Press Releases

 
Oct/09

1

Is Click-Through Really Dead?

Just read an interesting article on AdAge today, which talks about a sharp decline in percentage of users who click on online display ads. Couple this with recent numbers of online ad spend decline and you’ve got yourself a pretty scary picture of the state of content monetization. But is it really?

Semi, or unrelated display ads, are not like other links on the page. They usually bring no utility or immediate value to users; more like “content high jacking” than “content monetization”. It’s no surprise then that people are fed up with this noise. We do still click on things  - to get to more relevant content - so click-through is not dead, just getting smarter.

I think it’s got something to do with the packaging. When we visit web pages we very easily separate between “content” and “noise”.  The former is what we came in for, while the latter is what we have to put up with because we are not willing to pay for the real content. We’re obviously less likely to click on the “noise” which drives its price down, making it even more difficult for good content providers to survive. It’s not the underlying content though, it’s the ineffective way of associating the message with a call-for-action.

One of the main reasons for this, I believe, is the lack of relevance due to weak contextual association. In order to have an effective “participation” from viewers, one has to bring closer the enabler (primary content) and the CFA or ad (secondary content). There are two dimensions to this. The first one is space: if it’s relevant to the content then couple it with the content, don’t just throw it into the same container (page) and expect the two messages to stick. The second is time: most content is fundamentally linear (text you read through, video you watch though, or audio you listen to) and comprises of lots of smaller pieces of information (a sentence, a frame in a video or segment of audio). It is those pieces, rather than the big piece, that could be monetized, just like hypertext links to relevant/contextual content are being followed.

The ultimate goal is to personalize this, to get the right message delivered to the right person at the right time in the right context. Lots of progress is being made towards these goals by my company (Overlay.TV) and others.

Click-through is not dead, it’s just getting smarter.

[Orginally posted at  http://kishkush.com/2009/10/01/is-click-through-really-dead/]

No tags

  • Confused reader

    Read the same article and was looking for dialogue on it…but where in the article does it talk about click-through rate? The article outlines a different issue centering on the % of total audience who click (more like a households metric than an engagement metric). CTR is the measure of the number of clicks/number of views.

  • test

    test

  • nadavzin

    Thanks ‘Confused reader’ – point taken. I have updated the reference in the opening paragraph.

    The point I am trying to make is that there is a good reason why click-through (whether ‘rate’ or ‘tendency’, whichever level you are measuring) is declining, which is mainly the maturity of web users as content consumers and the strategies they are starting to employ to handle the ever increasing noise.

    To combat, for lack of a better word, this problem (from an advertiser stand point) and to actually deliver useful service to prospects and consumers, marketers need to go back to basic on *how* to increase message effectiveness. It is no longer enough to associate an ad with a page, just as it would be ridiculous to do so at a site level. Real effectiveness almost always capitalizes on context, and linear content (especially in the retail video space where Overlay.TV plays) provides many challenges and opportunities in handling dynamic context.

  • Not quite as confused anymore

    I agree that the overall rate is declining because of user maturity in part, but I think moreson its the general amount of bad content, crappy websites, UGC nonsense, ad network and Adsense garbage out there. Interesting that depending on which data you look at, fraudulent clicks now massively surpass legitimate clicks.

    I like what Choicestream is doing in this space for retailers as well. Creating custom call-to-action based on broad shopping and surfing history has shown considerable lift.

    “It's better to burn out than it is to fade.”

  • http://renaissancechambara.jp/2010/01/12/marketing-in-2010/ renaissance chambara | Ged Carroll – Marketing in 2010

    [...] of this is email marketing, search and display advertising. However, the decline of clickthrough rates (or effectiveness in terms of acting on the call-to-action) of these marketing vehicles has been [...]

  • http://www.ruderfinn.co.uk/blogs/dotcom/2010/01/marketing-in-2010/ Marketing in 2010 – Dot Comms

    [...] of this is email marketing, search and display advertising. However, the decline of clickthrough rates (or effectiveness in terms of acting on the call-to-action) of these marketing vehicles has been [...]

  • http://www.mycoolcaravans8.com/ cool caravans

    Trabalho para o amanhã – um olhar de Yesturdays em alguns exemplos…

    Apenas observado este exemplo, através de Megan hardvalder sobre Facebook e imagine-o para ser um tanto informativo e demasiado o ponto…

  • http://www.bestpricebeds.co.uk/ guest beds

    Travail de Yesturdays pour le demain – un regard à quelques exemples…

    Noté cet exemple, par l’intermédiaire de Megan Messer dessus Journal de phase et trouvé lui pour être extrêmement instructif et trop le point…

  • http://topiphoneslots.angelfire.com/index.html mobile games

    Het werk van Yesturdays voor morgen – een blik op sommige voorbeelden…

    Opgemerkt dit voorbeeld, via David halign linkedin en geloof het om te zijn zeer informatief en ook het punt…

  • http://www.tzumii.com/triactol-the-breast-enhancement-serum-that-gets-results.html Olly

    Trabalho para o amanhã – um olhar de Yesturdays em alguns exemplos…

    Apenas observado este exemplo, através de David McCormick sobre linkedin e encontrado lhe para ser muito informativo e demasiado o ponto…

  • http://youngwomensclothing.net young womens clothing

    Yesturdays work for tomorrow – a look at some examples…

    Was shown this example, via David Messer on Facebook and found it to be somewhat informative and too the point…

  • http://devolia.org/wiki/index.php?title=OnlineGamesForMobile Iphone Slots

    Yesturdays work for tomorrow – a look at some examples…

    Noticed this example, via jon hardvalder on linkedin and believe it to be very informative and too the point…

  • http://www.magiccoffee4mates.com/shopping/other-shopping/janome-8077-great-machine-at-a-reasonable-price janome 8077 30-stitch computerized sewing machine

    greenpeace london 2012…

    [...]council employees at Lennox’s closing appeal listening to back in September. [...]…

  • http://gracostrollerreviews.webs.com/gracotrekkometropolis.htm graco trekko metropolis

    will smith son…

    [...]a central factor of passe-temps stroke, physiotherapy, osteotherapy, anxiety leadership and relaxation therapy.[...]…

  • http://electricbicyclereviews.webs.com/xtremescootersxb600.htm x-treme scooters xb-600 elite electric bicycle

    sopa de caracol lyrics…

    [...]As shortly while you realize that you will be late, you rush regarding the door, consider your current wallet, cell [...]…

  • http://bobrevolutionsesinglestroller.webs.com/ bob revolution se stroller

    greenpeace logo history…

    [...]all options set prior to him prior to he handed down his demise sentence to [...]…

  • http://panasonic-es-lv61-a.webs.com/ panasonic es-lv61-a review

    will smith biography for kids…

    [...]giving myself the chance to discover and seize new possibilities [...]…

  • http://cannon-security-products-ddv-s-01.webs.com/ cannon Security Products DDV-S-01

    will smith twitter pic…

    [...]a separate sector following the sport was in the end only a new make a difference of this time just before guys and females[...]…

  • http://bissell94y2.webs.com/ bissell 94y2 lift-off deep cleaner

    greenpeace usa history…

    [...]cold concrete cell with noticed dirt coated floor [...]…

  • http://anwar.com/proc1.htm Anwar Sadhe

    Websites worth visiting…

    [...] I noticed someone having a debate about this on Tumblr and so it linked to [...]…

  • http://www.broadjam.com/proreviewers/ where can i get my music reviewed

    Awesome webpage…

    [...] Are you unquestionably convinced that may be the right data? I learned something else entirely. I’ve basically had another idea that pop nicely right into my mind [...]…

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC0FRnc0L0Q broadjam scam

    Superb website…

    [...] Niche sites of interest many of us have a url to [...]…

blog comments powered by Disqus

<<

>>