Banner Ads Influence Search Behavior

(Online Dating Advertising) A study by iProspect has found that banner advertising influences search behavior, making it important for online advertisers to use banner ads with search advertising and vice versa.

According to the study, the effectiveness of banner ads should be measured through search behaviour as much as by click-through rates, a survey from iProspect has found.

iProspect studied the behaviour of visitors to ad-supported sites for the research. The company found that nearly as many netizens who click on banner ads will conduct searches for brands associated with the ad, and nearly half of all audiences on an ad-supported site will eventually perform a search that is relevant to the ad they saw.

The study highlights the vital connection between display ads and search engine marketing.

“This new iProspect study goes beyond previous studies about the importance of integrating the offline and online marketing mix,” said Antony Yiu, search director for  iProspect Hong Kong. “Marketers should shed the old dotcom era mentality of using only display ads for their online campaigns and instead utilise a more synergistic approach of integrating both search and display ads to earn exponential returns on their advertising investment.”

In addition, the study  found that 31 per cent of netizens respond to display ads by clicking on them, compared to 27 per cent who respond by conducting a search for the brand, product or company.

Twenty-one per cent instead choose to type the company’s URL into their browser and nine per cent find relevant information from social media sites.

According to iProspect, a total of 52 per cent of internet users actively respond to display ads.

The study also found that 33% of respondents to an online display ad go on to purchase from a company with which they are familiar, compared to the 14 per cent who learn about a company for the first time from a digital display ad.

1,575 American internet users were used in the study.