No less a voice than that of Publicis Groupe chairman has pricked the hype-fuelled euphoria of online advertising.



Facebook is a three-and-a-half year old social network site that offers people a way of communicating with their friends online.

Recently Microsoft beat Google to buy a small stake in the firm, valuing it at $15 bn, more thn twice as much as British Airways!

For some the deal indicates a return to irrational exuberance - an exuberance that ended when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000.

Additionally one of the worlds leading "Communications" experts, Barry Diller says of the $15bn evaluation of Facebook implied by Microsoft's $240 million minority investment in the site, "If its real money it's insane".

"Let them sell another 99% for $14.8 bn and I'll believe it".

As to News Corp's MySpace, Diller dismissed such sites as fashionable "flavors", observing that "The bloom is definitely off the MySpace rose"!

Additionally Publicis Groupe Chairman said "The social networking has succeeded in attracting massive audiences, the small amount of money it makes is out of kilter with its usage".

He added, more ominously of the Advertising Industry, "I am not sure we've found the right way of communicating with that audience"!

Of course they haven't, firstly Advertising Agencies don't understand the real meaning of the word "communication" and they, together with the new digital upstarts, do not understand the true meaning of the word "interaction". The emerging interactive technologies are merely facilitators. Without a true understanding of communication and human behaviour all Clients will be encouraged to do is pour even more money down the (unaccountable) black hole of marketing communication!

However back to the present, the advertising world appears to ignore another huge inhibitor to the success of advertising on the internet, the danger of online security.

It is estimated one in four users of social networking websites leave themselves open to crime by revealing personal details. Nearly one in three also used sites such as Facebook to find information on their old flames and their boss. Additionally technology can check out what you are saying and abuse the privacy of your conversations. With the ultimate plan of selling that information to advertisers!

All the new technologies are invasive, and they constitute a new landmark in the erosion of the boundry between public and private.

The advertising industry must tread extremely carefully, it is not just paranoiacs who will find this concept alarming. There will be well found fears of vastly increased scope for the misuse of data by third parties.

Meanwhile back to the advertising industry, there was very similar exuberance on display when commercial television was first introduced, the amazing thing is that the advertising industry still allows commercial TV to get away without any serious form of accountablity. Now there is evidence emerging that in fact, television advertising may be doing some harm to the product advertised on TV.

Perhaps we are finally witnessing the end of advertising as we know it, and about time too, advertising agencies have been getting away with no evidence of their positive contribution for far too long....The fact is there is no evidence of a positive contribution at all!