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Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

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Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#101

Post by specialist »

p4bl0 wrote: post #75
div wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ad-blindness is another factor. At first glance, his simple ad looks like part of the content, the fancy ad just looks like an ad and is filtered out subconsciously. Definitely a factor to take into account when you're targeting gamers I'd think.

This is what I wanted to say. I kinda mentally block ads* and I saw the Paint drawing in the article before the "actual" ad, even if it is in the reverse order in the page flow. * A few years ago I missed a question in an exam that was framed and underlined. The goal was to emphase the question because it was important. When I learned that I missed the question (while discussing the exam with other student), I took a…

Adaptable, not stupid. The ability to filter noise is a huge advantage.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#102

Post by wisty »

gravitronic wrote: post #46
div wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ad-blindness is another factor. At first glance, his simple ad looks like part of the content, the fancy ad just looks like an ad and is filtered out subconsciously. Definitely a factor to take into account when you're targeting gamers I'd think.

Definitely agree the fancy ad is filtered out subconsciously as it's an obvious ad. I disagree that the simple ad looks like part of the content (unless the rest of the page is kindergarten kid's drawings). It's unique and an eye catcher. Until everyone starts doing it and then it'll become filtered just like the "fancy ad".

It's harder to filter out simple ads, which is why Google sells text ads.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#103

Post by larrys »

alain94040 wrote: post #72

Interesting, but the author is missing a critical point: the conversion after clicks. When I see the first ad, I clearly understand immediately that it's for a car game. I'm not likely to click, but if I click, I know what I want, and I'm very likely to actually download/install/play the game. When I see the second ad, I wonder what it is, so yes, I'm more likely to click on it. But I'm not interested in car games. S…

Excellent point.

We find with domains with landing pages you can have thousands of visits per day that result in no revenue if the reason for the visit (domain typed in on browser bar) is not related to what the person is actually looking for.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#104

Post by acangiano »

swivelmaster wrote: post #94
felipemnoa wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>"invented by a local mom" That is the first flag that it is a scam.

For you and I it is, but we are not its target audience.

Actually, this is a scam not just because it doesn't work. It's a scam because they make it sound like it's something free or extremely cheap, when in reality it often initiates a costly recurring billing (rebill) agreement through careful wording in the fine print. Gullible people often end up paying hundreds of dollars in the end.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#105

Post by tnash »

I think this goes to show that we like low information density. Simple things are easier to absorb, high density things get blocked out naturally.

When we're presented with an large amount of information, our brain blocks it out rather than expending the energy to parse it. PTSD is an example of this which shows our tendencies to block overwhelming information.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#106

Post by ilamont »

As joblessjunkie mentioned, novelty is a huge draw. I've seen ads on Facebook, Yahoo and MSM sites (probably delivered by ad networks) that feature eye-catching faces with some ridiculous or unusual element (long beards, tattoos, elongated teeth etc.), but are advertising something that's pretty mundane (loans, online education, etc.). They are much more noticeable than ads that use standard art or photographs.

Judging by the fact that the advertisers are still using weird face ads, the CTRs must be superior ... but the interesting questions would be around the type of customer or conversion rates.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#107

Post by cheath »

SeoxyS wrote: post #97

I remember seeing this ad (or one similar) in the Draw Something game a few days ago. The context here helps immensely, I think. Draw Something is a game that's about crude drawing, showing an ad that's a crude drawing is the ultimate targeted ad.

I did a quick search through the thread for this.

I don't think we should discount the popularity of Draw Something. It's in the forefront of peoples minds and this associates it with that as well as being a fun game. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a strong correlation with the popularity of that game.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#108

Post by dclowd9901 »

I kinda take issue with his thesis:

"Every idea that you have is worth testing, no matter how crappy you think it is."

It took him all of 45 seconds to put that new test ad together. That is a very, very small time investment, thus making such a test worthwhile.

For instance, if one wanted to create some sort of live-action commercial with actors, lighting, equipment and CG, and test it as an ad, the investment of time and money would be so great that negative results would be disastrous.

Re: Throw Out Everything You Know About Ads

#109

Post by wtvanhest »

ender7 wrote: post #32

Besides the novelty factor (which others have mentioned), his 'paint' version is also much simpler, and therefor much easier to understand at a quick glance. - Large text - Not very much text - A single image - A single visual flow (top to bottom) - A concise color palette (greens and black) Compare to the 'standard' ad, where: - Text is too small - Too much text - Too many images competing for attention - Muddled vi…

CTR ≠ Sales

Even more importantly, a high CTR with lower conversion rate would drive up your costs while lowering your sales.

In this case the first ad is very clearly for a game with a very clear target market. If I am in to racing games, I may click it and I may buy it.

The second ad could appeal to people strickly on novelty which means you may get a lot of customers who do not care about the product.

While the results of this post are very interesting and the conclusion to test everything is still good, we should look at the conversion rate to see which ad is actually more effective.

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