Why is this industry so dead set against "keeping it simple"?
 

Look at the successful sites in mainstream such as ebay, google, yahoo, digg, hahahahahahahahahaha, delicious, etc. Then look at the old school leaders in the TGP game for example, The Hun, Worldsex, Sleazy Dream, and many many more. Add on cam sites such as Ifriends and the millions of pages promoting them and it all comes down to one thing, simplicity.

Even though all of these sites are HUGE and highly successful with the simple but navigatable approach when companies get design work done they like to "blow it out" and get the slick clustered stuff you see spammed here constantly. I know people say it's to impress the affiliates but aren't there enough people with big traffic that "know what's up" to base their opinion on conversions vs whose site is prettier? And even if you want to have a gorgeous site to wow all the nubs into joining your affiliate program why not have a simple 98% text tour as an option? A $5 an hour person that knows nothing but basic html could spit out something efficient.

I personally HATE promoting anything with the slick look and I have always converted better on what the clueless would laugh at. I know many others like me. Someone explain this weird phenomenon to me please.

because the owners try to impress webmasters with "bling"

Yes I understand that. However, you would think there are enough webmasters around that have seen how both work to throw their traffic to the program that was smart enough to provide the simple version or both. Most SEO guys (everyone wants this traffic right) make their own promo because they hate the shiny shit as much as me. Maybe a small logo, images of the content, text links, and that's it. There is a reason for that and pretty much nobody is stepping up to the plate even though it's virtually stepping back 5 years and doing things the easy way. These sites with 50 single girls have a perfect chance to throw up a tour that would blow their ratios out of the water.

i completely agree, and it never bothered me one bit. a great thing from my perspective.

Have to agree completely here...

Simple to the edge of potential ugliness by a 'designer' standard seems to work best for me too...

is craigslist pretty? is plentofish pretty?

Right, it's great that nobody is doing it if you're playing the same game they are. :upsidedow

If it works for them, why tell everyone else and have competition increase? :winkwink:

http://del.icio.us/

Sold to Yahoo. What kind of idiot designed that!

Bingo! Almost like a design competition for bragging rights..

that site makes my stomach hurt :Oh crap

I think you will see a return to more simplicty as time goes on.

While people like the slick sites, and they do look nice, and some convert really well. I do not know about you, but to me they all start looking the same if you look at enough of them in a given day. But that's just me.

I've tried it both ways, and the simple concepts convert better (from my experience). It could be for any number of reasons to load times for the dial ups, or slower broadband users, or simplicity for the surfer who is not all that computer savy. I know I have a number of members who do not know how to upgrade codec's, players, and any number of other things who e-mail. So I can only imagine the computer profiency of the user.

The flash is nice, and it's impressive at times. But as we've read, and plenty have said, you have to think of things from the surfer's point of view more than our own. Most are not all that savy. A lot are that have been online for years, but you have to design, and consider those middle of the pack, and low rung folks as well.

Hell, I know people who've been on the net for years personally, and still are pretty noobish to the whole internet.

:disgust