Half Of All Display Ad Clicks Are Worthless

More and more online advertisers are paying on a per-click basis, but who is clicking on those ads and how much are they worth? A study put out yesterday by comScore, Starcom Media, and Tacoda suggests that half of all clicks on display ads (as opposed to clicks on paid search links) are generated by only 6 percent of Web surfers.

And these are not a particularly desirable bunch. The average heavy clicker is 25 to 44 years old, earns less than $40,000 a year, spends a lot of time online but not a lot of money online, and likes to frequent auctions, gambling sites and job boards. Sounds like a lot of these heavy clickers are out of work and have nothing to do. But who did you think clicked on those ads anyway?

Additionally, the study found that there was no correlation between how many times a brand’s ads were clicked on and brand awareness or positive attitudes towards that brand.

Advertisers probably know this already, and are focusing on the other 50 percent of clicks. But what they should really be doing is stop counting clicks and start measuring things that actually matter to their business, like sales or brand awareness. Counting clicks is easy. Measuring meaningful economic returns is not.

(Photo by Checlap)

Comments

[VSD:]

That is why Yahoo does not make as much as Goog. This is a known problem

2008 Feb 13 02:29 PM

[h8ter:]

I'd like to see the studies on search listing ads too.
I bet a great deal of people click on sponsor search listings without knowing that its an ad.
A lot of people search for info, not necessarily to buy.

2008 Feb 13 05:36 PM

[rajsekar:]

Great story Erick. This is the biggest hoax that Google has unleashed on advertisers and small business units. Majority of search users click on ads to just get information and they have no intention to buy the product or link that they clicked. This is a known fact to Google and advertisers. I have seen many instances wherein my product link was clicked and there was no sale. Small business units should be tracking the ad clicks carefully every month and then terminate Google's ad contract if the sales figures do not match the number of clicks. People are so foolish to keep paying money to Google for this biggest business hoax ever played. I hope analytics companies tear this mystery shrouding Google's revenue growth from ad clicks. Small business units are better off placing ads in local city websites and print materials - the returns are justified.

You have to think that the biggest bulls on Google are just plain idiots - the time has come to unearth the truth on why Google's stock is going to have a hard landing in 2008. It's funny to read analysis from Google bulls saying that the stock will hit $900 very soon. How long can these idiots spin such stories? We need more Ericks to give a rational look at this ad click hoax. I am sorry for Yahoo for being drawn into this comparison with Google. Yahoo as a company is doing fine with their excellent web portal business model and analysts kept comparing Google's stock price and results with Yahoo. Quarter after quarter these idiots drove Yahoo's price down based on Google's hoax and now they want to partner with Yahoo. What a gross injustice Wall Street has committed on Yahoo. Google knows that their heady days are coming to an end and the founders are creating another round of hype using Android, Open Office and YouTube. Can YouTube deliver any financial incentive to Google? I doubt if any single user will pay Google any penny if they start charging for uploading videos. YouTube can attract millions of eyeballs with zero revenue - Wall Street should wake up to this reality. If Google starts cluttering YouTube with ads., then users will look elsewhere. What a great hoax...

2008 Feb 14 11:51 AM