Jakob Nielsen’s latest column confirms what we pretty much know already: users are ignoring banner ads. Don’t see ‘em. Look the other way. Avert their eyes.
Eyetrack results make it plain as day – folks are looking for content, not ads. Very few eye fixations land on ads – instead people focus on the meat of the page. There are ways around this. Ads that are designed to be an integral part of the page, with a matching tone and style can succeed in getting attention. Nielsen notes that those remnant campaigns and ad networks aren’t always the best way to buy an ad:
Ultimately, the fact that online ads get viewed more when they match surrounding content is a strike against the tendency to build advertising networks. If advertising spots are simply auctioned off, then you can’t design an optimized ad for each placement.
When you advertise through an advertising network, your ads will get fewer fixations than if you contract directly with the publisher for a specific placement and design your creative to fit that spot. As a result, you should bid less for network ads than for customized ads that you place yourself.
