Do You Click on Ad Banners? Who are These Folks?

from JoeUser Forums

     I can safely say that in all the time I have used the Net that I have clicked on exactly one ad banner ever (intentionally). Yet ad banners are huge on the Net. Am I alone in never clicking on them? Do you? Who the hell is supporting this industry? Just curious.

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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I asked the same question about spam once. The person I asked told me that if you sent out a million spam emails, and only one person bought the product, you'd still turn a profit. Given the ease and cost of sending spam, I don't doubt it. I figure it is the same for banner ads, though it is probably more expensive to advertise that way.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I figure it is the same for banner ads, though it is probably more expensive to advertise that way.


maybe but the cost of banner ads is a LOT higher than sending spam... The math must work out in the end or the industry would have died off but I still wonder who is clicking on these things?
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
I once frequented a website that survived off banners, so I did my part and clicked on them. Never bought anything, nor do I think I will. But if a site I like survives off of them, well I'll click.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
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Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
you make a very good point, greywar. i think they sometimes fool older people who don't know much about the internet with banners.

when my mum was learning to use the internet, i had to dissuade her several times from clicking on those "GREAT FREE OFFER - YOU ARE OUR MILLIONTH VISITOR" type of banners. she was sure she was going to actually win something !.

mig XXX
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
I only click on them if they have one of those things where you get to shoot the criminal. They're fun!
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
I've seen sites like the one that Danny mentioned above. I have seen sites that beg people to click on their banner ads, and specifically tell them they don't have to buy anything. The sites get paid on a "click through" rate.

I'm with you, though, grey; I don't see how reasonable people would "click through" enough times to support it. But then, there are a lot of people out there that I don't find "reasonable"...
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
nbs guiltily raises his hand.............

I've done it twice. Once I got some free screensavers/desktops (I had to erase the damned spyware and toolbar that came with it, but the screensavers were sweet.) And once to go to that Tshirt site on the Onion. Neither time dissapointed. Meh. A good experience overall.

oh yeah, and one ad on sluggy freelance that sells cthulu kitsch, apparantly including plush cthulu dolls and tshirts...........not that you're a little into that whole thing.............

but other than that never. nope. not at all. zippo........mmm, probably...........i think........
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Let's suppose that someone actually clicks on a banner. That doesn't mean they'll ever buy the product. So how do the companies turn a profit off of these banners (surely not by someone merely clicking)? Are they just like any other advertisements that are constantly in our faces: if we're exposed to the products, then they'll be the first brand we tend to buy when faced with a choice at the grocery store...or the car lot...or the movie theater...

I clicked on a Crest ad once because it had an interactive appeal to it: Brush the yellow teeth until they turn sparkly white! Yeah, I must have been bored that day, but I'll never forget the satisfaction it gave me.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
I click on banners occasionally, if they interest me. I'd probably click on a lot more if I saw them, but I have software that blocks most graphic advertising, whether typical banners or other sizes.

As an advertiser, I don't pay for banner placements, but I do occasionally use free banner placements. I find them to be the least effective form of advertising. It is fun to see how tweaking the banner/offer/message affects the response rate, though.