Ad serving tips to help people hate ads a little less
The average person understands the need and reason for advertising, but that doesn’t mean that they enjoy seeing ads. More and more, we are seeing companies let people avoid ads and pay extra for a premium plan to get ad-free services. The same situation applies online, with a lot of people installing ad blockers on their browsers so that the most egregious ads are blocked from view. A recent study suggests that it’s not necessarily the ads themselves that are so bad, but rather bad advertising that ruins the experience for many users and makes them want to block ads. However, there are things that we can do as publishers, advertisers, and
ad servers, to make the online ad experience that much better for users.
Avoid pop-ups
If you are going to run a pop-up ad, you should reserve it for something really special. Pop-ups are certainly not as rampant as they once were in the early days of online advertising, and for good reasons. The ones that we do see now tend to be more specific to the landing page, like offering up a discount for the product described on that same page. Ads of this nature feel a whole lot less intrusive if the viewers are really benefiting from it so make sure they deliver as advertised.
Steer clear of clickbait
Perhaps the most annoying type of ad is the one that hypes a product or story with a titillating headline, only for the customer to find out that where they are taken has little to do with the ad they clicked on. This is what is referred to as clickbait and running those types of ads will very quickly erode the trust that people have in your business or website. Clickbait advertising ruins people’s experience with online advertising in general and creates lasting damages for the whole advertising industry.
Use good sponsored ads
There are a lot of times when you read a great, informative article on a website and not even know that it’s an ad for a product or service. These types of sponsored ads might be explicitly labelled, but people tend to be blind to that part of the process, which is exactly what you aim for. The higher quality and more organic to the site that ad looks, the less intrusive and annoying it is going to be for the website visitors. Native ad serving is the best way to deliver these sponsored ads.
Make your ads subtle and predictable
There are places to put ads on your site so that they are still visible but not in the way of the content that people are coming to view. Go with the flow and the viewer’s expectation. People hate bad surprises and unexpected distractions. Header and footer ads are perhaps the most popular, with ads on either side of the page also a good idea. Basically, you want ads to be in positions that make them visible when people read in a natural way.
Offer an ad-free subscription
The harsh reality is that a lot of websites rely on advertisers to stay afloat and continue delivering quality content. One way to make a little extra money and still make ads a non-issue for people is to offer them options with a premium subscription to your site that will result in users not seeing the ads. Giving viewers more options and also diversifying your revenue stream is becoming a very popular way to do business online.
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