Study: Ads out of context are effective

By Cory Bergman 

This is fascinating. Yahoo and MediaVest just released a study that found that “ads displayed out of context had roughly the same impact on brand preference as identical placements shown next to related content.” So for example, they measured consumer reaction to the gourmet coffee product Tassimo. The ads ran in Yahoo’s food section as well as in Yahoo News. Brand affinity increased 26 percent among users who saw the ads in the food section compared to 21 percent for the news section. A little higher, but not by much. (And note the study did not measure clicks, which historically have shown to be significantly higher when targeted.) Writes Brian Morrissey in MediaPost, “It suggests some softness in the long-held belief that ads shown in context are more valuable than those seen out of context… With new targeting tools, it is easier than ever to find specific audiences, such as foodies, wherever they are online, rather than only on food-related sites.”

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