Ad Blindness Rules: Even Fewer People Clicking Ads

from the bye-bye dept

We've been discussing why online advertising is often a bad idea for advertisers (not so much for many publishers, but that's a different issue), as ad blindness rules the day. Now there's even more evidence, as the already tiny clickthrough rate on online ads is dropping, rapidly. Basically, it sounds like more and more people are simply ignoring online ads, which is to be expected, since they rarely (if ever?) add much of value. This is the advertisers' fault. There are lots of ways that advertisers could actually add value for consumers/readers/users online -- but they're all so scared to death of actually taking that step. Instead, many are so focused on obsolete metrics like the CPM, that they're unable or unwilling to really branch out and try marketing and advertising programs that actually are effective. Simply tossing up more ad banners isn't doing the trick. Really engaging with users would help, but most brands still haven't figured out quite how to do that, even if it isn't particularly complex.

Filed Under: ad blindness, ads, clicks

The Traditional Banner Ad Business May Be In Even More Trouble Than You Think

from the ad-blindness-everywhere dept

It's no secret that we're not big fans of the banner ad business -- and, in fact, part of what we're doing with Floor64 and the Insight Community is helping to offer companies alternatives to wasteful spending on straight banner ads. Just a couple months ago, I moderated a panel at a marketing conference, where we talked about "the death of the banner ad." And, while every person on the panel admitted that banner ads aren't particularly effective, they said they still bought them, just because it's part of what you do. However, that may soon be changing. The first hint may have come earlier this year, when people started realizing that banner ads on hot social networking properties were worthless. And, now, with the financial crisis freaking people out left and right, some are considering pulling back on their ad spending.

And, if they needed any more ammunition for that, a new study from Jakob Nielsen shows that ad blindness is more widespread and more comprehensive than almost anyone realized. Almost no one looks at banner ads. The only "advertisements" that people look at are search ads, because in those cases, people are actively looking for something, and the ads often provide it. In other words, in those cases, the ads are good content.

This doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense to reach out to the people who make up your market. It just means to stop thinking about just bombarding them with meaningless "push" messaging that they'll ignore completely -- and start actually engaging them and providing good content.

Filed Under: ad blindness, advertising, advertising is content, banner ads