OPA: Ads are more influential on premium content sites

Don't expect your randomly placed ad to have a huge impact on sales conversions. According to a new report from the Online Publishers Association the effectiveness scores for ads placed on premium content sites were significantly higher than ads placed randomly around the Internet.

by Kristina Knight

The report "Improving Ad Performance Online" found that the effectiveness scores for original content, high quality websites were higher than for ads placed with advertising networks and portals. Although that doesn't mean advertising networks don't have their place it is an indicator that brands need to be more careful about when and where they place their ads.

The content, of course, is still the most important factor. If the ads placed are contextually relevant to the content of a website consumers are more likely to become engaged with the product advertised. But the quality of the content has to be taken into account.

"The results show that ads on what the OPA considers to be higher-quality ad environments are more effective with consumers," said Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishing Association. "Quality was a key point of differentiation."

The report finds the brand favorability for members of the OPA increased nearly 30% while favorability for ad networks dropped 29%; portals (17% decrease) and MarketNorms (6% decrease) also showed declines.

Tags: advertising content, advertising networks, online content, Online Publishers Association