Posted on January 29, 2008
Why Intrusive Advertising Doesn't Work
BY JENNIFER EUBANKS
I recently came across a blog post by Ed Kohler on Technology Evangelist about his negative experiences with intrusive advertising.
Though the post is short, he makes a good point. How is it helpful to market yourself by forcing your brand on the consumer? In my experience, as in Ed's, the reaction is first to be annoyed, and then to quickly find the close button. Neither reaction is positive, and neither takes the time to find out what the ad is about.
I have had my share of bad ad experiences. Just recently I have recalled being annoyed by one of those banner ads that expands when you mouse over it. Unfortunately, the banner ad is near the top of the page, which pretty much guarantees that you will mouse over it if you clicked the browser address bar to type in the URL. What's worse is that I'll trigger it by mistake, search for a few seconds to find the close button (it doesn't go away when you point your mouse away), and then accidentally trigger it again when I drag the mouse back down, because the button is located above the top of the banner.
In the instance I just shared, it becomes maddening. Whereas first I might have just ignored the ad and been annoyed, this time I now get a better look at what is truly ruining my browsing experience. At best I learn to tune the annoyance out, but at worst, I refuse to associate myself with either the brand being advertised or the site that allows such atrocities to be displayed. How is this good marketing? I suppose it is possible that these advertisements have a high CTR, but I wonder how many are intentional? I wonder if they find anything in their analytics that justifies the type of advertising approach that is akin to mall kiosks bombarding you with sales pitches when you just want to buy that sweater on sale at your favorite store.
I totally agree that intrusive advertising does not work at all. It backfires, actually. Whenever something goes out of the way to shove itself into my face, it's a total turn off. I dislike the whole experience and I don't want to have any further connection with the group that sent it at me.
Jennifer, thanks for the mention. I ended up getting a call from Comcast about that issue. I'm not sure if they'll make any radical changes to their advertising strategies because of that, but it's good to know that they're listening.