If you were watching TV and during a show (not in an ad break) there were six ads running simultaneously across the content and all over the screen would you accept that? If you were one the of six advertisers, would this appeal to you as a way of getting your message across? I’d be guessing the answer would be a flat NO! So why then is the online world is it almost common place and accepted for publishers to cram as many ads as possible onto the screen all desperately screaming for your attention?
I understand the pure economics of the WHY. More ads per page = more ad impressions = more ad revenue. And for smaller publishers who don’t generate much traffic this can be the only way to keep taking bookings. “We’re sold out!” someone yells. “Don’t worry, just whack another ad unit down the bottom of the page…sweet!!!”
If none of your advertisers complain or seem to care about clutter then why change anything? And don’t for one moment think about the user!!
At Sound Alliance we’ve been asking this question about clutter and canvassing the views of agencies and advertisers. Some people have said clutter is an issue but there’s ZERO evidence to show that anyone is basing buying decisions on it. The focus tends to be on CPM (even if the reality is that your ad is on a page with five others).
We are about to launch a new version of inthemix on June 6th. The clutter conversation is heated here. Do you go with the market and stick ads everywhere or do you make a stand? If any agency or advertiser reads this who genuinely gives a shit about clutter then comment below… I’d love to hear from you.
Let’s see who wins the debate when we go live on June 6th!!
3 Comments
Kerry Field 27 May 2010, 12:42pm
I care. I care a lot and I think the industry needs to take an active stand against the amount of clutter we have in this market. To get a view of what we are dealing with, take a look at our news sites and then take a look at the news sites in the US or UK - the difference in the amount of advertising messages per page is appalling.
You could argue that publishers are cutting their noses off to spite their face by increasing the number ad units. The demand for more inventory is being fed by the increase of performance media. An Eyeblaster benchmark report showcasing CTR rates for various ad formats has Australia as the lowest IN THE WORLD. One of the contributing factors to such low response rates has to be due to the amount of clutter consumers are faced with. So, by adding more units to sell on a performance basis we are lowering response rates which means we need to run more ads to get the desired response. Surely that doesn’t make sense?
Conclusion: “Don’t do it Sound Alliance! Don’t do it!”
Ben 28 May 2010, 9:42am
I have a simple view on this. Less clutter = better user experience. Better user experience = more visitors and more engaged visitors. More visitors and more engaged visitors = more revenue. Don’t follow the crowd on this one…make a stand and your business will be better for it!
Neil Ackland 28 May 2010, 10:51am
Thanks Kerry & Ben.
Kerry, I’m not seeing anyone backing away from cluttered sites. Are you?
Take SMH for example. They added a 7th ad unit to articles yesterday. They just smashed an mrec right in the middle of the content. But the ad dollars continue to flow.
I’m with both of you. I hate clutter but commercially it’s difficult to take a stand when in reality we are a mid-tier player in an ultra-competitive market when everyone above and below us does it.