Internet ads. Popping up at the worst of times, filling up space along the side bars, delaying Youtube videos for an inconvenient five seconds without fail. In fact, without the proper ad-blocking software installed it’s pretty hard to find a website that doesn’t have these ads displayed somewhere.With that in mind, I recently stumbled upon this blog by Oli Gardner regarding the effectiveness of these online ads.

My Facebook sidebar at the moment

Thing is, despite the constant bombardment, I can’t remember an ad I actually liked. The linked blog does an excellent job of explaining why exactly these ads aren’t working, and what can be done to make them more effective. In short, Oli Gardner claims there are two “pillars” of a successful campaign: Attention Ratio, and Message Match. Read the article to understand exactly what he means!

While I agree with a lot of what is said, I can’t help but feel it’s missing out on the biggest barrier to entry for a lot of people. Who actually clicks these things? The whole blog assumes the audience has clicked an ad and focuses on what they should be presented with after. There’s no mention of making an effective banner or sidebar ad. Meanwhile I can’t remember the last time I intentionally clicked a Facebook ad. It’s far too ingrained in me to regard these colourful distractions as potential entry points for viruses and spyware that I simply ignore them completely.

An example of a “good” landing page with little distractions or confusing options as given by Oli Gardner.

I did spend a bit of time looking for data or stats to back me up, but all I could find were articles detailing how well FB ads have been improving year over year…in percentages…so no help there. Truth is I don’t know how many people are reading or clicking on online ads, so the author could be spot on. In the absence of numbers however, my ultimate conclusion is that this article is well-meaning but off base; more benefit would come from making a more effective advert than a more streamlined landing page once the ad has been clicked.