Freeserve Challenges Thinking on Optimal Advert Design

Freeserve has produced a survey to challenge current thinking in the UK online industry that larger and heavier internet ads are the way forward for advertisers and creative agencies to express themselves.

In a study called 're:connect', the ISP/portal raises doubts over the validity of the UK industry's calls for similar ad sizes to those used in the US. According to the study, people want more control and less interruption when they are online. Users already perceive the Web to be more overloaded with advertising than it actually is and there are fears that if online formats become more intrusive they will turn people off.

The findings of this study are at odds with opinions running in the online industry that existing formats are becoming obsolete and that bigger spaces are needed to allow greater creativity. Freeserve warns against the unilateral adoption of heavier, larger ad formats in the UK simply in a bid to give advertisers more scope and says that users' opinions must also be heard.

The study highlights the opinions and feelings of a balanced mix of six different profiles of online user. They were asked to comment on 15 different ad formats frequently used in the UK according to their impact and acceptability whilst surfing on different sites.

Unsurprisingly, pop-ups, the 'villains' of the online creative world, were seen by most users as one of the least impactful and acceptable formats. Whilst they have proved successful in many campaigns for brand-building and instant response, pop-ups are perceived as low-cost and uncreative, particularly in contrast to more highly regarded variations of the format such as 'Toast'.

Skyscrapers and DHTML, on the other hand, are seen as the most impactful and acceptable online ad formats. Both allow advertisers to be more creative and anything using humour or entertainment goes down well with most types of user, although those less confident can be startled. Other formats that allow greater creativity, such as expandable banners and overlays, have their place amongst experienced, heavy users who tend to respond well to original, eye-catching advertising.

Head of strategic sales at Freeserve, Faye Weeks, said: 'Nobody has stopped to ask users what they think. We are continuing to strike a careful balance between user experience and new developments in advertising and just because an increasing number of our users have broadband it doesn't mean we can bombard them with larger file sizes.'

The qualitative study was carried out by independent research company SPA in March 2003 and responses were gathered from user diaries, in depth interviews and accompanied surf sessions with home internet surfers across the UK. They were recruited according to the 6 segments – Media Junkies, Media Pacifists, Information Addicts, Media Functionalists, Online Opportunists and Relevant Receivers. All respondents were asked to comment on 15 different online ad formats based on their normal usage of the web as well as attitudes. Sites used in the study include a test version of the Freeserve portal, in addition to Tangozebra.com and Eyeblaster.com.

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