Skybus To Have Advertising Wherever They Can Find Room

Advertising, Skybus

I saw this Skybus press release announcing their aircraft advertising program today and knew I had to blog about it.

In short, they are going to sell advertising on any white space they can find. This includes the outside of the plane, overhead bins, tray tables, and restroom doors. Nationwide Insurance is the first to do the outside, but I’m going to be the first to do the inside. . . .

07_04_11 Skybusads

Looks good, huh? Hmm, maybe not. I can hear all those naysayers cringing about this “horrible” development (onboard advertising in general, not the picture of my face specifically), but I say . . . bring it. This is a great move for them.

Remember, Skybus is going to have ultra-low fares a la Ryanair. That means you could see fares for a buck or even less (just speculating here). The only way they can offer those low fares is if they can make money elsewhere. Advertising is one great way to do that. That’s how all those free websites, including mine, make money. (Side note: Remember to use those Google links at the bottom of this post if you are genuinely interested so I can start paying to advertise on Skybus.)

Generally all those people who say this is a horrible thing are the same people who complain that airfare is too expensive these days. Well, here’s your tradeoff. If you’re willing to stare at an ad for awhile, you too can fly for cheap.Most airlines aren’t going to match this, and they shouldn’t. The idea of paying for a better product in coach is something that hasn’t really happened on a large scale in some time. If you just want cheap, go ahead and shoehorn yourself into a tight seat and stare at ads all flight long. Buy a cup of water if you want, but don’t complain about it as long as you get there on time. If you want more, then you’ll have to pay more to fly on another airline that won’t put ads up.

It’s all about creating a value proposition that will appeal to different segments of travelers, and I think there is plenty of room for this type of the service at the bottom end of the pricing curve.

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11 comments on “Skybus To Have Advertising Wherever They Can Find Room

  1. >Side note: Remember to use those Google links at the bottom of this post

    Careful there, Cranky. You just violated Google’s ad terms for publishers.

  2. I am NOT suggesting that anyone fraudulently click those links. I’m just suggesting that people pay attention to them and click if they have a genuine interest.

    I’ve clarified it in the post.

  3. I wasn’t suggesting that you were encouraging fraudulent clicks. Google, as well as most other ad brokers, are more than a little pedantic about what is generally termed as ‘incentive’ highlighting. See 17 here:
    http://performancing.com/node/258

    I’m not trying to be a griefer, just giving you a headsup. And, yes, G does nuke publisher accounts.

  4. Thank you for the heads up. (I probably should have said that in the first place.) I read through the Ts & Cs and I didn’t see any of that in there. Are you comfortable that this is accurate? For example, that site says in section 13:

    “You shall not authorize or encourage any third party to directly or indirectly generate queries, referral events or clicks on any Ad link, search result or referral button.”

    When I look at the Ts & Cs, it says:

    “You shall not, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to: (i) directly or indirectly generate queries, Referral Events, or impressions of or clicks on any Ad, Link, Search Result, or Referral Button through any automated, deceptive, fraudulent or other invalid means.”

    It seems like the important phrase was left off here. Either way, I have no interest in angering the Googlers so I won’t mention it again.

  5. >comfortable that this is accurate

    Like you, I read the T&C and it seems softened so I asked the ultimate authority (outside Goog, that is), Jen of jensense.com. Jen says that to point out your ads is “Still a bannable offense. Even in jest.”

  6. Well thanks for following up. Interesting that it’s a bannable offense even though it’s not specifically called out in the Ts & Cs. I’ll keep in mind in the future.

  7. She says that the original account sign-up agreement has more specific language –like WHO keeps that around for daily reference, eh?

    Now back to flying (and sort of related to selling advertising or anything else that’s not bolted down on the airframe)… How about giving us a big headsup if/when RyanAir starts working out of Islip? Not that I want to be packed for 6+ hours on a cattle car, but I think it should shake up the low-end trans-Atlantic ticket pricing since Southwest would serve as a domestic feed to ISP.

  8. Oh I’ll post about it if RyanAir starts flying to the US. Don’t get too excited yet though – it’s probably years off if it happens at all.

  9. I was wondering the other day why those luggage bins aren’t perforated to remove excess weight from the plane so it can fly easier, use less fuel and clear the runway safer. Now they are going to plaster advertisments on them. Its bad enough the new planes are loaded with all kinds of unneccessary entertainment equipment. I want the plane to be loaded only with essential stuff like fuel, engines and wings. All thse big planes with miles of electrical wiring and electronic entertainment doo-dads make me very nervous. Am I sounding Cranky!

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