So I haven’t written anything in a while and this morning I was reading the news (as I do each and every morning) and decided that I would write about the shift in my consumption patterns over the last few months.
It turns out today was a very good day to write this piece as the main driver for my shift in consumption has been the invasive nature of advertising that is becoming ever more prevalent on Australian sites (I have written about this previously).
Lets start 4 years ago, I was out of school and working full time. My daily routine was to get into work, grab a coffee and read the paper online, my publication of choice was SMH, with the occasional visit to The Australian in order to read their business section. My morning ritual hasn’t changed all that much over the years, I still get a coffee in the morning and I still read while enjoying it. What has changed dramatically however is the way in which I consume news. There has been two primary drivers of this behaviour, the first is a want for deeper analysis and conversation around business news and the second and probably more significant is that I am fed up with invasive advertising taking over my screen (see today’s SMH screenshot) or bursting my ear-drums when an automatic video pops up and starts blaring some cheesy, generic TVC.
The result of this is that my online news consumption has become fragmented, I am going to niche sites in order to get my information around different items. My current morning reading list can be dissected as follows:
- Business Spectator
- Mumbrella
- AdAge
- Crikey
In addition to these staples I then use Twitter as a filter for articles throughout the day and I will occasionally (maybe once a week, if that) visit News.com.au. However I do not visit any Fairfax properties, if I can avoid it and this is the direct result of their choice in advertising.
Now, I am in no way indicative of the behaviour of my age group or any particular demographic profile. Indeed, my online use is highly skewed by what I do for work, however what I am interested to know is:
How, if at all has the increase in invasive advertising impacted your online news consumption?




