Web heatmaps show that most people read webpages in an "F" pattern. Image: Blog 404
The web is a funny place, a mix of content and advertisements, all vying for the attention of readers. ComScore, a statistics tracking agency, has confirmed what has long been suspected: most web ads are never really seen.
The structure of the web
While the internet allows for a variety of designs, most readers are trained to read webpages in a particular way, usually left-to-right in an F-shaped pattern. Heat mapping from 2006 to 2012 has shown that readers generally avoid the very top of most webpages, the right-hand side and the bottom section of most pages. These are the areas where advertisements are traditionally placed. Many readers also have a tendency to scan or entirely miss content that is below the fold, the point where the screen has to be scrolled to see any more.
Many ads are never in view
In a study of 12 very large brands and the advertisements that they run online, ComScore found that 31 percent of ad impressions are never viewed. That 31 percent accounts for 527 million total advertisements that the companies are paying for that are simply never seen. If these ads are paid for on a impression basis, instead of a pay-per-click basis or pay-for-performance basis, then the advertisers are essentially paying for ads that are never seen.
The average demographics of clickers
Individuals who click ads are not always the individuals who marketers may be targeting. Research has shown that rich media users and web natives do not often click on paid advertisements. Generally, click through rates on advertisements range between 0.5 and 2 percent. On websites such as BusinessWeek, click through rates average 0.1 percent. Those who do click ads tend to be about 16 percent of the web population, with an average household income of $40,000 or less. Higher-income or more targeted individuals tend to click advertisements that are from a source that they trust, which is created with a strong content strategy.
