Posted on 12/07/2004 5:14:13 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Internet Explorer users are at least four times as likely to click on Web ads than Firefox users, a German advertising technology company said last week.
The company, Adtech, found that during October and November, only 0.11 percent of Firefox users ever clicked on an ad, compared with around 0.5 percent of IE users. The percentage of IE users clicking on ads varied depending on which version of the browser was being used, the company said: from 0.44 percent of version 6.x users to 0.53 percent of version 5.5 users. The survey was based on 1,000 Web sites in Europe that use Adtech's ad server.
Dirk Freytag, the chief operations officer of Adtech, said in a statement that the reason for this trend is probably the different surfing habits of Firefox and IE users, plus the inclusion of an integrated pop-up ad blocker in Firefox. Among IE users, only those who have version 6 and who have installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 have an integrated pop-up blocker, although IE users can also choose to install a third-party pop-up blocker.
David Hallowell, a Mozilla contributor, said this trend may have emerged because nontechnical Web surfers, who tend to be IE users, are more likely to click on pop-up ads by mistake, because they think the ad is a system dialog box.
"People click on (pop-up) ads because they think the system's trying to tell them something," Hallowell said. "The average Firefox user is more aware that they're ads, not system dialogs."
Hallowell added that Firefox users may be more likely to click on targeted ads, rather than other types. "Most people I know are more happy with Google's targeted ads--they don't like big banner ads that are totally unrelated to what they're looking for," Hallowell said.
Adtech's findings could have significant implications for the online-advertising market. It may be bad news for sites that rely on online advertising, because as the number of Firefox users grows, those sites may get lower click-through rates. Alternatively, if Hallowell's theory is correct, then click-throughs from Firefox users could actually be more valuable--if a Firefox user is considered more likely to have intentionally clicked on an advertisement.
In some cases, Web surfers would be well-advised to stay clear of banner ads. Last month, ZDNet UK reported that hackers have attacked ad servers and have modified the banner ads so that they redirect users to Web sites that download malicious code.
Ingrid Marson of ZDNet UK reported from London.
HA!
I use IE6 and Norton Internet Security. I don't get pop ups and web page ads are blocked. So I don't click on them either, cause I don't get them.
I got FF1.0
It's good but not great. I don't see what the big whoop is all about?
I feel very smart right now....
Tabbed browsing and the bad guys don't have access to the Active X opening into the operating systems.... also until recent SP2 changes, popup ADs were not blocked in IE6...
Technical Ping
The subject of the page is one thing: it blocks popups. It has tabbed browsing (as someone else pointed out), and, though this is of no importance to the average user, it is open-source (meaning that anyone with some knowledge of programming can alter it). Connected to the second thing, is the fact that it is not made by Microsoft, and you'll find some real emotional Microsoft hate out there. If you want more bells and whistles, but also want the tabbed browsing and blocked popups, try Netscape. I have Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and Mozilla Firefox on my laptop, which is my main computer.
signed,
happy FF+Adblock user ;)
Heh heh heh...
What's a pop-up ad?
Signed,
Firefox User
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