I understand websites wanting to put you on mailing lists.<\/p>\n
I get that it\u2019s about the click count and revenue.<\/p>\n
What I don\u2019t get is a web site that won\u2019t let me at least do a little “window shopping\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been to a few websites, the most recent was something called Wayfair. This site bills itself as a Home goods site in the clickthrough ad, BUT they want your email address before you even get to find out if they carry anything that you\u2019d purchase.<\/p>\n
For example, I know Williams-Sonoma and Bed Bath & Beyond carry name brand products from Cuisineart, and Keurig, and both sites will sell online.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if Wayfair sells quality products unless I give up an email address and they have no way of knowing if the address I\u2019ve given them is legit, or a \u201cBurner\u201d.<\/p>\n
Perhaps if they\u2019d let me browse for a bit, or they hid their prices until I gave them an email address, I\u2019d be more likely to cooperate.<\/p>\n
As it is, if the first thing I see when I\u2019ve clicked on a retail site from an AD, is \u201cGive use your email address\u201d I\u2019m 100% likely to close the browser window. They\u2019ve wasted their advertising dollar and time. And I\u2019m not going to waste any more of my time looking at their site.<\/p>\n
I feel like I shouldn\u2019t be asked to sign up for yet more JUNK mail, before I\u2019ve even had a chance to decide if the retailer carries products I\u2019m interested in.<\/p>\n
I know an email address isn\u2019t that big a deal, but I feel like email addresses are to some extent the currency of the internet and as such me being charged an entry fee to a website I know nothing about is kinda like prepaying to eat at a restaurant while standing in line with no menu and no idea what the place serves.<\/p>\n
I use an ad blocker all the time. Recently, I\u2019ve been seeing some websites scolding me about my use of an ad blocker and telling me I should open myself to the flood of ads that make trying to get real information from the internet so difficult. I disagree.<\/p>\n
When I actually do notice an ad that is NOT popping up over what I want to read, and I do click on it I have some reasonable expectation that I\u2019ll \u201cwindow shop\u201d and make a decision based on what I see.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not likely to pay for food before I see it, I\u2019m equally not likely to give up an email address just to gain entrance to a \u201cme too\u201d site.<\/p>\n
I know I\u2019m in the minority, but a guy has to have some standards!<\/p>\n
Since I wrote this piece, Wayfair has apparently removed the email wall. Maybe I\u2019m not the minority I thought I was.<\/p>\n
Hmm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I understand websites wanting to put you on mailing lists. I get that it\u2019s about the click count and revenue. What I don\u2019t get is a web site that won\u2019t let me at least do a little “window shopping\u201d I\u2019ve been to a few websites, the most recent was something called Wayfair. This site bills … <\/p>\n