Exactly. Just because ad banners are rarely clicked doesn't mean they're not worth the advertising money. The ad is still looked at, read, appreciated for all its pretty colours and animations, and often, people end up Googling the product/service whether immediately after or sometime after seeing the ad. This is why measuring the efficacy of the ad by the number of banner clicks is sort of bogus.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
More Likely You'll Survive A Plane Crash Than Click A Banner Ad
- Thread starter obeygiant
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Exactly. Just because ad banners are rarely clicked doesn't mean they're not worth the advertising money. The ad is still looked at, read, appreciated for all its pretty colours and animations, and often, people end up Googling the product/service whether immediately after or sometime after seeing the ad. This is why measuring the efficacy of the ad by the number of banner clicks is sort of bogus.
Every now and then I click on those to punch a face, or hit a ball, or shoot the monkey, or w/e
But running AdBlock on Chrome takes cares of all the vast majority of the ads I may come across. I have my mom trained to never click on ads either.
"No, you did NOT win $1,000,000...
But running AdBlock on Chrome takes cares of all the vast majority of the ads I may come across. I have my mom trained to never click on ads either.
"No, you did NOT win $1,000,000...
Years ago I spent a few hours while bored clicking hundreds of banners at random. Most of the time I wasn't even looking at the monitor - just wiggling the mouse and clicking. It was sort of an experiment to see how many I could click without looking. Since they did not actually get my eyes to look at anything it probably messed up some click through numbers by a slight amount. After a while I had so many browser windows open that the computer froze up. Rebooted as soon as I noticed. Then I found better ways to waste my time.
Did anyone else see the ad banner pop into view near the bottom of the page on that link?
Ironic don't you think.
Ironic don't you think.
Probably not.
Most members of this forum use a Flash block of some sort, as I do with FF.
I have accidentally clicked on many of them over the past few months. I hate clicking on them and I hate ads all together. Because I have accidentally clicked on them including some on MacRumors, I now have adblock installed on my Macs and now I don't see a single ad anywhere I go.
I rarely click on ads, but some ads do end up serving their purpose for me (me being interested in the product/buying it).
I'm not sure this is true. To me it sometimes has the opposite effect: I've started correlating annoying ads with certain brands, and end up choosing other brands for this reason only.
And no - can't remember clicking any ad or banner on purpose.
Last edited:
I used to run some message boards using vBulletin just like Macrumors does. It was hard to make money with advertising especially with Google because only click throughs counted.
On one message board, it was more if an adult nature and had related advertising. That board made the most money, enough to cover server expenses three times each month. I was getting checks from those advertisers up until about 2007. I closed that forum back in 2002. If I had been able to remember my CCBill login in 2007, I could have updated my address info and probably would still be getting checks here and there.
"...many ad-buyers are trained to believe that if Web users aren't clicking on their banner ads, then their banner ads are being ignored."
I've never clicked on an offline ad either. Are they both failures then
?
I've never clicked on an offline ad either. Are they both failures then
?
I know this is true for me and my browsing habits. I notice an add and do google the product or service if I'm interested.
Ads that are at the top, bottom, or sides of your window. If you're not running AdBlock, then you can see below this post and at the top of this page are advertisements.
Banner ads are for marketing (building brand recognition), text ads are for sales (getting people to buy).
Banner ads are in the same category as TV ads. You don't have to click them, or run out and buy the product. They just want to hammer their brand into your skull, and they hope it will make you buy.
Also, be wary of clicking ads to "support" this site. If Google sees a spike in Macrumors' ad clicks, they might freeze Macrumors' accounts, on the basis that Macrumors was encouraging clicks (which Google basically considers fraud). I'm not saying "don't do it", but be a little wary.
Banner ads are in the same category as TV ads. You don't have to click them, or run out and buy the product. They just want to hammer their brand into your skull, and they hope it will make you buy.
Also, be wary of clicking ads to "support" this site. If Google sees a spike in Macrumors' ad clicks, they might freeze Macrumors' accounts, on the basis that Macrumors was encouraging clicks (which Google basically considers fraud). I'm not saying "don't do it", but be a little wary.
I remember seeing a banner ad for that one Mac app which had windscreen wipers over an iMac about a million times. I'd still never buy it.
I used to use adblock all the time, then I read this arstechnica article.
Think about it, if you are blocking every ad you see how are content providers ever going to make any money?
Thats not to say I ever click on them but at least they can make money with paid impressions.
Think about it, if you are blocking every ad you see how are content providers ever going to make any money?
Thats not to say I ever click on them but at least they can make money with paid impressions.
i've clicked on banner ads... by accident, followed by cussing.
And if i hate a company, I will click on their ads to cost them money. Cost per click ftw
And if i hate a company, I will click on their ads to cost them money.
Cost per click ftw
Last edited:
And if i hate a company, I will click on their ads to cost them money.
I think arn gave your post an "Up", but I cancelled it.
LOL
Rarely if ever click on a banner ad. Maybe I'd better start doing so before I take my next plane flight.
Clicked on one for Zagg yesterday.
Clickthroughs aren't the whole equation; advertisers also count their impressions rate.
Personally, the better (or more engaging) the banner ad is, and the more trustworthy the product or advertiser seems to be, the more likely I am to click on it.
Metrics on clickthroughs are around .04% (or some insanely stupid number), so if a viewer at least sees a banner ad, well...that's often enough.
If it wasn't for breadcrumb banner advertising, I wouldn't know about SongKick, would never have found out about a concert playing in NYC, and would therefore not have gone to NYC for my 1st anniversary with my ladywife. So I got no beefs with banner advertising
...except when they don't load in a new tab. There's a special place in hell reserved for people who code their links to load in :self
Clickthroughs aren't the whole equation; advertisers also count their impressions rate.
Personally, the better (or more engaging) the banner ad is, and the more trustworthy the product or advertiser seems to be, the more likely I am to click on it.
Metrics on clickthroughs are around .04% (or some insanely stupid number), so if a viewer at least sees a banner ad, well...that's often enough.
If it wasn't for breadcrumb banner advertising, I wouldn't know about SongKick, would never have found out about a concert playing in NYC, and would therefore not have gone to NYC for my 1st anniversary with my ladywife. So I got no beefs with banner advertising
...except when they don't load in a new tab. There's a special place in hell reserved for people who code their links to load in :self
I admit it. I clicked on one once. On purpose.
It was an ad for custom M&Ms on my Verizon Web-based e-mail page. I had gotten married a few weeks earlier in a very, very small ceremony. (Officiant, two witnesses, bride and groom.) My new wife and I were planning a big party for a few months later.
It turns out you can get M&Ms with the inscription of your choice and a photo of your choice in the colors of your choice. We picked gold, silver and white; a picture of the two of us on one side; our names on the other. The interface lets you move your picture around and see how it will look when it's printed. Ten pounds of them came to (IIRC) over $200 - or it may have been $300. We put them in little bags and gave them out as party favors.
The guests forgot most of what went on at the party, but we still get compliments on those M&Ms.
I don't know if I'll ever click on a banner ad again, I probably wouldn't have clicked on this one if I didn't know the company and the product already, but they're not all junk.
It was an ad for custom M&Ms on my Verizon Web-based e-mail page. I had gotten married a few weeks earlier in a very, very small ceremony. (Officiant, two witnesses, bride and groom.) My new wife and I were planning a big party for a few months later.
It turns out you can get M&Ms with the inscription of your choice and a photo of your choice in the colors of your choice. We picked gold, silver and white; a picture of the two of us on one side; our names on the other. The interface lets you move your picture around and see how it will look when it's printed. Ten pounds of them came to (IIRC) over $200 - or it may have been $300. We put them in little bags and gave them out as party favors.
The guests forgot most of what went on at the party, but we still get compliments on those M&Ms.
I don't know if I'll ever click on a banner ad again, I probably wouldn't have clicked on this one if I didn't know the company and the product already, but they're not all junk.