• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, March 30, 2010

According to a new survey called "The Case of Advertising in Interactive Digital Magazines," by Josh Gordon, founder of Smarter Media Sales, digital magazines compare favorably to other electronic media when it comes to advertising and reader experiences. The survey shows that 70% of the readers of the digital editions that participated in the study were less likely to ignore display ads in digital editions than on Web sites. On average, cites the report, interactive magazines are viewed for 20 to 30 minutes while the average Web site visit is eight to nine minutes

71% of respondents said ads on digital editions were less intrusive than Web sites (where reader action is often very goal-oriented) while 79% said ads in digital editions were more credible.

Comparison of Display Ads in Digital Magazine vs. Web Sites (% of Respondents)
	Ad Displayed In:
Attitude	Digital Magazine	Web Site
Less intrusive	71%	29%
Easier to read	80	20
More authoritative	78	22
More credible	79	21
Invites involvement	80	20
More trustworthy	79	21
More fun	82	18
More useful information	81	19
Source: Smarter Media Sales, March 2010

The study also found that respondents found ads in digital magazines more helpful than ads in other electronic media. Ads in digital magazines were named the most interesting, followed by TV ads (mobile phone ads were ranked the least interesting).

Form of Electronic Ad Found Most Helpful or Interesting (% of Respondents)
Form of Ad	% of Respondents
Ads in digital magazines	63.2%
Television ads	53.8%
Radio ads	34.8%
E-mails	22.4%
Ads in e-mail newsletters	20.6%
Website banner ads	16.4%
Website pop-up ads	2.3%
Ads on mobile phone	1.9%
Source: Smarter Media Sales, March 2010

According to the survey, 82% of respondents say digital magazines were "more engaging" than Web sites with similar content (compared to 18% who chose the web sites). In terms of overall reading experience, readers chose digital magazines over Web sites (The report notes that in some areas, digital editions are perceived to offer more content than Web sites even though they typically offer less, and that readers of digital editions are more accepting of digital extras, like video and flash animation).

Perception of Reading Experience of Digital Magazines to Web Sites (% of Respondents)
Perception	Digital magazines	Web sites
Has more content:	55%	45%
More authoritative:	65%	35%
More trustworthy:	71%	29%
Easier to read:	73%	27%
Better organized:	78%	22%
More focused experience:	80%	20%
Look forward to it more:	83%	17%
More visually appealing:	83%	17%
More fun to read:	85%	15%
Source: Smarter Media Sales, March 2010

When it comes to reading the digital edition, digital "extras" can often spark interest in an article the reader may have otherwise ignored. About one in five respondents said they play a "digital extra" before moving on to another article, while 28.1% said they will read a bit of the article and then play the digital extra before moving on to the next article. 44% of respondents said digital extras give articles they had no interest in a second chance to be read.

"Digital Extras" That Have Enhanced Reading Experience Of Digital Magazines (% of Respondents)
Digital Extra	% of Respondents Preferring Most
Videos	75%
Extra Photos	58%
Slide shows	37.4%
Audio	35.7%
Flash animation	30.6%
Source: Smarter Media Sales, March 2010

For additional information about the study, please visit here.