It's been said before, but I have some critiques about the advertising here. I have contributed and written code on lots of sites and if there is one thing I've learned is that advertising needs to be better thought out. I have a colleague at Google and he tells me that they have spent years researching this very topic; we talk about this almost every time we get together. My initial observation is that the contract with your ad agency is not working for you. The contract should be a blueprint for a growing relationship - it should be reviewed often and there should be regular meetings to re-establish goals and pre-established targets. Here are some initial thoughts I have:

- The ads take far longer to load than the pages. This is because of too reasons: crappy code and animation. The crappy code is just the ad agency's way of cutting costs and could be negotiated on when a contract is signed. The animation-factor is based on an outdated idea that animations get more click-throughs - that's not the case anymore, according to numerous studies - it actually irritates people more and angers them against the company who's products are being advertised. It certainly no longer translates to increased sales.

- The top advertising banner is only part of the width of the screen on most monitor resolutions. 800 pixels-wide screens are a very small percentage of the viewing public, today. The spaces on either side of the banner are wasted space. It could be used for other ads, or at the very least a themed background image - hmmm, I don't know, how about a graphic that has something to do with audio....

- The 800-pixel wide top ad is so small that if a user actually had this resolution, the right side banner would not be visible. This should be a bargaining point during contract negotiations. Here's a thought (and it could become a "revolution" in the advertising industry LOL): cut the height of the top banner in half and use a full 1024-pixel width. BTW, the "ideal banner height" used now, is also based on outdated research.

- Ads about Las Vegas getaways, life insurance, and childish attempts to get me to notice a lower interest rate because of some dancing silhouette, are a turn off. I'm here for audio-video, and would much rather see ads about that. Sometimes it almost feels like this site is about something else and I forget which one of my discussion forums I am on.

- I've heard all the excuses: "it's expensive to find the right companies", or "this is all we're getting from this ad agency," and the ubiquitous: "there are not enough companies willing to advertise in your market sector." Well then threaten to fire this ad agency! They are not the only game in town. Bottom line is they are not hustling hard enough for you.

- Website managers often forget that it is in the interest of the ad agency to find better advertisers because they make far more money on click-throughs and resulting sales. This is a bargaining chip for negotiations. With that in mind, the ad agency should lower its fees for industry-specific advertisers because those will generate more click-throughs.

There are other ways to advertise: look for an ad agency that has a fresher, more modern approach on advertising. I don't mean to sound like a shill for Google, but their AdWords approach really does work in the long run. Ask potential ad agencies to make proposals that demonstrate more subtle and better targeted advertising. Ask for current, future, and potential client lists. Look for an agency that sees you as a partner that is looking to grow with you: they should demonstrate a vested interest in your success. They should also offer projections about this success, projections that need to be reiterated as performance targets in the written proposal, from which the final contract is generated.

Evaluate how well they understand this industry. Your current ad agency may rave about what they've done for Martha Stewart or Macy's, but what do they really know about audio and video? Do they understand the future of this industry: what product families are gaining prominence and what product families are fading? Do they have a basic understanding of associated industries and market sectors such as computers, electronics, automation, product distribution channels, heck, even an understanding of raw materials availability? Everybody knows that most of the stuff is made in the far east, but do they even know where most of the audio-video products are designed and developed? Do they have even an inkling of the traditions, reputations, and cultures associated with high-end gear (Opera, Gryphon, Harbeth, come to mind). I'm not saying that I expect them to know this stuff as well as the readers here, but they should have some idea about it - and some of these should definitely be part of their presentation.

These are just some first impressions, and it leads me to one of two conclusions: either your ad agency is not working hard enough for you, or it is horribly outdated and should be put out to pasture. Of course another possibility is that someone dropped the ball in finding this agency, but I'll leave that to another discussion. Who knows, maybe it's just simple economics and AR just isn't that important of a client. Frankly I don't know - but what I do know is that a loss in visitors hurts the site as much as the ad agency.