Letters

Patronising to compare broadband price rise to coffee

I’m pleased that BT has confirmed that it will abandon price increases linked to inflation, but I found their announcement patronising. CEO Marc Allera compared the new rise of £3 to “about the price of a takeaway coffee every month” (Issue 676, page 7).

I understand he’s trying to say that in the grand scheme of things, £3 a month isn’t a lot. But his error is to compare an essential item like broadband with an unnecessary purchase like coffee. It was a flippant comment that fails to appreciate how reliant all of us are on reliable broadband – which is ironic, given that it must be Mr Allera’s aim to get us all signed up to ultra-fast connections.

Pat O’Shea

Only Google and Amazon make money from adverts

While understanding his conclusions, I disagree with John Young’s opinion (Letters, Issue 675) that adverts help to keep the internet free. Adverts can be obstructive, while the push to get the ‘correct’ (ie, targeted) adverts in front of the viewer is intrusive and creepy.

Less competent sites (I’m thinking of a specific national newspaper) flood their pages with nonsensical links to pages that I consider to be nothing more than the nastier type of clickbait.

From my own experience, I can’t understand how the advertiser makes money, nor how it’s worthwhile for the website. I tried advertising two of my self-published books. Admittedly, I paid Amazon the minimum to advertise, only willing to spend more if income was generated. But in the end I didn’t make enough money to cover my costs. It was a flop.

I’ve looked into getting adverts on my motor-racing site, but if someone clicks a link they just leave my site and don’t return – especially if they don’t like where they’ve been directed to. As for earnings per click, one needs tens of thousands to even earn enough for the occasional treat. The only ads I carry are for my two books and merchandise. The books are on a sidebar, with the merchandise links being easily missed. That’s probably why I don’t make any sales. It’s ironic that, with the internet being flooded with adverts, the income generated by them is so diminished that only the likes of Google are making sizeable profits.

Peter Tattersall

I disagree with John Young. We already pay for the internet through our monthly contracts with internet providers. Adverts will always be there because it’s all about money, money, money. I’ll