Atlas: Conversions Peak During Normal Waking Hours

Late-night TV infomercials might have led marketers to believe that those who view ads in the pre-dawn hours are likely to respond to them, but new research from aQuantive's Atlas suggests the opposite is true online.

A new study shows that Web users who view display ads during the workday and early evening are more likely to make a purchase, fill out registrations, or otherwise convert than consumers who see ads between midnight and dawn.

For the study, "Online Media Conversion Rates by Daypart," Atlas looked at online impressions and conversion rates for six advertisers over a three-month period last year. The advertisers included consumer electronics marketers, nonprofits, brick-and-mortar retailers, and information services providers.

Conversion rates peaked at around noon Eastern Standard Time, when conversion rates were around 36 percent higher than average for the day. The daily low occurred shortly after 4:00 a.m., when conversion rates were around 53 percent lower than conversion rates for the day.

The number of impressions and conversions rose and fell together throughout the day, but the different ratio of impressions to conversions at different hours of the day showed that people were most likely to respond to ads during lunch and in the early evening.

"Although fewer impressions are served during the early morning, even fewer conversions occur during this period," stated the report. "The conversions are so low here, in fact, that based on performance, these advertisers are still probably serving too many impressions to this daypart."

The results contradict a common theory that consumers online in the pre-dawn hours are the most addicted to the Internet, and therefore the most likely to shop online. "This research basically tells the opposite story," said Young-Bean Song, Atlas's director of analytics. "It shows that people are reacting to advertising at lunchtime, while they're at work, and when they go home, around dinner time," he said.

The conventional wisdom--that people respond to direct ads late at night--might stem from anecdotes about TV viewers responding to infomercials--but these tend to run at the times of day when TV inventory is cheapest.

Song added that the Atlas research suggests that publishers with sophisticated ad-serving systems might be able to justify charging premium prices for ads shown during the workday or early evening.

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