Web Ad Grammar Reveals Company Attitude Toward Quality?

Everyone makes spelling and grammar errors.  Marketing is supposed to have final eyes and ears on deliverables as they go out the door and, hopefully, catch them.  Some are minor/third line text ads, and some are glaring single message image ads.  I've had days surfing the Web where there were so many I had to start keeping a running tab.  Are there analytics to track Web spelling and grammar errors?  

No format is immune:  Web image block/banner ads, print, radio.  The Web provides vast opportunities for expression in a grammatical free-for-all not usually seen in traditional journalism, as Everyman becomes a publisher.  Examples abound.  

Here are just a couple from a random search of ads over the past 48 hours:

Today's Featured Story Link on Yahoo! News

"Withdrawl from Iraq"

>> More from The Daily Beast

(I checked it out to see if there was a U.S. Deep South angle.  Nope, though the concept of withdrawal from Iraq is certainly attractive.)

Ads.com's Banner Ads Section

Facebook Advertising

Reach The Exact Audience You 

Want With Relevant Targeted Ads.

(They'll reach the Initial Caps On Every Single Word For Emphasis market.  Yes, I've been a Facebook advertiser.  Didn't work for my brand.)

Trulia.com Real Estate Search

Resource Center

View your 2010 Credit Score instantly.

Closing Save on closing costs

("Credit Score" as a document name?  "Closing"/"closing":  Pick one.  Trulia is a good RE site, but no, I don't want to get dinged for viewing my credit score.)

Yahoo! News

Why Most Shampoos Are a Waste of Money

("Are"?  Is this like the recent 'Why You Don't Really Need to Use Laundry Detergent?' headline stories?)

Linked Text Ad

Travel to Iran

Tours to Iran, Iran Travel information, Iran visa,

Iran maps & Hotels

PersiaTours.com

(Random capitalizations.  The closest I've visited was central Turkey, where spelling and punctuation are optional, and quite creative, village by village.)

Linked Text Ad

Pottery Barn

Save Up to 50% on Select Items In-Stores and Online

("In-Stores" seems a Webification.  Traditional "in Stores" works just fine.  PB Teens fan.)

Sponsored Link on Yahoo! News

Spot FX Market Twists

Learn to Anticipate Market Twists

and Turns with this FREE guide.

("this" is a little word, but it still gets initial caps, and what about "guide"?  Most folks who are e-commerce vendors can tell you about market twists, as they have to monitor them daily.) 

Image Ad That Appeared on My Blog Today

Earn an internet marketing certificate.
8-week online programs starting every month.
University of San Francisco
(Wasn't it established a while ago that it's the "Internet"?  And weren't we taught that numbers less than 10 are spelled out?  [Granted, character limits likely drove the "8" choice.]  USF is a good school.)

Errors and/or inconsistencies divert reader/viewer attention from the content of the message and the call-to-action.  They make prospective customers worry about whether perceived sloppiness in advertising is also a reflection of a company/brand culture and behavior.

Sharp marketing is in sweating the details of colorway, font, individual word choice and proper use of grammar, among the other things of positioning, proportion etc., regardless which lettered generation might be the target market.  Hip or not, Web-savvy or not, old school or 21st century, folks can still tell whether or not a message author is ... educated in their language.

I Have Two Requests

1. Double check.  Triple check as ads are shipped off to a cloud, server or repository.  Then view the work the way the public does, sitting in their shoes and with their perceptions, and correct it if needed.  
2. Pick one consistent style and stick with it.

Sharp and polished always shows, and can go a long way to communicating that an organization is comprised of professionals who know what they're doing and the impression they make.

(c) 2010 Lisa C. Clark
All Rights Reserved.