iMedia Connection Blog

Let’s start with an inconvenient truth: banner blindness is a bigger problem in the online advertising industry than we are willing to acknowledge.  That’s because banner blindness isn’t limited to banners – it’s pervasive across most display advertising. And unless you own Google.com, display advertising is pretty much the meal ticket that pays for free online content.
So what’s caused the epidemic of banner blindness, and how can we fix it?
To start, the root causes of the problem are threefold:
Tonnage: This is the most obvious problem, and one that’s been identified time and time again – but it persists still. Frequently, publishers just put too many ads on a page in an effort to generate more revenue. Ultimately, it’s counterproductive. The more ads on a page, the less we notice them, and the less likely we are to click. It doesn’t serve anyone – least of all the online advertising industry.
Irrelevance:  It’s rare that display ads are relevant to your current online activities. There may be some useful retargeting and behaviorally targeted ads, but they’re often quickly capped out and likely to be buried under an avalanche of ads for dating sites, online universities and “one weird secret.”  Consumers aren’t likely... Read more