Some of the best performing banner ads (in terms of clicks) are often static images with stark backgrounds. Surprising, right? Rich media banners that feature video also generate decent activity (especially when featuring a person’s face) but that’s another story.
My assumption is that boring banners perform well because people often confuse them to be part of the site their on. When it looks like an ad, it generally gets less interaction. The fact that a high CTR is above 0.3% is more evidence that people don’t like engaging with them.
So, shouldn’t we just be treating banners like OOH? Best for generating impressions, rather than actual engagement? Or should we just try to trick people into clicking and hope they don’t bounce? I vote the former. If Google ever finds a way to integrate their eye-tracking technology into a measure of banner success (that doesn’t pose serious privacy issues), this could really help add credibility to impression ratings that are currently being used.
I’m no OLA expert so call me out if I’m just spinning fluff.
