Why PPC Banner Ads Don’t Make Bloggers Money

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I confess I’ve never been much of a fan of banner ads at the top of blogs. I consider them an impediment to readers — visual clutter, if you will, between a reader and what they came looking for.

Interestingly, you won’t find them at the top of the truly big money-making sites like ProBlogger or CopyBlogger. (Okay, John Chow has several, but then he’s an exception to most rules, anyway.)

There’s a reason for that: not only do the banner ads impede readers, they also don’t make money. In fact, advertisers don’t use banner ads to get traffic, anyway.

The Journal of Consumer Research published findings that repeated exposure to banner ads results in positive feelings for that which is advertised. They asked students to read an essay with the pretense of answering questions about the essay when, in fact, the survey focused on the content of banner ads displayed alongside the content. Those asked about their positive feelings towards the brand advertised saw positive reactions consistently increase in conjunction with number of exposures to the ad.

In other words, banner ads work for the advertisers by generating brand recognition and positive feelings. The problem is that nobody clicks on banner ads, which means that they don’t work for bloggers looking to make money.

So, if you’re hoping to get rich from loading your header with ads, perhaps you should rethink your strategy in favor of pleasing your readers. Besides, if you’re going to annoy your readers, it’s far better to do it for an advertiser who’ll pay up-front for that privilege.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Make Money Blogging. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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1 Comment

Comment by Lincoln

2008-02-19 00:38:52

It’s hard to believe advertisers would purchase banners mainly for fuzzy wuzzy good feelings though. But here’s hoping Ford decides to advertise their Shelby GT500KR Mustangs on my blog anyway.