Blend vs Clash

What are your expeirences with ads that clash?

[JCKline]

I have always used ad palettes that blended with my sites (within the TOS quidlines), and it worked well for me, but recently (over three months) CTR has dropped while impressions were still high.

Today I decided to change my ads on top level URLs to colors that clash (not irritate - dark background. white title. etc.) I will have to see if things improve in time.

Has anyone else had or is having success with ads that clash?

[Atomic]

I drew a border around my ads but the border is the same color as the borders around widgets in the same column. That bumped up my CTR a little. But I worry that making ads really stick out by making them seriously clash with the rest of the site might reduce my visitor's trust in my site. And designing my site so people trust its content within a second is a key component of my design philosophy. I think everything else good follows from that.

[ember]

We blend and it's always worked well. On a whim to see if we could raise the ctr, we added a border that made the ads stand out quite a bit. CTR tanked. Lesson learned.

[JCKline]

@Atomic, I understand that. The ads clash as far as being the opposite (dark background,light text), but still match the sites color scheme.

As far as trust goes, isn't having the ads blend too much cause the same issue (visitors click, then realize they have gone to another site by mistake)?

[Atomic]

As far as trust goes, isn't having the ads blend too much cause the same issue (visitors click, then realize they have gone to another site by mistake)?

Absolutely. When you said making your ads clash, well, that conjures visions of bright yellow backgrounds with purple text. I suppose there are ways to do it, but I'm not sure I would call reversing colors "clashing" per se.

[ken_b]

In between blending and clashing is where you find complementary designs/colors.

Works for me.

[netmeg]

Eh, it depends on the site. I do seem to do better if I shake it up every now and then.

[thatjen]

I've tried clashing ads before where the background of the ad doesn't match the page background, and I've tried borders. I always go back to blended ads because the CTR is always higher for me. I either pick colors that are the same as the colors of the site, or I'll do brighter, more eye-grabbing colors for the title of the ad. It's always a fine line of increasing CTR without looking too garish/tacky. But now that my CTR has tanked, I'm out of ideas of what to do next.

[JCKline]

But now that my CTR has tanked, I'm out of ideas of what to do next.

This is why I'm testing this again, but si far (only 2 days). no change. Still garbage.