You are currently browsing the matt klawitter digital communications marketing archives for July, 2004.

Say what?

July 20th, 2004

Everyone is talking “web standards” these days. It is not a new topic – anymore. I first heard about web standards about two and a half years ago when I attended Web Design World in Seattle. Zeldman was the keynote speaker. Yes, that Zeldman. Long story short, his presentation on the topic of web standards, forward compatibility and responsible web development started me on a path of discovery, as a web professional, which has taken me to the level I am now. It changed my professional life. Standards are as much a part of my every day existence as a web professional than anything else I do.

Anyone who has heard or read this topic knows the key points. Heck, even my brothers who read this blog for fun (that is, to make fun of me) joke that, “If your site isn’t CSS, then it is no good.” We all know the benefits of web standards. It makes sense.

Recently, I was researching translation services on the web. AltaVista (http://babelfish.altavista.com/) has a pretty robust translation service, as does the all-powerful, Google (http://www.google.com/language_tools). These sites take any URL and then translate it into a different language — in real time. Well, I discovered that a site built with web standards, pure CSS, and well formed mark-up is almost 100% capable of being translated. We are talking navigation, links and copy. In essence, because the site is based on XHTML, it can be manipulated in many ways.

For example, here is a link to mattklawitter.com in German thanks to Google.com translation. Try it out. See how my navigation, text and copy is all translated. This allows for a German-speaker to get German navigation, along with German text. This is all possible because my site is completely web-standards based, and is driven by a separation of content (XHTML) and presentation (CSS). Now, you can argue the accuracy of the translation, but this, to me, is a perfect example of forward compatibility. Some day this will be the norm for all sites, and here is a real world example of why.

mattklawitter.com in French
mattklawitter.com in Spanish
mattklawitter.com in Italian
mattklawitter.com in Portuguese

Posted in Analysis | Permalink

Other Recent Posts:

Banner ads not just for the web

July 13th, 2004

Seems like most web users are used to, or have seen the proliferation of banner ads on sites. Granted, when used improperly, they can be pretty intrusive. Entire companies and units within corporations, such as Yahoo!!, have dedicated staff to manage advertising on these sites. They just don’t stick banners on sites and call it a day. There are massive back-end databases, tracking services, and metrics to not only place these banners, but also to promote impressions of those ads. It is big business.

This isn’t a new concept, albeit most attention lately (let’s say the past five years) has focused on the web because it is a new medium. However, banner ads are everywhere. Often times you don’t even realize they are getting your attention, while others are not as subtle. Companies depend on this revenue to exist. Content is king, but ad revenue is the kingdom.

Tonight the National Baseball League’s 2004 All-star game aired on Fox. This is more or less the only sporting event on television tonight. It generates quite a bit of attention, especially with the notable athletes involved in the event. It also is a major advertising opportunity for companies shooting for the 18-34 year old demographic. You expect advertising — major advertising. Fox sells and then places a banner ad behind home plate which is created by a computer-generated blue screen technique. Intrusive, perhaps, but very effective. This is the equivalent of the banner ads on top of a major web site’s home page, such as CNN.com. This banner attracts all eyes. You can’t miss it. It works.

So, the next time you think that banner ads are evil, distracting, or only an issue for the web, think twice. They are everywhere, and we all get the content we seek on the web or on television because of them. The money spent to place these ads sustains content. Banner ads are necessary. How they are placed is another story. Is the Fox banner too much? Think of how much revenue it generates. Decide for yourself.

Posted in Analysis | Permalink

Other Recent Posts:

 

Powered by Wordpress - Entries (RSS)