Clean Web Pages Make Ads Work Better

Why do 31 percent of all online ads go unseen? We had a pretty good idea that it's because messy Web pages create a chaotic experience that’s frustrating for everyone involved, including readers, publishers and advertisers. So we set out to prove it.

For our latest research, we partnered with IPG Media Lab to evaluate the impact of Clean vs. cluttered Web pages on ad effectiveness. 

Working with brands including ACE, Macy’s, Microsoft and Purina, we discovered that in an Clean (uncluttered) environment, consumers spend more time with an ad, twice as much time as they do in a cluttered environment. Also, an ad is always seen in a Clean setting, compared to only 76 percent in a cluttered, multi-ad environment. 

And it goes even deeper: Sites with uncluttered ad layouts were perceived as more useful, more trusted, and better than similar sites with cluttered pages.

"Clutter is killing digital media," says Troy Young, president, SAY Media. "Publishers keep adding more and more ads, because yield is becoming so low, and ads aren’t in view long enough to really drive results, leading to incredibly cluttered Web pages." 

Our latest research findings, using both eye-tracking technology and survey results, prove the power of Clean is very real indeed.

Find full details on the research here and download the whitepaper here. 

Also check out the press release here.