The Introduction of Java, 1995
In January of 1991, James Gosling, Patrick Naughton, and Mike Sheridan launched the Green Project, intending to create a convergent media set-top box. According to Gosling, "the goal was ... to build a system that would let us do a large, distributed, heterogeneous network of consumer electronic devices all talking to each other." It utilized a language called Oak to communicate from device to device. The Green Project eventually produced the *7 (Figure 1), which failed inside of four years after having been examined by Time-Warner, Mitsubishi Electric, and France Telecom, but never contracted.
The *7 had failed as a product, but the creators thought that Oak might be able
to stand on its own. The language was renamed Java to avoid copyright issues,
and Gosling and the team migrated Java to the Internet by coding the
HotJava web browser. The browser was a hit, and Netscape chose to implement
Java support in their popular web browser as a result. At this time, Netscape
had about half of the browser market share, and grew rapidly from there (Figure
2).
Java was designed to “write once, run anywhere”, where most applications then and today have to be recreated for different computer systems. This cut down the time programmers would have to spend creating content, making it extremely popular for use on the Internet. It didn’t take long before advertisers found and took advantage of the window.open function within Java, which causes a web browser to open a new instance of itself and display a new URL. At its worst, this can lead to situations like Figure 3, in which the content the user is interested in becomes completely eclipsed by intrusive advertising. In a 2002 study on the perception of intrusive advertising on the Internet, researchers from Michigan State University found that ads perceived as intrusive may cause the viewer to avoid advertising entirely.
When
ads are perceived as intrusive, feelings of irritation are elicited and
advertisements are avoided. When viewers are focused, they perceive
interruptions as more severe than when they are not focused. However, through
creative advertisement placement strategies, perceptions of intrusiveness may be
moderated. When ads are requested or provide value, either in the form of
information or entertainment, they are perceived as less of an interruption, are
less irritating, and may be less likely to be dismissed as nuisances (Edwards,
2002, p. 92).
As a result of this perceived intrusion, pop-up blocking software was developed and has become a standard part of modern web browsers. In fact, a Forrester Research study found that more than 80% of broadband users have pop-up blocking software installed, and that number has since increased; Internet Explorer (figure 4), Mozilla Firefox, and Safari all come with pop-up blocking software, and combined represent nearly 100% of the market share (figure 2).
Newer
and more effective ads (figure 5) use DHTML code (an example of which can be
found on
this page) and Adobe Flash (of which the top banner
here is an example). Ads of this type may be “inexcusable”, or unable to be
closed or dismissed. Also, they may display only for a set amount of time, or
once per number of page views. This makes them more like traditional
advertisements in that they will only display upon a user’s initial request for
content and occasionally thereafter, like television commercials playing before
and after each program. However, they may have a high degree of interactivity
quite unlike radio and TV advertising. Kameya & Zmija of Michigan State
University (2002) found that rich media ads of this type can have a strong
positive effect on brand awareness. The same study quoted Miller Brewing Company
Digital Marketing executive Gina Shaffer as noting that “One particular campaign
created with Macromedia Flash was 110 times more effective by a click through
measurement than our banner ads and buttons. Clearly, as we look for effective
ways to engage consumers online, we consider these one of our top tools” (Kameya
& Zmija, 2002).
The
rise and fall of pop-up advertising, made possible by Java, has challenged
advertisers to
improve the dismal conversion rate of intrusive ads like by imagining new ways to attract attention. Java was the foundation for advertisers’ ability to imagine things in the context of interactivity on the Internet.
Edwards, Steven M., Li, Hairong, Lee, Joo-Hyun (2002). Forced Exposure and Psychological Reactance: Antecedents and Consequences of the Perceived Intrusiveness of Pop-Up Ads. Journal of Advertising, 31(3). 83-95.
Kameya, Alison & Zmija, Katherine (2002). What Makes Online Advertising Effective? Retrieved January 6, 2008, from http://www.MarketingTechie.com
Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. (2008, January 6). FL: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved January 6, 2008, from http://www.wikipedia.org
Abrams, Marc. (1998). World Wide Web - Beyond the Basics, Prentice Hall, 1998.
