It’s interesting to see how the Internet continues to change the world we live in. In Japan, it’s common for print advertisements and TV commercials to present viewers with a computer search box suggesting a keyword they might use to find the company’s website later, a practice called uebu yudo or “web guidance” in the advertising industry here. I guess there’s something “organic” about customers doing a search for a product themselves compared with typing a URL in manually or clicking a link, though since so many companies are employing this technique, I have to wonder how effective it is. Another variation: ads that present an interesting story then end with the phrase, “To see the rest, visit our website,” like the SoftBank commercial in which the cute dog Otosan saves a girl from being hit by a piano, after which viewers must access the company’s website to see if the dog was killed by the piano or not. Recently I noticed another new change leaking from the net into realspace: right-to-left scrolling comments, the kind seen on Nico Douga, Japan’s local answer to YouTube. In Nico videos, users can type in comments (like “Nice Boat”) which will scroll by while other people watch the video, a visual annoyance to some yet an interesting way to feel like you’re contributing to the wider shared popular culture. I caught a variety show adding these scrolling comments to video it was showing in an attempt to make its program more interesting to web-savvy viewers. Could this be the next big mega-trend from Japan?
Could Nico Video-style scrolling comments be the Next Big Thing?
