The Pop-Up Controversy Rages On

Pop-Up Advertising Delivers More Conversions, Despite Public Annoyance

Advertising.com, a fellow Maryland Internet company, recently released a study showing that not only do pop-up ads generate click-thru responses 13 times greater than traditional online advertising banners, but also that pop-ups lead to more conversions than banner ads. With so much public antagonism towards pop-ups, this information may be hard to believe, but it certainly explains the longevity of a seemingly reviled form of online advertising. So what’s an advertiser or publisher to do?

Pop-Up Controversy

Advertising.com states in their study that pop-ups not only deliver excellent response and conversions, but also that “when indexed against other forms of advertising, pop-ups prove to be as desirable to the consumer as direct mail and television and more desirable than telemarketing.” My question is, is this a good thing? After all, pop-ups may work but is it such a good thing to be aligned with other annoying intrusive marketing techniques like direct mail and dinnertime phone calls??

Still, the fact that pop-up ads continue to work must mean something. Most online advertisers, despite what some may say, are really looking for sales, and pop-ups are proving their value. It then becomes a case of reconciling sales against user ire. For example, according to a pop-up study conducted by The Gartner Group, “78 percent of respondents claimed they found pop-up ads ‘very annoying’.” Advertisers, therefore, are faced with the age-old quandry: do you care if people don’t like your ad so long as other people are buying your product?

OPTING-IN TO POP-UPS

The growing adoption of pop-up blocking software may be the thing that sways the balance. Major ISPs like AOL and Earthlink are now offering pop-up blockers as a service to users (AOL’s version is a little skewed, however). Other pop-up blockers are free to download from such sites as Download.com. So with pop-up blockers readily available, could advertisers be looking at the “to pop or not to pop” dilemma a different way: could we assume that most users who despise pop-ups are using such software and that users who still accept pop-ups are at least tolerant of these ads? Could they, in a way then, be “opting-in” to be served pop-up ads?

If this theory holds water, we could then assume that in the future the audience reachable through pop-ups may be pop-up tolerant, therefore increasing the favorable response of such advertising. With online ad spending on the rise (the Interactive Advertising Bureau recently reported that online ads totaled an estimated $1.58 billion for the fourth quarter of 2002, up nearly 9 percent — HOORAY!), pop-up spending is certainly going to be part of the mix.

So if you find yourself cursing another retched pop-up today, be warned, pop-ups may be around a lot longer than we thought!

WEBADVANTAGE.NET RELATED ARTICLES

Targeting - Why X10 Pop Ups Flopped

Pop-Up Ads- Love ‘em or Hate ‘em

RELATED LINKS

Advertising.com’s Pop-Up Study

Online Ads Show Big Increase

Earthlink Smacks Down Pop Up Ads

 back to top