Ask HN: Do online adverts have any effect on you?

4 points·AlexMuir··6 comments

Most things that are shared on here are paid for by advertisements. But do you think that these adverts actually deliver a return?

I've got a theory that heavy internet users are ad-blind. My mum can't tell the difference between content, menus and Adsense units. Hence she clicks on them all the time.

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I am totally ad blind. I don't see them, or if I see them I don't parse them, or if I parse them I don't remember them 3 seconds later.

Of course that does not mean that ads don't deliver a return.

Ads work for a variety of reasons and those who claim they don't work on them are probably wrong (imo).

Aside from direct action (click and buy my product) there's also a branding goal. Assuming you don't block ads, you do see these ads all the time. There's a certain familiarity with products or brand names that you will develop and that will likely influence you later, if you are ever in the market for that product.

Ad blind. Totally. I'm almost always on a page for a reason and just want to get what I came for and then be gone; either back or digging for more substance. I suppose my mind is registering something of them but I don't seem to be conscious of this.

It depends on the site. I click on the penny-arcade ads all the time.

I'll click on google ads sometimes when I'm looking to buy something but that doesn't usually result in a sale.

I find I do not look twice at ads on most web pages. However, I have found that I do click on Facebook ads a lot more. Personalization is key.

I use Adblock, so the only time I think about ads are when a website's layout is wonky and I realise that's where the ad should be.

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