It happens everyday. I visit the typical major site to see an annoying ad for a home loan company (I think; I’ve blinded myself to these ads). That’s a bad omen for my user experience on the site.
Sometimes the ad has people dancing on roof tops, a man doing a weird fast dance jig with himself, a sheep-like animal in a funny suit getting sheared, a cyborg dancing, an arm getting tattooed, or an animal made of colorful tiles with state abbreviations on them. Not only do these ads squelch any desire within me to click on the ad, my time on the site is marked by annoyance.
I bet the whole point of these animations — what are they smoking? — is to attract the eyes of the web surfer from whatever they came to the site to see. While I understand and appreciate the need for sites to monetize their offerings, I came to their site to see whatever they offer. News is what I want see when I visit CNN. Medical advice is what I’m after whenever I am at a health site like WebMD. When visiting TV Guide, I want to find TV schedules, news, and gossip — not to spy on a couple fast dancing on roof tops with a dark night sky in the background.
Further, that image doesn’t scream “Get a home loan!” to me.
Unfortunately, this is not the only type of ad that is annoying. One other type of ad that peeves me off is the bandwidth hog. While I like pretty graphics, video, audio, Flash, and AJAX elements like everyone else, my happiness extends to the point that an ad strains my Internet connection to do anything else. Like most other web savvy individuals, I multitask. Most of the time I have 4 or 5 windows or applications open up as I jump from task to task. I like doing that, and any company that regularly infringes upon my ability to do so irks me.
Note to advertisers: I didn’t buy a computer for the sole purpose of viewing your typically tacky ad. Here’s another shocker: I don’t have an Internet connection and the requisite software to surf the net just so I can see what degree options an online educational institution offers. Gasp!
Another pet peeve of mine is ads that feel like they have to announce themselves to me via the computer’s speakers. As I have said before, I, like many other people, multitask while online. When I’m listening to the Backstreet Boys on iTunes, I don’t want some jingle to interpret my music. Wait a second! When it is the Backstreet Boys, almost any audio is welcome. Oh yeah, I respect my coworkers and others who might be near me enough to not share commercials with them; they are inundated enough as it is through their own activities.
Unfortunately, my wrath extends beyond the advertiser. An organization that allows annoying ads on its site garners my disdain as well. I remember back during the 2005 Holiday Season, Colorado.com had a horizontal banner ad that had a sleigh, snow, and audio with jingle bells. I saw it on Concierge.com and Outside.Away.com. It was loud, distracting, and sapped my bandwidth. In fact, I was so mad that I stopped whatever I was doing to click on the ad to go to Colorado.com (which likely cost them a few cents) for the sole purpose of going to its contact page to write an e-mail to the site so that they would know how angry I was. I even stated that my desire to visit the site in the future had waned, thanks to the ad. Then I went back to the sites that I saw the ad on and contacted them so that they would know the ad threatens their chances of ever enjoying my eyeballs on their site again. I was mad! Surprisingly, I got no response.
Don’t get me started on pop-up ads…
The ads and sites that allow them on their cyber property have a dramatic effect on my user experience and likely that of others. No amount of SEO work can compensate for a poor user experience.
Advertise and screen advertisements on your site wisely.
Who else hates these ads? What are some other types of ads that make you wonder what are they smoking?
