Nation’s Digital Sales Managers Demand Access to Banner Inventory on Insurance Exchanges
“Revenue is being left on the table,” they insist
A consortium of Digital Sales Managers from around the U.S. issued a statement Wednesday demanding President Barack Obama immediately allow the placement of banner ad units on HealthCare.gov. The statement came shortly after the release of traffic estimates for the exchange, which have been stated as high as 4.7 million unique visitors in the first day.
“While our Nation’s leaders bicker and argue over tax revenue and runaway government spending, they’re ignoring a vital and immediate source of revenue,” explained Kathryn Jones of IAC, a leading Internet content company based in New York. “We’ve got some huge movie releases coming up. I could make one call and have Sandra Bullock in a space suit floating helplessly across the bottom of the login page. That’s a [quarter-million dollars.] You just subsidized 700 people.”
The plan was quickly met with skepticism. Ryan Jones, an independent media observer, felt the plan “tasteless […] this is a government service, with content designed to inform and further the public good. Commercializing it is the lowest form of money grab.”
Industry leaders understand the criticisms but feel they are overblown, adding the benefits outweigh the downsides. Scott Kennison of Los Angeles-based Demand Media felt it was a foregone conclusion. “I watch the news, I read the tweets from [White House official] David [Simas.] We’re talking ten-thousand page-views per second. Per second! You can’t tell me we’re not selling those impressions. We’re selling them.”
