ADITION technologies AG Press: Pressemitteilungen: Field Study: Online Spending vs. Click-Through Rates
Field Study: Online Spending vs. Click-Through Rates
Gap Between Bookings and User Behaviour
- Am häufigsten gebuchte Online-Formate entsprechen nicht den am häufigsten angeklickten Werbemitteln
- Study extended over one full year
- Monthly average of 5.5 to 6 billion ads analysed by ADITION technologies AG
Nielsen Media Research recently published a ranking of the five internet advertising formats that are most popular with online advertisers and therefore most frequently booked.
In an extensive survey, the Düsseldorf premium adserving service-provider ADITION technologies AG has conducted the field study. What ADITION wanted to know: Are the advertising forms for which the Nielsen Media has determined the highest online advertising expenditures between January and September 2008 and the ones that are correspondingly booked most frequently by advertising clients actually also those that the target groups prefer to click on?
Or, in other words: Are the most frequently sold online advertising formats also the ones that function best?
Methods
About the methods: The basis of the study was the evaluation of approx. 5.5 to 6 billion ads per month by ADITION's renowned clients in the German-language region from October 2007 to September 2008. In the third quarter of 2008, the number of ads that were delivered and analysed by ADITION even reached seven billion. The statistics also include remnant inventory campaigns.
The percentages in the table below reflect the click-through rates: A click-through rate of 0.1% means that one click occurs per every one-thousand ad impressions. The results of the individual months have been summarised into a monthly average.
In addition, a progressive annual average for the click-through rates of the respective formats has been determined. This average also takes into consideration the development of the click-through rates for the individual formats, which means the trend throughout the period of the study. In the process, the first quarter of the study period was given a weaker weight and the last quarter was given the strongest: Q4/2007 with a factor of 1, Q1/2008 with a factor of 2, Q2/2008 with a factor of 3, and Q3/2008 with a factor of 4. This also allows the current trend for each format to become evident.
Surprising Results
The results of the study are surprising: The number of bookings and click-through behaviour differ considerably. While the advertisers prefer to book super banners with a share of 14.1 percent of their spending, the absolute click-through rates show that the users clearly prefer the wallpapers.
And although the normal skyscraper takes second place in the bookings of advertising clients with 11.0 percent, the Medium Rectangle takes this spot in the real click-through rates measured by ADITION.
The gap between bookings and clicks also continues in the rest of the online formats mentioned by Nielsen Media Research. Wallpapers take third place in spending with a share of 8.3 percent, but the full-size banner is in third place when it comes to the practice.
The fourth place for online-advertising expenditures is the rectangle with 6.0 percent, while fourth place in the actual click-through figures goes to the supersize banner.
The Medium Rectangle was in fifth place for advertising expenditures with 5.2 percent, while the skyscraper occupied fifth place for the click-through rates.
The overall trend of the twelve months studied for the individual formats, which is an additional result of the study by ADITION, is downward: The results of the progressive annual average values tended to be below the values determined during the study period. So it appears that the click-throughs are showing a tendency to decrease on the whole.
Conclusion
The essence of the comparison between bookings and actual click-through rates: The bookings are not identical with the click preferences of the users. At the same time, click-through rates for all of the studied formats are tending to decrease.
Here are the results in a tabulated overview:
