ClickZ is reporting on a new eye-tracking study which has discovered that website visitors avoid viewing banner ads. Naming it “banner blindness”, the study claims that people simply ignore bright flashing ads and other irrelevant content.
I think anyone who's attempted a banner ad campaign in recent years would have been more than happy to tell them that, without the help of any eye-tracking. The (lack of) results speak for themselves.
However, what I found interesting was this part of the article:
“Though the eye-tracking study casts doubt on banners, it supports the effectiveness of one category: search. “People do look at sponsored links on search pages and images on search pages,” said Pernice Coyne. “They really look for words that match what they are searching for.”
Again, I could have told them that – but it's nice to have a study that backs up my own findings!
Research: Internet Users Plagued by 'Banner Blindness'
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