Poynter Research released their "Eyetrack" research over a year ago, it let publishers know where the eye flows to online and the pattern most people take reading a web page. Now "Disney Takes Web Surfers To The Lab To See Which Ads Work", this time they are trying to measure what the ads that don't get a click-through do to consumers....
"It is relatively easy for Internet companies and their advertisers to measure precisely how often Web site visitors click on advertisements, and which kinds of ads draw the most clicks. But what about those who do not click, the many millions of others whose eyes merely flit across the screen? Disney and other companies say they believe that not nearly enough is known about them ? what kinds of ads in which configurations are likeliest to draw them, and hold them?
A good deal is at stake. Although the recession has slowed its growth, nearly $25 billion will be spent on Web advertising this year, eMarketer, an Internet research company, estimates ? a mother lode that will grow to more than $37 billion by 2013.
The goal, quite simply, is to increase ad revenue by offering skittish clients serious research about what works and what does not in new media, said Peter Seymour, the unit?s executive vice president for strategy and research. There is also a focus on new forms of advertising in programming shown on actual televisions.
Are ads that play before video clips, known as prerolls, more effective when paired with banner ads? Do animated ads keep viewers? attention on mobile devices better than live-action ones? How well do so-called watermark ads ? an image that sits on part of a Web page like etched glass ? affect buyer intent?
?The goal is ultimately to have laws that apply,? Mr. Seymour said."
We may see some of the results rather soon and every advertiser should be interested to see the results.