Though unsurprising, a new study released today by a consortium of big players in advertising found hard numbers to back up what you might have guessed. Specifically, that only 6% of people online are contributing 50% of the clicks to display advertisements. Starcom USA, behavioral targeting network Tacoda and comScore performed the study.
Those people who click heavily have a number of other characteristics of note. “Heavy clickers skew towards Internet users between the ages of 25-44 and households with an income under $40,000,” the study said, and they “are also relatively more likely to visit auctions, gambling, and career services sites – a markedly different surfing pattern than non-clickers.”
The authors conclude that the heavy clickers do shop more online than the population at large, but not at a rate proportional to their click rate influence. In other words, if your ads are getting a lot of click-throughs and you are holding your breath that they will monetize better any day now – you’re not likely to find relief any time soon. The study also found that there was not a high correlation between heavy clickers and increased brand loyalty. Search ads were not included in the findings but add in the fact that after a few years online more people won’t help but be able to learn the difference between their browser’s address bar and search bar – and the overall ad money pot doesn’t look terribly reliable.
These numbers probably speak for themselves, and will mean different things to different people, but we do hope that our unusually engaged readers will enjoy checking out the services of RWW advertisers. 🙂
