The rule of thumb put out by the Internet Advertising Bureau says that an ad is considered viewed if at least half of the total pixels are on the screen for one full second (or longer). While just about everyone knows that this isn’t a very accurate way to gauge whether or not an ad us seen, it at least gives people something to go by when it comes to buying ads, positioning them, and things of that nature.
According to a new study that used eye-tracking technology, however, this rule of thumb is not even close. The research was performed by InSkin Media and Research Now Group and determined that most people don’t even glance at the ad until it has been on the screen for 14 seconds to even get noticed for one second.
To get people to look at an ad for two full seconds, it will typically need to be on the screen for 33 seconds, and it needs to be on the screen for 37 seconds to get 3 seconds of attention.
Naturally, the longer someone’s eyes are looking at an ad, the more likely they are going to be to click it. In addition, they are more likely to remember the ad or at least the brand in the ad if they are looking at it longer.
The bottom line here is that if you want your ads to be effective, you need to do everything possible to ensure they are visible on the screen for as long as they can be. This means that ‘above the fold’ ads are really more important than ever. Also, things like having an ad scroll down along with the users reading can be very helpful in getting people to view and remember the ads.
