE WASTING MONEY.