A puzzle: Who benefits more from this ad?

[SteveRiley]

This evening, while riding the bus to band practice, I decided to see what's new at Phoronix. I had just flashed an update of my favorite Android ROM and not yet set up my ad blocker. When I clicked the link to read the comments after the article covering KWin's plans to drop OpenGL 1.x support, I see this:



Naturally, a number of questions occur.

* Why would Microsoft spend money on ads at a Linux site?
* What portion of Phoronix readers would click an ad from Microsoft?
* How much time is truly left for whatever I might be missing if I don't click?
* Why would Michael Larabel feel compelled to post ads that he ought to know most of his readers will ignore?
* Who in the community of Linux users catching up on Linux news might be diverted from their task by an ad from a company whose software these users often take great pains to avoid?

But then...

* Why bother with all that? Michael gets money from Microsoft for this! He wins.

[bsniadajewski]

Veeery interesting, it is.

[Jonas]

Good questions indeed.

Thinking about it, I guess if there's any (GNUlinux) site that M$ would place an add I guess it would be phoronix, since it's main focus is graphics and game news, thus I would guess that a numerous of it's readers dual boot. That said I would think that once the linux users do reach Phoronix site they have abandoned windose all together. I guess a M$ add second place to make advertising on linux sites is phoronix, and first would be winehq.

Why do they spend it? I guess this is the only way M$ know how to spend that win-tax in the FOSS community, since software isn't microsofts strong side - advertising is

Jonas

[Qqmike]

It is more in the scheme of business advertising than specific product advertising. M$ can afford to spend such money to maintain its market-image presence, to stay upfront in the consumer's mind and to maintain consumer awareness. Corporate image/brand maintenance. Everywhere.

[GreyGeek]

This evening, while riding the bus ....

When I was a regular at LinuxToday there was a continual ad in the right panel of that website's home page. It was called, euphemistically, "Get the Facts". IBM was also a regular advertiser, as were several others whose FOSS credentials were shallow or non-existent.

We had a big discussion about it when they first appeared. My opinion/conclusion hasn't changed:
1: It pays the bills,
2: It can be and usually is ignored.

IF Microsoft began paying for ads on this site I'd still hold the same opinion.

The most palatable anti argument was that it could subvert a newly born penguin to revert to return to the plantation and put the chains back on. I find the argument weak. My switch to Linux came after I had to do a complete reinstall of Windows FIVE times in four months, all the while having to reboot from multiple daily crashes. I found RH5.0 stable as a rock. At that point MS could not have PAID me to return to Windows. Today, Windows is noticeably more stable, but UN-noticeably just as insecure. Most Windows users cannot tell if they are infected or not. All they know is that their PC is running sluggishly at times and the CPU is maxing out and the modem box lights are blinking furiously.

Personally, I think that MS is wasting their money, but FOSS is an excellent place to waste it on.


Riding the bus...

I wish I could do that here in Lincoln. The city subsidizes the bus service to the tune of $7 Million/year. For that we get these routes which, in my area, starts at 5:45AM and stops at 5:45PM, with a bus every hour. Most of the time it is empty because, in my case, I'd have to hop on the 5:45AM bus in order to get to work at 8:AM because it takes an hour and a half to run the route, and I'd have to get on downtown at 3:30PM in order to catch the last bus going through my area, and I'd get home about 5:30PM, because I would have been near the first on the inbound route and near the last stop on the outbound route, even though the bus stopped right outside the the office building I worked in. That, and for health reasons, was why I began riding my bike. That turned out to be not so healthy after I got hit by a pickup truck while riding on the SIDEWALK!

I can remember as a kid of about 5 yrs of age seeing electric trolley cars going North and South on Broadway Street in Englewood, CO. My dad told me they stopped at Cornell & Broadway every 15 minutes around the clock and one could almost set their watch by the trolley. I remember those electric booms on top sparking as they crossed over intersections and electrical junctions while riding the rails down the road. In the early 50's diesel buses took over and the schedule was changed to every 30 minutes as more and more people purchased automobiles. When I left Englewood to go to college in 1961 that Broadway route, the ONLY one heading South out of Denver (and there were NO bus routes in Englewood), was still running, but I don't remember what times or how often. It was fond memories though. After I graduated from HS in 1959 and before I went to college in 1961 I worked at a luggage factory on the South side of Denver, about 3 miles from Englewood, which was farther South. I road that bus every morning and night. When I moved to an apt in downtown Denver I rode the Broadway bus three miles in the other direction to that luggage factory.

[ScottyK]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who sees the irony of Microsoft advertising in other-than-Windows sites.

Took this screenshot back in April of last year.

[Snowhog]

It isn't surprising at all. Mega-corporations like Microsoft, when it comes to advertising, are much like Evangelists. Their proselytizing has to be widespread. Preaching to the congregation doesn't get you converts; you have to go out into the wilderness "like sheep among wolves." The difference, corporately, is they are "like wolves among lambs."

[oshunluvr]

I seriously doubt the microsoft conspiracy has anything to do with these ads appearing on linux or foss sites. More likely, their ad agency contracts with a banner ad company who has a few thousand placements and just rotates the banners depending on the number of placements the ad agency paid for. The actual site list is probably largely ignored by anyone in the ad agency or microsith.

[GreyGeek]

I seriously doubt the microsoft conspiracy has anything to do with these ads appearing on linux or foss sites. More likely, their ad agency contracts with a banner ad company who has a few thousand placements and just rotates the banners depending on the number of placements the ad agency paid for. The actual site list is probably largely ignored by anyone in the ad agency or microsith.

That's my view as well, but I do appreciate Microsoft paying for FOSS sites, even if they aren't directly responsible.