Mobile Commerce, SEO & Social Media Blog

Why Users Outsmart your Online Ads

Just as TV commercials are louder than your favorite sitcom to try to stand out, web ads need to keep up with the ever-outsmarting internet user. Which ads work and which don’t? Read on to learn about the good, the bad, and the failed online advertising methods.

“Which ads work and which ones don’t?”

The Good – Which Web Ads Work?

When you browse the internet, you’re on a mission – whether it be to research a recipe or to learn how to fly fish – nothing, not even an intriguing ad, can stop you. Unless of course, you are looking to buy – perhaps a cookbook or a fly fishing rod. In this case, you’re actually requesting this info, and therefore, willing to accept what is “thrown at you.”


Classified ads (e.g. eBay, Monster, craigslist) – why?

• People actively seek out classifieds – when they are actually looking to buy.
• Considered content, not advertising.

“People who want to buy check out the classifieds.”




Search engine ads – why?

• People are looking for a place to visit – greater chance they’ll click on an ad.
• Ads are targeted based on search query terms.

However, ads on search engine homepages don’t work – since the ads don’t target the user’s current search interest.

The appearance of ads makes a heck of a difference. Users have trained themselves to be blind to banners…

So, what design elements do they actually see?

• Text-only ads
• Faces of people
• Cleavage and other “private parts” – don’t act like you’re surprised

Sex Doesn’t Sell…

Although sexual images may attract – they’re so distracting that they’re not effective! According to Martin Lindstrom, author of Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy:

Further research by a New England-based company called MediaAnalyzer
Software & Research found that in some cases, sexual stimuli actually
interfere with the effectiveness of an ad. They showed four hundred
subjects print ads ranging in suggestiveness from racy cigarette ads
to bland credit card entreaties, then instructed the subjects to use
their computer mouses to indicate where exactly on the page theri gaze
instinctively migrated. Unsurprisingly, the men spent an inordinate
amount of time passing their mouses over the women’s breasts. But in
doing so, they largely bypassed the brand name, logo, and other text.
In other words, the sexually suggestive material blinded them to all
the other information in the ad–event the name of the product itself.

In fact, as it turned out, only 9.8 percent of the men who had viewed
the ads with the sexual content were able to remember the correct
brand or product in question, compared to almost 20 percent of the men
who has seen the nonsexual ones. And this effect was replicated in the
women–only 10.85 percent remembered the correct brand or product
featured in the sexual ads, whereas 22.3 percent recalled the brand or
product in the one with the neutral content. The research team dubbed
this phenomenon the Vampire Effect, referring to the fact that the
titillating content was sucking attention from what the ad was
actually trying to say (p. 181).

Consider showing images of “love” instead. Lindstrom writes: “…people are more likely to buy an advertised product if it showed images of “love” (53 percent) than if it showed images that alluded to sex (26 percent)” (p. 187). Make hearts melt, not beat faster.

The Bad – Unethical Web Ads

How ethical or unethical the ad is basically depends on the how well-blended the paid and editorial content is.

Eyes can be tricked. If an ad is camouflaged in with the content, a user will likely interact with the ad content – success! But there’s a catch – that user may not trust the brand once they discover its unethical advertisement scheme.

Unethical web ads:

• Look like a “native site component”
• Appear to be part of the section/content
• Blend in with the site’s design

“Do you have banner blindness, too?!?”

The Failed – Why Don’t Banner Ads Work?

But, banners are big – aren’t they a little hard to miss?

Apparently not, because online users, whether they are scanning, partially reading, or thoroughly reading, have trained themselves to ignore anything that looks like an ad – even design elements that resemble banners cause temporary blindness. Heatmaps from eyetracking studies have proven this.

“Heatmap eyetracking studies show where people actually look.”




Remember, you and other users are on the prowl for specific content. So, when you’re stomach is growling so much your brain can’t concentrate until it finds a quick, easy recipe, a banner is the last thing on which your eyes will fixate. Or, if you find an interesting read, a banners couldn’t possibly tear your eyes away from the juicy story. Even if a user’s eyes are less astray from their mission by a banner, he/she won’t click and probably won’t even notice the brand or logo.

Kara Arnold Kara Arnold wishes she could outsmart Facebook ads so they stop telling her to buy t-shirts from snorgtees.com before she buys one. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.