Banner Blindness: Old and New Findings (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Description

The Fourth, Unethical, Path to Ad Fixations
In addition to the three main design elements that occasionally attract fixations in online ads, we discovered a fourth approach that breaks one of publishing's main ethical principles by making the ad look like content:

* The more an ad looks like a native site component, the more users will look at it.
* Not only should the ad look like the site's other design elements, it should appear to be part of the specific page section in which it's displayed.

This overtly violates publishing's principle of separating "church and state" — that is, the distinction between editorial content and paid advertisements should always be clear. Reputable newspapers don't allow advertisers to mimic their branded typefaces or other layout elements. But, to maximize fixations, that's exactly what you should do in a Web ad.

A specific ad may or may not be ethical, depending on how closely it masquerades as content. I caution against going too far, because it can backfire and mislead users. Unethical ads will get you more fixations, but ethical business practices will attract more loyal customers in the long run.

Now the truth is out. As far as I'm concerned, speaking the truth is my highest ethical calling, and it's better that the facts be known to everyone than that they remain a secret abused by a few.

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

Original URL

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/banner-blindness.html#

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/banner-blindness.html#