when a client asks you “do people really look at ads on websites?” which is a question ppl ask me all the time.

I think about the sentiment in the comments on this TechCrunch article, Survey Says: 63% Of You Ignore The Ads On This Very Page by Robin Wauters (@robinwauters)

the idea that statistics say ppl ignore ads is bullshit. ppl don’t know what they are doing. they are sheep. you keep seeing the mediatemple logo all over the web and before you know it, I am more familiar with mediatemple than some new candy bar from hershey.

display ads are like candy bars. we only buy the candy bars we want, but we are very familiar with our options. I only bought a couple candy bar brands, but I knew every single option on that candy row..

online ads are not that sweet, but you feel me?

or maybe a better example is this idea that married men don’t look at other women. I suppose the idea of being turned on is the click. but just because you dont talk to that other girl, you are calculating things in your mind without knowing it. and you are becoming aware of that brand. first step of the sales cycle is perhaps awareness. case closed right?

online ads leads to awareness. awareness leads to sales. people say “I’ve never clicked on any ads on a web page.”.. and that is great, but you know what. Ads are based on a market price. So the more you guys talk about how much you don’t click, and how much you don’t notice them, the price goes down and the restrictions get relaxed…and you get more annoying ads. Advertisers are paying for page views by the thousand… for less than what they paid for lunch. Do not sleep on online advertising targeting…

Tags: advertising