Web Usability Expert: Users Ignore Ads -- Other Than Google's

Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen says he conducted eyetracking studies to examine the degree to which visitors to web sites take note of ads, and reports that "at all levels of user engagement, the finding is the same regarding banners...: almost no [eye] fixations within advertisements... Often, users didn't even see the advertiser's logo or name, even when they glanced at one or two design elements elsewhere inside an ad." Two notable exceptions: First, text ads on search engine results pages do get readers' attention. Second, ads which are unethically disguised to look like editorial content also get attention. Nielsen's conclusions explain the strength of Google's ad business, and the weak pricing of Web ads relative to newspaper ads -- a costly problem for Web content companies like Yahoo!, Time Warner, CNET, and TheStreet.com.

Sources: Useit.com
Commentary: Newspaper Online vs . Print Ad Revenue: The 10 % Problem • Online Ad Spending to Overtake Print by 2011 -- Study
Stocks/ETFs to watch: YHOO, GOOG, TSCM, CNET, TWX, VCLK

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Comments

[DerrickSheilds]

I don't really see how it's a problem for Yahoo!, as yahoo's search results (obviously) have search/text ads, and Yahoo! Publisher Network displays text ads on Websites just like Google AdSense...

[Brian Croner]

I think it comes from the pscyhological state of mind. If you're trying to read an article, you've already found the article you want to read, and so you won't go looking for clues to click on to go to the article. If you're mind, however, is in an inquisitive state of mind, looking, scanning, searching the page for a solution to the information it wants, then you'll look at something, even if it's an ad, and scrutinize whether you can get what you want out of whatever you see, ads or search result contents. That's why ad relevance distinguishes sales from banner advertising.

Good thing. It makes me rethink a portion of my page layout.