Surveys such as one by Valentine Radford indicate that 74% of US consumers find pop-ups far more annoying than any other type of ad. Even other interactive ads, such as banners and e-mail, barely hit the annoyance radar screen.
Most Annoying Advertising, 2002 (% of respondents)
Will Tifft, senior vice president and general manager, 24/7 Real Media says, "People see pop-ups the way they see blow-in cards in magazines. Everyone says they hate them, but they still perform at three to four times the rate of a standard ad."
For all the attention they get though, pop-up ads are a small part of the online marketing spectrum. According to a recent study from Nielsen//NetRatings, only 9.2% of all companies advertising online use pop-ups. Of the more than 11.3 billion ad impressions during the January to July 2002 period for both pop-ups and its polar sibling, the pop-under, the bulk came from five industries. The impression total adds up to only 2% of the online advertising market. And that thin slice came from a small segment of advertisers, with 63 companies launching 80% of all pop-ups; 2,145 advertisers split the remaining 20%.
Top US Industries Using Pop-Up Ads (Jan-Jul Impressions in millions)
Financial Services | 1,785 |
Hardware and Electronics | 1,581 |
Web Media | 1,543 |
Travel | 1,387 |
Entertainment | 1,273 |
Retail Goods and Services | 913 |
Consumer Goods | 666 |
Software | 666 |
Telecommunications | 634 |
B2B | 439 |
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