BusinessWeek Logo

We're a moving, eye-shifting ad target

Posted by: Stephen Baker on August 27

Jakob Nielsen’s eye-scan studies (ex Marketing Pilgrim) show how assiduously we avoid looking at banner ads on the Internet. Though we do sneak a peak, it appears, when and if an ad looks like editorial or features alluring body parts. So the likely response will be to push these features into ads. But as soon as we learn about them, we’ll train our eyes to avoid them. When it comes to advertising, we’re a fast-moving target.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/

Reader Comments

Yvonne DiVita

August 27, 2007 12:00 PM

Seems to me that traditional advertising is fast becoming a thing of the past. More people trust word of mouth (as per WOMMA's reports and Andy Sernovitz's book) than anything else. Well, where do they get word of mouth online? At blogs and social media sites.

Over at Facebook, I trust the 60 or so folks I'm connected to WAAAYYYyyy more than any advertising campaign by... anybody.

As for eye tracking studies, they are fascinating. How much, for instance, does personality fit into them? How about the on-going discussion of right-brain vs left-brain?

People being what they are, people... it's best to rely on them - than an ad firm purporting to know all about 'them.'

Post a comment

 

About

In Blogspotting Senior Writer Stephen Baker and Associate Editor Heather Green take a look at how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society. Whether its blogs or wikis, data crunching or data targeting, technology’s advances are reshaping the world that we live in.

RSS Feed: Blogspotting

BW Mall - Sponsored Links

Business Tools

A-Z Index

List & Rankings

Blogs

More Blogs

Slideshow Gallery

More Slideshows

Magazine

Current Issue

BusinessWeek Cover