Advertising techniques designed for websites are now familiar to people in advertising jobs. Banner ads, sidebar ads, pop-ups, pop-unders, floating ads, unicast ads, streaming media, and pull-down banner ads, to name a few, form an unending stream of options for a client's online space. However, misuse of online space and disrespecting the demands of web developers who work for web usability can affect both the client's business and your advertising job.

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	In a 2004 survey conducted among almost 19,000 web users, more than half of the participants stated that pop-up ads made them view the advertiser negatively.

Advertising Techniques to Avoid

Advertising techniques affect web traffic, and past research in the advertising industry has shown that website visitors detest advertisements that attempt to grab their attention by interrupting their online activities. Advertising techniques picked from any web user's hate list would show the following in decreasing order:

• Advertisements that pop up in front of the browser window.
  
  
• Slow-loading ad windows.
  
  
• Advertisements that trick viewers into clicking on them.
  
  
• Absence of a "close window" button.
  
  
• Advertisements that cover and block what the web user wants to see.
  
  
• Advertisements that are vague about their message.
  
  
• Advertisements that occupy most of the page.
  
  
• Advertisements that blink on and off.
  
  
• Advertisements that float across the screen.
  
  
• Advertisements that automatically play sound.
  
  
• Advertisements that take the web-user to a window of "no return," grabbing the return button on the browser.

Such advertising techniques, rather than generating interest in the advertiser's product, motivate website visitors to consider purchasing ad-blocking software. In a 2004 survey conducted among almost 19,000 web users, more than half of the participants stated that pop-up ads made them view the advertiser negatively, while nearly 40% of the participants formed negative opinions of websites that promote pop ups. The inevitable conclusion is that not only do web users dislike pop-ups, but they also transfer their dislike to the advertisers behind the pop-ups. In efforts to claim user-friendliness, major internet browsers today include pop-up blockers as an integral part of their packages.

Advertising Techniques That Work

Research shows that very few web users actually like advertisements. However, some advertising techniques are viewed more positively than others. Advertising techniques that work better with web users include:

• Advertisements relating to online societies and trends.
  
  
• Advertisements that are truthful.
  
  
• Advertisements that are informative and lucid.
  
  
• Advertisements that provide additional information without leading the web-user to another page.
  
  
• Advertisements that clearly indicate the consequences of clicking on them.
  
  
• Fast-loading advertisements using rich media that do not block viewing of page content.
  
  
• Unobtrusive keyword optimization of content.

Advertising techniques that take control away from web users are the ones to be avoided at all costs, even though they may appear to be grand alternatives. Advertising techniques that web users accept are ones that respect the web user. In advertising jobs, it is imperative to keep this in mind when designing advertising techniques.

On the net:

Internet Advertising Formats and Effectiveness
www.ciadvertising.org/studies/reports/measurement/ad_format_print.pdf

Most Hated Advertising Techniques (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)
www.useit.com/alertbox/20041206.html

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