<p>I keep seeing an IU advertisement popping up on the left side at CC. Is that true for everyone? It's much more noticable than the upper banner, or maybe it just stands out because it's IU - but they must be paying a TON for it, in part because the words change (highlighting various awarded recognitions). </p>
<p>But... Anyone else NOT like it? </p>
<p>I just think it seems like "Phoenix University"...ya know? My reasoning is that I feel like I've mostly seen only "fake" schools advertised at CC. At least lowest tier type schools. If they have to advertise, they must not be that good. Maybe it's because I don't really READ the others, maybe they are "decent" schools. I know IU has been really grappling for great students lately. I just wonder if this is a place to spend their money. Yeah, there are many well qualified kids lurking around here (read the stats on the Ivy threads). It just feels sort of like ambulance-chaser type attorneys who run ads on buses and the back of the yellow pages. Feels like it cheapens IU to me. Just gives me a vague uneasy feeling. I know it's name recognition, and it worked for ME because I'm used to the logo, but will it work to make others have a good feeling about IU? The fact that the words change really draws your attention. Maybe THAT is what is making me look...and, in reality there are lots of great schools on here that I never notice. Then that would mean IU is genius for doing the "scrolling words" option. </p>
<p>We can be IU's unofficial test market and provide feedback...hehehehehe...I mean, SOMEONE there must check out CC...if they decided to advertise here. </p>
<p>So - what do you think - love it or hate it (or, somewhere in between).</p>
<p>I can’t see the ad either. I see your point R124687 about Phoenix University but I have never seen the IU ad. Right now there is an ad for Grinnell College which I believe is a highly respected college which is difficult to get into. Interesting.</p>
<p>I’ll add that I cannot GET how they feed us this info. You know how, when you check out at a grocery store, they can “read” what you bought and issue your personal coupons accordingly. Sometimes a competitor to what you bought, sometimes that exact product.</p>
<p>Well, I’m getting Hanover, Indiana Tech, IU. All Indiana schools. I AM in Indiana, but my profile doesn’t say that anywhere that I know of. They read the location of your computer!? I know that’s possible. But, even if I’m in a “generic” area, or at…Harvard, for instance…I get Indiana schools a ton. Maybe THAT is why some of you don’t get IU banners. Your physical location. Hmmmmmmmm…Interesting.</p>
<p>But even that doesn’t seem true because lsb312 says they’re in NY and they’re getting Grinnell (Iowa). FYI…I don’t mean to “dis” any schools…I just haven’t seen any on here that I personally think are…very…worthwhile. No offense to anyone interested in any of these schools, because…IU is on there! Though, again I don’t think if IU as a very “selective” school (in most areas anyway…60-70% admit, let’s face it). But I just thought, I don’t know, still trying to convince my D it would be an ok choice for her and, frankly…this sort of burst my bubble in a tiny way. </p>
<p>Just thinking that might not be what they intended, ya know?</p>
<p>I don’t think they are “reading” the location of your ISP. More likely CC is tracking the posts and forums you read and sending you the ads based upon your viewership. For example, when I read posts about financial aid, the ads I receive change. Since I spend a lot of time on the Indiana forum, most of the college ads are related to Indiana schools such as IU, Hanover, Goshen, etc. When we were looking at various colleges the ads would change depending upon which forum and posts I viewed.</p>
<p>For the most part the ads have little to do with the quality of an institution. It’s just one way a particular university or college has chosen to spend marketing dollars.</p>
<p>I vehemently disagree that it has to do with the quality of an institution. Example, after getting IU (again) when I first signed on just now, I got Antioch something or other Los Angeles. Huh!? I have yet to see an Ivy school. And I post on ivies quite often too, and spend more time there than Indiana. Every ad I’ve been fed are “no names”, until IU. That’s why it’s distressing.</p>
<p>Right now I’m looking at a Progressive Insurance ad, though IU comes up quite often. </p>
<p>Let’s not read too much into this stuff folks. To me the sidebar ads are the 21st century equivalent of postcards; no different than the steady stream of unsolicited mail S2 gets from seemingly 100s of different schools. Do I think less of Carleton or Emory for sending my son a brochure? No. If anything this approach is cheaper and more likely to produce the desired results. If you’re trying to improve your profile with high achieving students and their parents, what better place than the crowd at rankings-GPA-SAT/ACT obsessed College Confidential? </p>
<p>Or as bank robber Willie Sutton once responded to a reporter, “Why do I rob banks? Because that’s where the money is.”</p>
<p>R124687,
The fact that you are so distressed by this ad says a lot about how much you value “prestige”. IU is a highly regarded public school with many excellent programs such as business, music and journalism. It will never have the prestige of an Ivy league school. If this is very important to you then you may be more comfortable with an Ivy. I think IU provides an excellent education at a reasonable cost but if you looking to impress people with the school your child attends you will probably be disappointed if you child attends IU. I think people who turn down Ivies to attend IU on full scholarship understand they sacrifice some prestige but know they can achieve their goals and be happy at IU.</p>
<p>Have you considered that perhaps the Ivies don’t advertise on CC? I think it says something positive about a college that uses 21st century marketing methods to attract 21st century students. The sidebar ads are not nearly as annoying as popups but still are directed to a target market.</p>
<p>I live 60 miles south of San Francisco and I just looked on the sidebar and voila’—USF. There’s also a USF banner on top. I notice they’re advertising an 8 week online internet marketing certificate. I don’t see Indiana at all. I always used to see Alabama, though.</p>
<hr>
<p>Isb312 wrote:</p>
<p>It is definately not based on physical location because I am now viewing an ad for University of San Francisco.</p>
<p>rrah-yeah, that’s what I’m saying … Ivies don’t advertise on CC. Those that do advertise on CC seem, in large part, …um…smarmy? I mean, competing for ad space with someone advertising an 8 week online internet marketing
certificate, ya know?</p>
<p>Maybe everyone will look now, and see if that’s true of I’m imagining it…because I’ve never paid a lot of attention before. The only ones that stuck in my head are all pretty “iffy” in terms of quality.</p>
<p>So, because IU advertises on CC, and many of the other colleges that advertise are lower quality schools, that means that IU is also lower quality?</p>
<p>I know what you’re saying; I haven’t seen any Yale advertisements on the side bars. In fact, right now I have an ad for Indiana Tech, which I really haven’t even heard of before (although I’ve probably seen ads). Basically, I don’t understand why choosing to advertise makes IU a lesser school. I don’t think that “guilt by association” quite applies here. </p>
<p>Although, considering that IU just had some major budget cuts, I’m kind of wondering whether or not CC ads are the best place to invest money. I imagine that they paid for ads awhile ago and still have them from then, but still. I can’t help but wonder how much the IU ads really help with respect to other costs they may have to cut.</p>
<p>as an aside, i had posted a question about mother of the groom dresses on parent cafe, and everyone there commented that all the ads and sidebar ads were formal wear ie david bridal, so i think it has to do with keyword tracking . i spend alot of time on alabama board and usually have ads there from ole miss and ua or uahuntsville, i have had an iu one here though</p>
<p>Personally I think universities that start spending less on glossy brochures sent in the mail and more on online advertising are smart marketers. At least in our household paper tends to go straight into the recycling bin with nary a glance by the teens in the house. Online advertising hits them where they are spending all their time.</p>
<p>I still have not seen the IU ad ,however, I agree with Tulare that it makes sense to advertise on a site where the focus is college. </p>
<p>Apparently, even Ivy League colleges find it necessary to advertise. Today’s New York Times Metropolitan section features an ad for graduate programs at Columbia University.</p>
<p>For me it’s actually the opposite. I do spend a lot of time online, but I’ve grown accustomed to ignoring the ads, unless they’re those annoying kinds that grow out from the sidebar and over the text. When I mentioned the Indiana Tech ad earlier, I had to scroll back up to the top to see what it was, and although the color scheme looked familiar, I had never really read it before. On the other hand, I remember thinking it was kind of cool to get mail (at least in the beginning.) By the end I was throwing stuff away, but I at least had to filter through the mail from schools I didn’t care about to get to the stuff I wanted to see (acceptance letters, scholarship letters, etc.) In this case I at least glanced at it.</p>
<p>It’s true that if someone is looking at a website about colleges, then it’s a good idea to have ads, because people are more likely to look at them. But the problem is that they base advertisements off of pages you already look at, so you’re less likely to “discover” a completely new option, unless you do a lot of browsing.</p>
<p>It is laughable to argue that IU is doing a poor job marketing itself in attracting good students. The opposite is true. From 2003 to 2009, the common data set shows that the percentage of entering freshman with 30+ ACT composite scores at IU has increased from 9.3 to 23.3 percent. No other Big Ten school’s has come anywhere close to that kind of increase. They obviously are good at what they do.</p>
<p>bthomp: Who said IU is doing a poor job marketing itself? I know I am personally always commenting on how they’re increasing their better students. Of course, not all ideas, when run up the flagpole, actually fly. So…just seeing what people think about this one. </p>
<p>I was in a waiting room outside of a courtroom once. In walks this talk elegant man in a long coat, looking very much like an actor. He TAKES over the place in a grand way, heads turn. He heads toward me. What? As he arrives and TOWERS over me and my attorney, the only thing I could think after all that fanfare was…“Hey, you’re on the back of the yellow pages”. This was when attorneys could first start advertising. I didn’t want to offend my own attorney, so I later said “not that there’s anything wrong with that”. He said “Oh, yes there is - it’s justs NOT the way a real professional would act…REAL attorneys don’t advertise”…smarmy.</p>
<p>parent56-keyword. Interesting. Would have NEVER guessed that. How odd. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen anything but a college, I know someone else said they had an insurance ad. Right now I’ve got hobsons collegeview.com WHAT?</p>
There’s also a USF banner on top. I notice they’re advertising an 8 week online internet marketing certificate. I don’t see Indiana at all. I always used to see Alabama, though.</p>