• by Masha Geller , June 19, 2003

While many online advertisers experts have spent the last year or so trying to convince the rest of the industry that click-through rates are not a good measure of online campaign success, Penton Media's Windows & .NET Magazine Network's recent experience may be an exception. The companies say their newly-launched roadblock ad campaigns have been met with phenomenal success, if only judging by the fact that in initial testing with house advertising campaigns, click-through rates registered at nearly 9%.

Jason Brown, associate publisher for Windows & .NET Magazine Network, said, "This is a success rate several hundred times better than industry standards. Now that the roadblock position has moved out of testing and is being used on advertiser-sponsored campaigns, we are seeing CTR results ranging from 9% to 25%." According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, the current industry average click-through rate is 0.2 - 0.6%.

The roadblock ad program was launched April 1 of this year, in the form of house advertisements for Windows & .NET Magazine Network's national Security Road Show events. "We're the first B-to-B online publisher running roadblock advertisements," continued Brown, "and the success we have experienced with the campaigns to date have far exceeded our expectations."

In May, Windows & .NET Magazine Network launched three advertising campaigns on three separate Web sites. Each advertising campaign was underwritten by different advertising sponsors. The ad campaigns are generating CTR rates of 10.4%, 9.36%, and 25%, respectively.

"These flash ads are designed to be very compelling," said Brown, when asked about the success of the campaign. "They capture and hold the viewer's interest." Brown says the success of the new advertisement style is also due in part to the fact that it is relatively new. "This is the first time this style of advertising has been brought to our audience of IT professionals. The design of the ads and their novelty accounts for the success we are experiencing with this approach," he added.

"Windows & .NET Magazine Network's roadblock ads can't be ignored," said Brown. "They are full-page ads that intrigue the user for up to 20 seconds. The user can go to our home page whenever he wishes during the ad display, yet a large percentage of users choose to watch the ads in their entirety."