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Animated banners vs. Static banners?

by Andrew Stevens
28 replies
Do you prefer using animated or static banners?

Has anyone done any testing on click through rates?
#animated #banners #static
  • Profile picture of the author Greg D
    I heard (can't remember where) that Google would prefer the 'less flashy' type of banner. Not sure if it is true.

    Have not done CTR testing myself.

    Would be curious as to the answer if someone has.

    Good question.

    Greg
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    • Profile picture of the author Andrew Stevens
      Wow, I can't believe how fast these threads get indexed in Google. I just went to research this in Google and this thread was in the 6th spot on the first page literally less then 10 minutes after I posted it.
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      • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
        If you are asking from a visitor viewpoint, I don't mind the banner that uses a gentle nudge, hey look at me, approach. The in your face, you aren't going to mistake me flashing stuff is enough to make me leave the site.

        Unless the crazy flashing was the only one that had something I really, really needed, there's no way I would click on it.
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        • Profile picture of the author thinkahead
          Originally Posted by AprilCT View Post

          If you are asking from a visitor viewpoint, I don't mind the banner that uses a gentle nudge, hey look at me, approach. The in your face, you aren't going to mistake me flashing stuff is enough to make me leave the site.

          Unless the crazy flashing was the only one that had something I really, really needed, there's no way I would click on it.
          Me too, I cannot stand the over-the-top flashing banner nonsense, it looks like a tacky advert and that makes me think that it's a tacky product. It just screams poor taste and I personally won't be buying from someone whom I've already taken a dislike to as a result of their banner (although that's not always a direct reflection on the person!)
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          • Profile picture of the author Supernatural_fan
            Originally Posted by thinkahead View Post

            Me too, I cannot stand the over-the-top flashing banner nonsense, it looks like a tacky advert and that makes me think that it's a tacky product. It just screams poor taste and I personally won't be buying from someone whom I've already taken a dislike to as a result of their banner (although that's not always a direct reflection on the person!)
            indeed, flashing banners are plain awful! but i'm sure there are lots of people clicking on them, simply because it catches the attention; i mean, regardless of the unanimity of opinions here, there will be people interested to see what is beyond the flashy animation, yet i don't think there will be the exact same people that will help your business grow; static banners are plain boring, but a hint of animation is just perfect!
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      • Profile picture of the author admin
        Administrator
        Originally Posted by Andrew Stevens View Post

        Wow, I can't believe how fast these threads get indexed in Google. I just went to research this in Google and this thread was in the 6th spot on the first page literally less then 10 minutes after I posted it.

        It was in the 4th spot for me :-)

        Edit: I prefer static banners..
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        • Profile picture of the author Alfred Shelver
          3rd spot for me.... wow do you have your own horde of google spiders just on this forum.... wow again .... That article section is looking very enticing at the moment

          Originally Posted by admin View Post

          It was in the 4th spot for me :-)

          Edit: I prefer static banners..
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          • Profile picture of the author admin
            Administrator
            Originally Posted by Cathy Shelver View Post

            3rd spot for me.... wow do you have your own horde of google spiders just on this forum.... wow again .... That article section is looking very enticing at the moment

            You're right...it's climbing. That's weird...and fast.
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            • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
              Originally Posted by admin View Post

              You're right...it's climbing. That's weird...and fast.
              Only makes me think... I need that article writing membership on WF I'll prob get it next week. Don't have real use as of yet.
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              • Profile picture of the author DomenicoGrecojr
                I have an animated banner with everything exactly the same lon a static banner. Tested the conversions and found that the CTR is more or less the same even after several weeks. My animated banner is a "Click Here" text which flashes. Perhaps it's too subtle to say it's an animated banner.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vincenzo Oliva
    When it comes to banners it's none of Google's business how we spend our money, we're buying ad space successful or not. Flashy banners don't convert well unless they're so unusual or ugly that people can't resist, but those aren't buyers just curiosity seekers.
    Text banners are out converting banners that look like ads. If your banner says "Check Me Out I'm an Advertisement" then people won't click.
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    Going along with how April states it, I really prefer something very basic.

    If an ad is flashing, I NEVER click on it. Of course that is my decision alone. However, if the ad has a very slight flash (and when I say slight, I mean like a dark gray going to a darker gray, not a yellow going to red) then I am probably more inclined to click.

    Again these are just my views, but here it goes:

    Flashing - NEVER click
    Animated - NEVER click (unless its a game or movie)
    Static - I'm more likely to click
    Very Subtle Animation - Much more likely to click if its the right subtle colors.

    Hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author Greg D
    That, I believe, is the reason for Google's stance on the matter.

    Most surfers feel that way. They will not give too much credit to a shiny, flashy, trying desperately thing to get your attention, so big G feels the same.

    Google's main objective (and other search engines) is to: End Search

    If you are leaving a site quickly because of a lot of flash, this does not end search, does it? Site may take a hit of a couple of points int he algos.

    Maybe. Just a thought.

    Greg
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendon Zahrndt
    When it comes to banners, I want my customer with the absolute worst/oldest computer to be able to see/read what I have to offer.

    This requirement leads to one and only one type of banner--a static one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Greg D
    One of the threads here on the WF about clicks in G adsense for banners suggested a basic banner, white backround and red text as best results.

    Greg
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  • Profile picture of the author dawnbreaker
    I suggest for a static banner with a white background on it... But you should consider the content of you ads....
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  • Profile picture of the author coolrajat
    guys i also prefer static banners. some bright animated banners cause a type a irritation to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    I think the overall consensus is that many people are pretty skeptical of flashing, animated banners and that they have negative connotations for the most part. I feel that having unusual, "ugly" and striking banners (not animated though) would work much better, and I see many of those types of ads continually recurring in Facebook all the time (which strongly suggests that those ads are making money and are profitable over time).

    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author chrisscott
      If you have something really attractive in your flashy banner then chances are that visitors are more likely to click on it.

      Days have gone when you say please click here (flashes it 2 -3 times) now surfers are very intelligent when it comes to banners or adverts so go to flashy if you have really out of world kind of theme in you mind, flashy but still elegant then it will give good CTRs.
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  • Profile picture of the author JonAlfredsson
    When it comes to advertising banners, a moving banner will surely catch my attention but it will just look at it and check the site by searching on search engines. I agree that moving ads can give an impression of it being a virus.
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  • Profile picture of the author cheaterscode
    I go for static banner, my eyes are being irritated for animation especially while i'm reading the content
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  • Profile picture of the author willyboy104
    Originally Posted by Andrew Stevens View Post

    Do you prefer using animated or static banners?

    Has anyone done any testing on click through rates?
    I work as the online marketing executive of Groupon UK (world's fastest growing web-company). We do a lot of testing on conversion rates and are constantly designing new banners in many different formats.

    For example, Gifs, Flash banners, API banners, Geo-targeting...you get the picture.

    We have found our overall CTR to lie around 25% and our best performing banners are our API banners and our Flash banners which host each daily deal.

    We have found the best size formats are 468x90 and 250x250 probably because they are also the most common.

    We find that a strong call to action and a very positive feature/benefit of the service or product works best.

    Not only this but flashing call to actions, most of this is obvious but still.

    You also might want to know that pop ups work very well too!
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  • Profile picture of the author jazzboy90
    I know for a fact that animated banners pull more sales than static ones. Just look at any big companies like amazon, ebay, sony, samsung, or any other brand names banners. They are all animated.
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  • Profile picture of the author phmoisan
    Many members in this thread have said they prefer static banners when it's time for them to click or not.

    However, I wonder, does anyone has any stats saying the static banners get more attention then animated ones ? Which ones sell most ?

    After all, the people out there aren't all Internet Marketers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
      Hi Andrew,

      It would be a very good idea for somebody to do a study on this so we can get hard numbers. I’ve have never heard of any similar study and that is surprising for something that can potentially make a huge difference. It would also be good to know exactly what Google’s position is on banners, because I’ve seen plenty of highly ranked sites with glaring banners.

      I think it comes down to two things when making successful banners: staying on Google’s good side and not scaring away your readers. Obviously Google is trying to stay away from the “attention demanding” banners and the fact is they probably scare readers off to. Those kinds of banners have been associated with scam sites that are making outrageous claims. Having more subtle, maybe even clever banners seems as if that would be the better alternative.

      A good point was also brought up earlier; you want to make sure that as many people as possible can view your site. And some people simply do not have the processor power or bandwidth to handle some of the more aggressive animated banners.
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      • Profile picture of the author moloyart
        I am the creative director at pixelgenio.com and have been taken up a lot of banner design assignments over the last 8yrs of my career. I think a parameter of judging whether to go for animated(I do not say 'flashy'..it literally means blinking loop and is really annoying to everyone) or static can be the ratio of orders I receive on creating banners. I should say that the demand of getting flash animated banners done is pretty high as compared to any other format AND to be noted that often clients are willing to pay quite high to get a good flash banner done. This does bring me to conclude that Flash banners do work. If they did not then there wouldn't have been the demand.
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  • Profile picture of the author Guru_Marketing
    Well, you have to do testing despite the fact of what everyone is saying. It depends on the message itself MORE than the format.

    However, there are some tested banner sizes that work best:

    728x90
    160x600
    300x250
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