Mullenweg: ‘Ads Can Feel Like Vegas Strip’

As we wait to see what WordPress evangelist and Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg has to say at the Web 2.0 Expo, he made some interesting comments during a short video interview with All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher. Among the most notable is Mullenweg’s view of the convergence of blogging and traditional media.

Noting a difference between bloggers and social-networking, Mullenweg said he likes where WordPress.com stands.

“I like our position, because it’s about content, it’s not around photos or people trying to connect to each other - it’s traditional content much the way the media business has operated for a long, long time,” Mullenweg told Swisher.

Mullenweg said he would like to see blog advertising change to what he feels should be something more tasteful.

“I hope the ad formats evolve to something a little more tasteful, because many of them can be kind of garish and some of them start to feel like the Las Vegas Strip,” he said.

Google’s Adsense is still the most innovative advertising platform, the WordPress creator told Swisher.

Asked why he doesn’t come up with a tasteful ad platform, Mullenweg shied away from the question.

“I’m thinking about it, but it’s not what I’m most passionate about. The monetization side isn’t something we think about,” he said.

The full 5 minute video interview can be found on All Things Digital.