Search ads the least disruptive for users, says Adblock Plus

Adblock Plus provider Eyeo recently paired with Ipsos to conduct what it claims is the first global survey rating consumer attitudes to online ads. Out of 6,000 consumers surveyed, the majority of respondents from France (73%), the US (65%) and Germany (65%) suggested that pop-ups and video ads were the most disruptive and hated, whereas subtle tweets, search, text and banner ad formats were considered the least disruptive. Adblock Plus intends to use these results and further insights from other stakeholders in the advertising industry during "Camp David" talks, in order to help form Eyeo's Acceptable Ads Programme. This programme will be part of the wider activities of its new Acceptable Ads Committee.

Search ads are the least disruptive format of digital advertising, and pop-ups is the most irritating.That's according to a a survey of 6,000 internet users in the US, Germany and France, carried out by Ipsos on behalf of Adblock Plus.The study showed participants 13 different ad formats, and asked them to rate how disruptive they found them to the browsing experience. Pop-up ads scored 78.1 out of a possible 100 – not surprising, as a format now mostly abandoned by reputable advertisers, but animated banner ads weren't much more popular, with a score of 69.6.By comparison, 'low quantity' search ads scored 19.9, and even in higher quantities (20.8) fared better than almost any other ad type.You can see the full results in the graph above.“The initial results of this survey indicate that there is a veritable ocean between how users perceive ad formats like search, text and small banners, on the one hand, and how they perceive animated ads or ads that wrap around content on the other,” said Till Faida, co-founder of Adblock Plus. “This is in line with the feedback we’ve received from our users about our Acceptable Ads initiative. Most of the ad formats that the study showed to be non-disruptive would qualify under the initiative.“Of course, to many this might be a no-duh moment. But having proof from three separate countries that feelings of ad disruption crop up for similar reasons is very heartening. This should serve as another wake-up call for the industry to make innovative ads that provide value.”