Consumers Still Hate Intrusive Advertisements

According to a new Forrester Research report (The Consumer Advertising Backlash Worsens, Jan 5. 2005), there’s a significant drop in consumer attitudes towards advertising since 2002. Forrester reports

Between September 2002 and June 2004 consumer attitudes toward advertising nosedived: 40% fewer agree that ads are a good way to learn about new products, 59% fewer say they buy products because of their ads, and 49% fewer find ads entertaining.

What’s worse for advertisers is the number of people who are actively avoiding advertisements – 63% of North American households have registered for the National Do Not Call List, at least 20% of internet users use a pop up or ad blocker of some kind, and digital video recorders (DVRs) and Video on Demand can reduce the amount of advertising tv watchers are exposed to by 54%!

The statistics aren’t surprising. Just last month, web usability guru, Jacob Nielsen released a study of the most hated advertising methods. Pop up ads top the list, along with ads that load slowly, don’t have a close button, covers what you are trying to see, or immediately start playing sound.

Still, a recent article by Clickz.com rebukes Neilsen’s findings. If pop up ads didn’t work, advertisers would stop paying for them. A number of studies show that these types of intrusive ads are effective.

The thing about pop-ups and these other techniques is they’re intrusive on purpose. You can’t avoid or ignore them entirely, so the advertiser has a better chance of getting its message across. In fact, a 2003 study by Advertising.com showed pop-ups are 13 times more effective in generating clicks and conversions than standard banners. BusinessWeek.com reports that according to ad agencies, for every 97 people who zap such an ad, three click on it. Who wants to dispute success?

The article acknowledges that some of the complaints about ads are legitimate:

Of course, with lousy ad creative, no ad can be effective. Complaints about ad creative (“tries to trick you into clicking,” “doesn’t have a ‘close’ button,” and “doesn’t say what it’s for”) have legitimacy. Clicks, especially mistaken ones, don’t lead to conversions.

Yet, it also points out that many sites wouldn’t be able to support themselves without ads. Consumers aren’t willing to pay enough for ad-free information so that sites can support themselves without advertising. You have to weigh your business goals against consumer demand. As the Forrester Report concludes:

Consumers don’t hate all ads; they hate the number and the interruption of their enjoyment of the content.

It seems this discontent with advertising will only worsen if companies and consumers can’t find a happy medium.

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