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Should You Allow Advertising On Your
Corporate Intranet?
A number of enterprising companies have approached businesses with Intranets and offered to buy advertising banners on these internal webs. One of the justifications they give to help sell the concept is that the outside income generated will help to cover the costs of upgrading equipment or software, or provide revenues that management will see as a bottom line benefit of the Intranet.
Should you or shouldn't you take this windfall?
The plus of income generation is compelling. Not to mention that if you use banner ads for corporate activities such as a United Way campaign or to feature a new 401(k) plan or to showcase a software company whose products are being installed or upgraded enterprise-wide, you can get other desirable, intangible benefits. There are, however, some consequences to consider before you (or your IT/MIS department) sign a contract:
1. Will your employees see it as a tacit recommendation of the advertiser's products? This may set up undesirable legal consequences. It may also lead to requests to feature competitive or complementary products. Someone in the organization should be prepared to field the requests and determine the advertising guidelines.
2. If you feature one charitable activity or event, will your employees demand equal time for their own favorite groups?
3. Will the primary purpose of the Intranet (to increase work productivity ) be harmed? Waste of users' time is a direct hit to the bottom line. The common rule is that the fully loaded value of an employee's time (considering overhead and benefits) is double their actual pay rate. If the value of an employee's time is $1 per minute, and a user spends 3 extra seconds on a page because they are reading an ad, then the company has a productivity loss of $.05 per employee per ad. Ad revenue is typically about $20 per thousand viewings, or about $.02 per ad. The company will have a net loss in productivity of $.03 per ad per employee.
The advertising content may be subtle and it may be entertaining. It may also follow your corporate guidelines for appropriateness. The most thoughtful question to ask is, Can you afford the time loss?
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Copyright 1998 by Kaye Vivian (kvivian@cloud9.net). All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted provided it is not altered and the copyright notice remains attached. |
