“I kind of hate ads.”

If Sam Altman, who is at the forefront of shaping the future thinks this, as an advertising industry, shouldn’t we be concerned?

This is just another reminder that we need to find a better model than interruptions that simply add to the clutter.

In 1994 when HotWired and a collection of Time Inc. websites first launched, the plan was to charge a small fee or subscription.

But after going live with the first-ever banner ad, Madison Avenue ad buyers were so enthralled by the new medium that they flocked to buy banner ads across every site.

So publishers decided it was best to make their content free and garner as many eyeballs as possible for eager advertisers.

But it wasn’t a sustainable business model for most.

The number of websites and thus the supply of slots for ads went up exponentially, but advertisers' spend remained relatively flat, meaning advertising rates tumbled.

This left journalists catering primarily to the desires of the advertisers rather than the needs of their readers.

Fast forward to the current day on the internet and it's almost impossible to not be followed around the web, with ads plastered in every possible space, all vying for your attention.

Spraying ads around the internet, damaging people’s trust in advertising, risking brand favourability, wasting advertisers' budgets and making fraudsters rich.

This isn't the future we envisioned.

For online advertising to play its part alongside other digital channels, it needs to do what all media should do. Deliver great content to the most appropriate audience at scale.

Online advertising needs to evolve from interruption to immersion.

If advertising as a business model has any chance of standing the test of time in this ever-changing landscape, the least we can do is try to make ads that people actually care about or if nothing else, tolerate.

Not just creating campaigns, but conversations.

There’s no overnight fix, but there’s certainly a need to act before it’s too late.

The first step for agencies, advertisers and publishers should be putting the real consumer at the heart of everything you do.

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