$200,000,000 was spent on online advertising in New Zealand in 2008. But what percentage of those thousands of ads were effective? How many were ignored, or, worse still, annoyed the very consumers they were supposed to persuade?
 
In our work, we have found that following a few basic rules of thumb can produce effective ads without frustrating users.
 
Support the user’s goal. For example, if a user is reading a music review and sees a link to purchase the album online, chances are they will appreciate it.  It’s not always possible to target ads this specifically, but at least try to make the ad relevant to most of the audience.
 
Give the user control. Any ad that removes control from the user will annoy them. Don’t create ads that pop up, won’t close, are constantly animated, or trick users into clicking on them.
 
Reduce clutter. A survey of over 4,000 web users (PDF, 1.38MB) showed that over one-third will immediately abandon a site that appears cluttered.  The survey also showed that 51% of users had a less favourable opinion of the advertiser’s product when it appeared on a cluttered site.
 
Consider using textual ads. We conducted user testing that compared a news site before and after a redesign. Participants unanimously agreed that the number of ads on the redesigned site had decreased.  The new site had in fact increased both the number of ads and the amount of screen real estate dedicated to ads.  The only difference was that many more ads on the new site were text based.
 
Don’t put ads near important site links. Eye-tracking studies prove that people will avoid looking directly at some ads.  In a round of testing we recently completed, a site had important links near an advertisement.  Users assumed they were just part of the ad and didn’t notice them.
 
Don’t use pop-ups.  Most users close pop-ups within a few of seconds or ignore them completely.  We see this again and again.  Jakob Nielsen found that more than half of participants in a study of 18,808 users reported that pop-ups affected their opinion of the advertiser very negatively.
 
If you must animate, animate only once then stop.
 
Be honest. Make it clear to the user that the ad is in fact an ad, what it’s advertising, and what will happen if they click on the ad.
 
Replicate your site look and feel in the ad. Studies have shown that ads that blend with a site’s design are more likely to be looked at than ads that are in contrast.
 

Many people now accept that they will encounter advertising on sites. Following these few simple rules of thumb will ensure the maximum success for advertisers without frustrating users. 

We are running our first Breakfast Briefing event in Wellington on Wednesday on the results of reviewing over 50 research papers on online advertising. Let us know if you’d like to come, by emailing Kimberley.