Bad ad - it's all in the placement

In our view, good advertising doesn't turn off your users and drive away traffic. Don't bash them over the head! Attract users with smart ad choices that make it clear you value them as much as you value advertisers.

TAKEOVERS

"Who are you?"

Would you plaster a billboard over the signage at your company's headquarters? Keep your masthead visible so users know who you are.

POP UPS

"I didn't ask for this."
The ad shouldn't be the first thing seen on your site. Once users have enjoyed your unique content, they're more likely to respond to relevant ads.

POOR PLACEMENT

"Where can I go?"
Obscuring navigation implies that ads trump your original content. And it prevents users from reaching what they came for.

NY Daily News: Web's worst offender for intrusive ads?

Worst offender: Best Foods ad that can't be closed AND covers content. I promise to boycott this brand forever.
The temerity to cover the entire masthead. UNbelievable.


So, what's up at New York Daily News? I have not seen such an onslaught of intrusive ads in, well, ever. They cover the masthead. They cover content. AND you can't close them. I would love to see the metrics on these ads, then I'd love to test it so I could demonstrate just how many of those vaunted click-throughs are actually invoked by users trying to exit these ads = which break every rule. I feel as if I just had to toss four pushy salespeople out of my living room. I bet a lot of readers at http://www.nydailynews.com feel the same way.

Ads that interfere with navigation are bad for everybody

Can we all agree that ads should not display in front of dropdown navigation? Check out this Suave (not) leaderboard covering up top-level dropdown navigation. By the way, the nav on the left of the page does not correspond in any sane way to the dropdown nav, so God help you of you actually want an alternative way to find that item you now can't reach in top nav. Who wins here?