Ad-Free Ello - Too Good to Be True?

This week we discussed the ins and outs of data mining. I learned it's a thriving industry. At its core, data mining creates a win-win scenario for both businesses and consumers. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, big data can increase profits in the retail sector by 60%. By providing personal data, consumers benefit from greater business efficiencies and new products. This is a result of the consumer making contact with some well-placed ad in a targeted mailer, email, search engine, or promoted post on a given network. So what happens when the ads don't exist?

You get Ello.

Ello is the social network that prides itself on providing an 'ethical' ad-free experience. This article details how they've gone so far as to become a Public Benefits Corporation, legally binding itself to never data mine, make money from selling ads or sell user data. It's all a commitment to "benefit society as a whole, not just make money from its investors." This 'society' it claims to benefit, however, is limited since users can't join without an invite.  (Links to an external site.)

After a year of operation, Ello is still in beta testing. Just last month they were putting final touches on sharing video and audio media (Vimeo, Soundcloud, Dailymotion, etc.) into their posts. Ironically enough, Ello's cannot entirely eradicate ads from their platform... specifically those embedded within YouTube videos. Ello polled their users to find out what their opinions were on the matter. 

You know what they found out? Their users didn't care about the occasional ad - they just wanted to share the content with their friends. I'll admit, I was surprised to read that since this blatantly goes against their no-ads policy (isn't that why the users are there in the first place?!). I just imagine social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram sticking their noses up and saying "I told you so" to Ello for thinking they could truly rid themselves of ads on their site. And who is to say that these other video and audio mediums will not also incorporate embedded ads somewhere down the line? 

Ello was thoughtful enough to further compromise by allowing users to manage their settings - providing the option to toggle off from embedded media - to protect themselves from even accidentally seeing an ad. Perhaps social giants can take a page out of Ello's book and add some of these settings to their own platforms, cutting down on the "noise" that bombards users' timelines. 

My thoughts on Ello's future? It may not be the next Facebook, but it'll work for those who use the platform as well as any other. Robert Wringham says, "(Ello is) superior to its competitor but failing to win popular traction...[but] a social network doesn't need approval from everyone to work." I certainly agree with that.