Okay, we all get that advertising generates an important revenue stream. There are plenty of online sites with a plethora of ads, and God forbid if you wand over them with your mouse! Pop-ups galore.
How annoying is it when you’re in the midst of reading an article and an ad pops up? Or the figure in an inert, harmless-looking ad pops into frantic action in an effort to catch your eye? Not naming any names here. Offenders know who they are!
Here’s my beef: It’s distracting when you’re trying to find information or read something that otherwise has value. After visiting so many sites with ads of all description running riot on page after page, I can only say one thing: “Enough already!” Can’t we please cut down—or just plain cut—the amount of ads, especially the most distracting ones? Please … I’m asking politely.
The Internet has gone through a number of incarnations since it came into being, all in rapid succession. It’s really matured as a platform for communications and business. So, why hasn’t the advertising approach matured with it? Surely, there is a more sophisticated manner to advertise without alienating half the population.
Some sites do a good job. Ads have a more subtle presence and jive with the kind of site the user is visiting. But others force visitors to promptly click off their sites. So the point is this: After working hard to craft a website to attract visitors, after using effective marketing language and the proper techniques to turn prospects into customers, are some sites shooting down their own efforts due to pop-ups and ads?
You tell me, Daily Fix readers. Does this annoy you as much as it annoys me or have you made peace with Internet advertising?
Tags: Advertising, online marketing, pop-ups
I’m with you, why bother making a great informative website just to push the readers away with a pop-up? For me, it’s: POP-UP = I’m outta here!
Hi Blake,
I know how you feel. I have got to really want to read content on some sites to deal with the pop ups. I’m tempted to click out of these sites as much as you are. If there’s a steady stream of pop ups, I’m out of there, too. No matter how compelling the site is. Thanks for weighing in, Blake. Many share our pain!
Oh yes, this is such a bugbear of mine, and the situation is becoming more dire by the day.
As an example, I love the magazine Real Simple, and frequently click through from their emails to the web site to read their helpful tips. I am the ideal digital consumer in this way. However, once I get to their site, the screen is inundated with so many ads that pop up or take over that I find it impossible to read the editorial content. I bail with disgust every time. Nothing “real simple” about that experience!
Why do brands shoot themselves in the foot this way? It’s crazy.
Hi Cynthia,
You raise a very important issue: user experience is something brands worry about all of the time. When brand devotees like you are so turned off they won’t engage with the brand web site, it’s a serious issue. Let’s hope Real Simple takes note and minimizes the level of annoyance their site visitors are experiencing. Thanks for weighing in, Cynthia.
I find them annoying, I admit it, and I also admit that I use them, yes I suppose I am a hypocrite, it’s just that they work. I mean, honestly if I could find another way to be a little less intrusive and get the results I would most likely do it. I get revenue from other forms, but if I stopped using pop ups I would be leaving money on the table. Might sound greedy but, again I’ll admit it, if it’s generating me a few bucks I’m gonna continue to use them.
Hi B,
Your honesty is refreshing and welcome. Thank you for sharing your point of view. To every story, there are many points of view and you’ve spoken for many web site owners. Revenue is important, but here’s the question: is there some way to make pop up ads less distracting for your site visitors? Is there some way to minimize the number of them? Just asking. . . .
That’s funny to read this article today…because I was exactly getting fed up today with these pop-ups. I had never really been bothered because they were not popping up to my face, but since I am using this laptop in China and in Chinese (it may be one of the reasons), it seems like it is a neverending story…even Skype that was so nice has these adds popping.
Just a while ago, I even saw in an internet marketing agency website that in all of their tabs, there was an ad to strongly suggest to the reader to use their services…is it a good method? Well, although the content was quite good and interesting, I did not feel staying on that page anymore, so I left.
Hi Ryang,
I guess I had the same strong feeling you’re experiencing today just a few days ago when I put this post together. Sometimes it’s exasperating. One or two pop ups here and there are not the end of the world. It’s that steady stream of them some days that just make you want to scream, or click out of the site. I generally do the latter.
Hang in there, Ryang. If enough web site owners hear complaints or fail to bring visitors more deeply into their sites to review (and purchase) goods and services, I’m sure things will change for the better. Here’s hoping. . .
Ted, I agree with everyone here that the pop-ups are a real nuisance. But let’s face it, these are just a symptom of what has become a widespread epidemic of in-your-face marketing overload. Advertising in particular is EVERYWHERE – not just online. Heck it’s even on grocery carts now. I can’t even go down the aisle to buy a “heart-healthy” cereal without someone hoping to change my mind at the last minute. Oh yeah, now that I think of it, my left ventricle actually needs Sugar Smacks. Good thing that ad was there to remind me.
I’m almost ashamed at times to call marketing my profession. There seems to be no end to the ways in which we will barrage people with over-hyped brands and impersonal offers. And now that B2B has penetrated social channels, the clutter that buyers face now hits at home AND at work.
What surprises me is that (other than you), I haven’t seen may folks in the marketing community complaining about this. My theory: so many people in this country are borderline ADHD, completely self-indulged, and enamored with convenience and mobility. They therefore feel entitled to call Biff, text Buffy, redeem mobile coupons, and search for the new “How to Interact with Humans Again” app – all at the same time. So really, what’s another distraction to them?
It’s challenging to be an effective marketer in this diseased environment. If you have a cure, please let me know and I’ll be sure to click on the next online pharmacy ad that pops up.
Hi Lance,
You’re right: some marketers will find places to advertise on any spot that’s open or blank. It’s natural to do this, but I think most people just tune most of it out these days; so how effective is it? We’re beyond the early years of the Internet now, and I think we ought to get a bit more sophisticated in the manner in which we advertise online. We work hard to get potential customers to our web sites and the last thing we should do is turn them off once they land! Rather the reverse: we need to find ways to engage them to want to read our content and make contact with us, right? I wish I had the “cure” for this ailment, Lance. I guess I’d ask web site owners to be a bit more selective about how many ads they populate their sites with and the quality of those ads, for a start. . . .Thanks for your cogent remarks. Much appreciated, Lance.
One thing is certain: I’ve been able to vent about this pet peeve and so have a number of other people. It’s cathartic in a way.
I’m with you. Yes it’s annoying… and I make it a point to get off that site ASAP.
Crister,
You’ve spoken for a great many of us today; thank you for weighing in. I wonder if we’re making a mistake clicking off sites, though. Maybe we ought to email the contacts on these sites and respectfully let them know how these pop ups make us feel, instead? How about that idea?
I absolutely agree with you. I think popup ads are a failure of advertising to evolve with the internet. Personally, if I remember the product at all, a popup ad creates a bad memory for me; I am less likely to buy the product if I remember it. I also am less likely to remember the product, as I simply mentally classify it as: “Another one of those annoying pop-up ad type products.”
Hi Andrea,
My point exactly. You’ve articulated this very well and I thank you. I think I’d prefer a list of “sponsors” and a quick enticing offer with a link that I could go to at my own discretion. . . .or not! There are sites many of us just avoid altogether due to the aggravation of limitless pop ups. . .and I do remember those!
I think Internet ads are the ultimate annoyance. What especially annoys me is to click on a link for an interesting article, only to be taken to a page that has so many ads and banners on it that the article begins below the fold. This happens on far too many news sites–and you’d think they would know better.
Hi Peter,
Exactly. There are many sites with great content on them; content I really want to read. But the minute all of these ads keep popping up, I get so annoyed, I just leave the site. Now how effective is that for the marketer who has taken great pains to attract prospects to their business??? Thanks, Peter, for sharing your feelings about this. We completely agree.
Define an annoying ad. Pop-ups are an annoyance and I’ve never purchased anything from a popup then or later. An ad is just a commercial message that carries the freight.
People want free, but quality content is not free. I’d rather have some ads and better content. Someone’s got to pay the writer and the lectric bill. Not sure why people think free is possible, after all these years. It’s not.
Hi Astrelfrog,
You’re right: many site owners have an economic need to populate their sites with ads to help generate revenue. The question is: how many ads? For what kinds of products and services? Can they be tastefully developed and not pop up in everybody’s face every few seconds? Is there a better way: that’s what I’m asking. . .Thanks for bringing up this important point, Astrelfrog. How would you fix this problem?
I completely agree. The ones I hate are when you mouse over a word or certain part of the screen and a big ad pops up. This really annoys me because most of the time I’m trying to click on a link to another page within their site, but when the ad pops up, I wind up clicking on that instead. I understand that websites have ads to generate revenue, and that pop-ups are “effective”, but are they effective because of the clicks or the sales? If I were an advertiser paying per click, I would be upset if someone clicked on a pop-up and didn’t want to.
Lionel,
Thanks for raising a couple of very important points here. It upsets a lot of people when clicking on a link on a site only to have a pop-up appear out of nowhere. And as you say: “. . .are they effective because of the clicks or the sales?” Hmmm. . . . .and how effective are the pop-ups when they are accidentally wanded over or clicked on by mistake? Good catch. Turn offs and accidental clicks don’t lead to sales at all. If anything, they lead to aggravation and that’s a big negative for the host site and the brands behind the pop-ups.
Pop-ups are my pet peeve too and I agree with a previous comment about Real Simple. I limit visits to their website simply because of the annoying pop-up ads.
Agreed, Pmlind. But isn’t it a shame to stop visiting sites we otherwise enjoy due to pop-ups? As I said to Cynthia about the Real Simple example: maybe we should stop clicking out, stop complaining and tactfully comment on our displeasure about this to the contacts on these sites? What do you think about that idea? Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Pmlind.
Okay, just stop blogging and we’ll call it even. Serious, if something works- people do more of it. If it fails, they stop. I’ve seen b2b lead gen popups CRUSH. Are they annoying? Is spam annoying? Is the ice cream truck music annoying? Sure, but it works.
Hi Casey,
You raise an interesting point but honestly, I think there’s a big difference. People can choose whether to visit a blog and even post comments, or not. When it comes to commercial, business and marketing web sites, many of us go to enrich ourselves with information before making purchase decisions or to help us run our businesses. We don’t choose to be inundated with endless pop-ups, though. Other than generating revenue for site owners, I wonder whether much of this advertising really does work, as well. I’d like to know the rate of conversion for most pop-ups in general. Anyone have that kind of data out there? If so, I’d love to get your input. Thanks, Casey, for sharing your equally valid point of view with us.
My view is that the website owner needs to decide whether he/she wants to focus on ad revenue or their main core business and promotion of that.
If you want to generate as much click through traffic as possible and be joined up to plenty of affiliate schemes, then yes pop until you drop.
If you’re trying to promote professional services as an example, then pop up ads will do you no favours.
Hi Kent Accountants,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Loved your last sentence and I’m in full agreement. Pop ups are annoying and distract from the core web site if a business is a professional service provider. Or, for that matter, a purveyor of B2B or B2C products. Better to keep them to a minimum. Sites populated with pop up ads generally turn people off. A couple well-placed ones here and there are okay but best kept to a minimum, in my view.
I have to agree that banner ads are over used. Over time, like a lot of annoying commercials and ads get tuned out. This is parallel to changing the channel remotely during a commercial television break. I believe in the beginning banner ads were highly effective but as time elapses banner blindness has resulted.
According to Zimbio, average CTR for banner ads is roughly 0.25%, with a reported range of 0.17% to 0.40%. The range has to do with timing of pop up, size of the banner, message, etc.
Hi Seymore,
Wow! Thanks for sharing this data with us. It’s pretty revealing, isn’t it? Exactly my point, too: clicking off a site is akin to changing a TV channel due to the annoyance of being bombarded by a continuous stream of advertising. In the end: how effective are these ads? How effective is the spend on them? Especially if the content on a web site or a network is not being consumed due to loss of audience?
Is it really asking too much of website owners/moderators, that…(1) they put the adverts on the sides of the page where they are out of the center, and…(20 that the trigger code for the pop/slide/whatever is strictly limited to within the advert’s borders, and…that the site owners/mods obey the Golden Rule regarding their viewers?
If viewers want to see adverts, they must consent by clicking on the advert itself. The advert must not pop/slide/show its contents at all due to clicking/scrolling/? anywhere else.
Enough said. Thanks and cheers from Ralph!
Late reply, I know, but I totally agree. The ads I hate the most are the ones THAT PLAY SOUND. I’d veer away from youtube or whatever and check something, then all of the sudden music or voices blare out of the speakers, or in my case, headphones. It really makes me angry, and the worse part is I don’t know where it’s coming from. I just wish they would stop, especially with the pornographic ads. I mean, that is just DISGUSTING and RIDICULOUS.
Sorry for excessive caps XD