Beyond the Click: Which online ads are the most effective? (Part 1) (page 2 of 2)

All banners were seen on average of between 0.6 to 1.6 seconds, not much time to make an impression.

In terms of average fixations per user, ads which were placed within the editorial content (ie. island ads) were found to be among the best performing. As were roadblock style half-page ads which dominate a page, unsurprisingly.

Eyetrack III Observation 5: "Ads inset within article text are seen more than other ads"

Bringing observation 4 forward, further research revealed that a 300x250 pixel ad placed within the actual article content produced higher percentage of direct eye fixations than any other ad (other than those text ads again) at 60%. Even the half-page ad wasn't viewed as often.

Considering that in this region, very few publishers even offer this type of ad placement, then this becomes quite a profound finding. As with the other observations, the study continues to reveal that ads which can integrate within the content of the site provides better "eyeballs" for the advertiser. Since these ads aren't normally on offer here, then this becomes a potentially new revenue stream for many publishers across the region.

Eyetrack III Observation 6: "Mouseover-expand ads were viewed more than other banner ads"

Expandables which open upon user interaction performed much better than the same banners without expandability function. In fact, more people initiated the expandability than even noticed the non-expandable counterpart. Much of this had to do with the message but the study doesn't provide any conclusive reasoning for this occurrence.

Furthermore, the expandables received much higher than average viewing durations. Meaning that the participants were spending more time engaged with these ads. Great news for branding aficionados.

The observations above provide some useful insights which we in the industry should take heed. Many of the common preconceptions have been put to the test and not all of them confirmed their validity. But overall, the news from the study is positive and encouraging and the advice that we can take from this confirms that online advertising is about more than just clicks.

In the second part of this article I will focus on the remaining Eyetrack III observations and provide a summary list of conclusions to consider.