[Closed] Ads on internet sites (it's alright Mods, put away the banhammer)

Just a few times I've actually bought something from an ad, always well selected for the site I was on. But that must be a handful out of... how ever many thousands.

Used to do some of this from the other side in my old job, that was for university courses so the product's pretty untypical, but, we got a load of information on view rates, click through, dwell time (ie, how long people stayed with our site after they clicked through) and it was surprisingly high. But again, the ads were very tightly targeted, we were always going where our audience was, we weren't just scattergun

This gives a visual idea of what is going on with display advertising on websites. Clicks are a fragment of the whole picture. Another way it's been put to me is that you also don't click on billboards at the side of the road as you drive past them.

Only ads I've ever been tempted by are targeted ones on Facebook.

Somehow that Zuckerberg guys knows everything about me! 🙂

I haven't consciously bought anything because I saw it in any kind of advert.
This means they are either useless or very, very good...
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Another way it’s been put to me is that you also don’t click on billboards at the side of the road as you drive past them.

And all this time I just thought they were broken. No wonder people stare at me on the side of the road ...

I've bought a few things from facebook targeted ads that I had otherewise not heard of, so I guess those worked.

Most internet sites, most of the content of sidebar ads are something I have already spent time google researching, so whether I buy or not is not ad related, but if multiple retailers are vying for my attention, that could be what pushes me to them.

I can't remember ever purposefully clicking an interweb ad to buy a single thing. The latest ads that hide the content you want to see and the rest of the screen are bloody annoying and hell will freeze over before I choose to actively click the ad link to see its details.

If I'm after something, I look for reviews on said items, I then going looking for the best deal from a site that looks legit.

I’ve bought a few things from facebook targeted ads that I had otherewise not heard of, so I guess those worked.

I have to confess I have too.

For years FB ads were just utter rubish, but recently its figured out that the fact I like about 30 different cycling pages might suggest I might just be interested in cycling and now I mainly get cycling related ads (only on the App, on browser they just get filtered out by blockers). Although 90% of those are for the pages I've already subscribed to, which is completely pointless.

This gives a visual idea of what is going on with display advertising on websites. Clicks are a fragment of the whole picture. Another way it’s been put to me is that you also don’t click on billboards at the side of the road as you drive past them.

Good explanation!

Seeing as most ads are for things you just bought or already browsed, most of the time they don't even influence, just provide minor irritation.

Eg. I looked at selling a car to a webuyany type site - for the next few days I see ads for the site I already looked at and dismissed. Now if the ads were for alternative versions of the same thing, I might be interested, but they're not!

Funnily enough I did by something off a facebook ad, it was a 3D printed wheel truing doodah.

On normal websites though, most of the ads I see is for stuff I've already bought

Seeing as most ads are for things you just bought or already browsed, most of the time they don’t even influence, just provide minor irritation.

Bought a rear door catch for Mk7 Transit online.
Google now knows that I drive a Transit.
However, it has instead decided that I like boot catches and is trying to sell many different new for many different cars. Why would someone who owns a Mk7 Transit with a brand new door catch want a boot catch for a mk3 Polo?!
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Hugh Dennis did a good rant about buying a wheelbarrow, and how having a brand new wheelbarrow makes him one of the people least likely to want to buy a wheelbarrow but he keeps getting adverts for them

Good explanation!

Good explanation from the advertiser's point of view, but isn't IHN asking about it from the website's point of view?

Taking "singletrackworld.com" as a completely arbitrary example, is the click the only point they get anything out of it?

Surely Google only knows that you looked at (and are therefore interested in) wheelbarrows, not if you actually bought one or not.
I daresay someone at Google has thought of this problem and is trying to find a solution...

We don't get paid by the click although advertisers may well purchase from Google at a price per click. For us at the end of the chain it's about CPM or $ per 1000 impressions.

I only ever see ads for things I've already bought.
I'm a little impulsive.. 😅

I have never, and I mean never, clicked on any advert on an internet site.

I have by accident. I'm sure that accidental click-throughs would add up to be significant. I've clicked through FB adds a few times though (single digits) and I bought something once.

Hugh Dennis did a good rant about buying a wheelbarrow, and how having a brand new wheelbarrow makes him one of the people least likely to want to buy a wheelbarrow but he keeps getting adverts for them

There's research that shows that showing adverts for something after you've bought it actually reinforces that brand's image. So presumably you'd be more likely to buy something else from the same manufacturer.

However, it has instead decided that I like boot catches

For all the cleverness it does seem rather stupid. Searching for Olympus lenses? Here are some other lenses you might like - all Nikon/Cannon.

Point is, though, this kind of thing props up most of the internet and provides most services for free, so it's clearly working well.

Good explanation from the advertiser’s point of view, but isn’t IHN asking about it from the website’s point of view?

Actually, no, I'm wondering about it from the advertiser's point of view. They pay for ads to appear, they would only do that if the additional profits gained from sales resulting from those ads are greater than the cost of the ads.

Taking “singletrackworld.com” as a completely arbitrary example, is the click the only point they get anything out of it?

Brand awareness etc - that was Mark's point, it's not just about clicking on an Ad.

Brand awareness does depend on the target audience - a company like McDonald's have huge brand awareness, I doubt there's anyone in a western society who doesn't recognise the yellow M. Get into niche territory and it's more complicated, there might only be one or two players so it's a mixture of maintaining presence whilst trying to gain market share.

In the case of McDonald's, yes I know you exist, I have only ever had one of your burgers and that was enough for me to never darken your doors again. So in that case, it doesn't matter what their brand or presence is, I'm not biting (sic).

There's a pyramid matching the graphic Mark posted - to get a sale you need X people to show an interest, to get those X interested you need Y to have seen your adverts. The proportions of Y to X to sale will vary but it will be there.

There's also "partnerships" - there's a list in the bar to the right of STW's shopping partners, which is perhaps much more straightforward in that you/me click on the link, buy something and Mark/STW get a kickback, sorry, commission.

I’ve bought a few things from facebook targeted ads that I had otherewise not heard of, so I guess those worked.

I've found a lot of Facebook adverts to be really useful for avoiding products that are either terrible or overpriced. It's often worth skimming the comments.

Seeing as most ads are for things you just bought or already browsed, most of the time they don’t even influence, just provide minor irritation.

It often doesn't work like that though. Facebook particularly knows what your direct contacts bought and figures that if your friend bought a [thing] then you might be interested in a [thing] as well.

You know the oft-repeated "Amazon / Google / Apple / [insert corporation here] is listening to me" claim? You were talking about speedboats and then you suddenly start getting adverts for speedboats even though you hadn't googled it? You didn't, but the person you were talking to probably did.

Brand awareness etc – that was Mark’s point, it’s not just about clicking on an Ad.

Market penetration also. The big brands are big brands because they spend vast amounts of money on advertising. Is Coca-Cola particularly better than any other soft drink, or McD's better than any other fast-food outlet? But their marketing is so powerful that for many it's often the default choice.

Not drinking at the pub? "I'll just have a Coke," even if it's actually Pepsi they're selling. My partner's daughter will ask her fella, "fancy a Maccy's tonight?" They'll go to other purveyors of cold, overpriced shit also, but that will be a result of a conversation "where shall we go tonight?"

Having that mindset instilled into customers must be gold, the likes of McDs aren't paying for prime-time TV advertising because they're worried that no-one's heard of them.

Sorry, slightly cross-post, I hadn't updated the page.

I've got to go for a bit. I've not hoovered the house yet....

.... with our Dyson.

I click on ads reasonably often. Generally seem pretty well targeted to me: mainly outdoorsy stuff with some furniture / homewares / electronics.

I'd actually be happy if there was a STW subscriber 'show a few ads' setting. Perhaps that's what the weekly logout does ;-).

I usually try to click on a couple of ads when I am on here. I'm mostly getting shown ads for Bentleys and slinky lingerie...which I'm not the right target demographic for nor what I browse online!

Just stick to that story and everything will be fine 😉

Most advertising platforms have tracking integrations to register the sale, so the cookie they drop when they serve up a banner gets picked up when you hit the advertiser’s site and complete a checkout (this is a often called a conversion) but if you don’t complete that checkout, they’ll do something called “re-targeting” because you’ve already shown interest in WidgetX the hypothesis is that your propensity to buy is higher than average. (They can’t _know_ that you’ve assessed and discarded their product)

Similarly, vendors of similar competing products can know through the advertising platform that you’re a punter interested in door latch vendors so will target you for some period of time, not knowing that you’re only interested in _transit_ latches. That’s poor media buying!

I occasionally succumb but mostly it's miss clicks. I had to zoom into a page yesterday after trying to dismiss a pop-up add 3 times with a very small x to close it!

I just bought some Polytrol bumper restorer after a 3rd bout of Facebook adverts this year. My van has about 6 square meters of black (aka grey mottled) bumpers and trim so I really hope it says what it does on the tin, and that the comments are not all fake!

The only thing I can think of having bought from an online facebook (or other) advert is Step One boxer shorts. And to be fair they are by far the most comfortable boxer shorts I have every purchased (even if they do have a stupid name), so am slowly swapping the old grundgy ones for new comfy ones!

I am not really an impulse buyer though, so I would see an ad, think oooh that looks interesting & click on it.
I'll then spend 30 mins looking for comparable products that might be cheaper/better/more suitable and then lose enthusiasm & just give up looking.

But, as mentioned above I suppose a lot of it is about brand awareness. There are a few companies I'd never heard of that I see quite often popping up on FB ads - Neopro cycling kit & Komraid are 2 that spring to mind.

Neopro cycling kit & Komraid are 2 that spring to mind.

I bought a couple of Komraid gillets based on their FB ads. They're OK quality wise, but the pockets are almost impossible to use when you're riding as the entrance sits right in the fold of your back and the fabric is too loose, so I just can't get my hand in them. Won't buy anything else from them based on that.