eyetracking research and adsense ads

interesting stuff about page layout

[annej]

I'm sure some of you have already read this research but others will find it interesting. It really gives one some thought on where we might want to put our adsense ads.

The good news is that people look at text ads far more often and longer than traditional ads.

Apparently they are more likely to look if the ads blends with the look and feel of the page.

Rectangle ads within the text do well which echoes want several people here have been finding.

They are more likely to look if there are no borders or noticeable margins that separate the ads from the text.

If you want to read more just search "eyetrack advertising".

[ownerrim]

seems to confirm much of what has been discussed before. nice to see it confirmed though

[europeforvisitors]

Caveats:

1) The study involved news sites, which tend to be laid out differently (and which are likely to be viewed or read differently) than many non-news sites.

2) Much of the study involved display ads, not text ads.

3) Some of the assumptions may not be correct for every site. For example, the Eyetrack III study suggests that ads blended into editorial content are more likely to be seen than non-"advertorial" ads. On my site, clickthrough rates went up noticeably (probably about 20%) when I changed from the default AdSense colors to contrasting backgrounds that made the ads stand out from the page.

[annej]

There info on article pages was the most useful for me. Not just the info on imbedding the ads in the text but the info they have on article page design. After all, I do want my articles read as well. That's what brings people back to my site and readers tell others about my site if they like the articles.

One point they made was to keep paragraphs short so I'm giving some of my most popular articles a second look on that.

I'm considering writing introductory paragraphs to each article. For people just skimming through they are more likely to read at least a highlighted introductory paragraph.

The eyetracking site does emphasize that their research is preliminary and hopefully more will be done. So like EFV said the information there may not fit your site. It is certainly interesting reading though.