By: Jonathan Angel Consumers May Respond To Online Ads Later
(Adweek Magazines' Technology Marketing) Engage, the interactive
media company majority-owned by CMGI, has long contended that
click-through isn't an adequate way to measure the success of a
Web advertisement. That's because many consumers view ads, but
don't click on them immediately. Instead, they access an
advertiser's site later via typing a URL or using a search
engine.
This week, Engage released data that support this view. Its
summer 2001 advertising report, compiled via software that
measures "clickstreams" over time, found that customers click
through to an advertiser's site immediately only 25% of the time.
The other three-quarters of those who respond to an ad do it
later. Nearly 40% of those do so within 30 minutes -- making
cause and effect clear -- and 52% do so within a day.
Beyond that, the report found a relationship between ad viewing
and later conversions that could be traced over a whole month.
While obviously self-serving -- Engage is, after all, in the
business of supplying software that does this type of tracking --
the report clearly shows that advertisers need to study the
results they're obtaining over the long-term.
"This study ... highlights the value of an impression without a
click," said Mark Allsworth, vice president of Engage's
AdKnowledge division. To understand the ROI of online marketing,
marketers need to look further, he adds.
Other findings of the report, available by filling out a form at
Engage's Web site (http://www.engage.com/oar/), include the fact
that the 250-by-250 square pop-up has the highest click-through
rate (1.4%) of any ad type. The skyscraper (100-by-600) performs
almost as well.
But, the standard 468-by-60-pixel banner has been declining
steadily over the past several quarters. It now has a click-
through rate of just 0.28%.
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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