One of the greatest failings of the banner format is that it is peripheral to the content and not interruptive. We all evolved as predators, regardless of what the leaf-chewing members of our populace think. Why is that relevant? Well, evolutionary biologists will tell you that predators evolved with peripheral vision that picks up movement better than what's right in front of you. And, it picks up ticks in movement and changes in speed better than smooth, clean movement.
Where are banners located? Ah, now you're starting to get it -- Have. The. Banner…….[pause] React. [pause] [pause] [pause] Move. [pounce] Like it's stalking prey. The consumer's eye will instinctively glance to see what it is. Don't be impressed with your smooth, animated banner approved in isolation of the consumer. It looks nicer but will not achieve your main objective: the attention of the consumer.
What a roadblock does is focus that attention. There are many sites like The New York Times and The Washington Post that offer compelling roadblock experiences. On the Times, you can buy two-hour blocks of roadblocks. On rich content sites, it's even more important to capitalize on peripheral focus due to the engagement of the user to the content, in the center of the page.
It's a very effective strategy depending on your business model. Ok, there is the cop-out again. Let me explain a simple way to approach it. If you're a click-based business doing direct response to drive people into a funneled sales experience, then often a roadblock will not provide the delta increase in your clickthrough rate necessary to justify the additional cost.
However, if you supplement that advertising with single banners on the site and look at the combined effectiveness, you will often find that you get a significant increase in overall response rate. If you are a business that believes that view-through has value, you can prove that a roadblock is a far superior format for your business to a single banner for accomplishing your goals. An impression, remember, does not mean that the consumer ever saw the ad, it just means that the ad server delivered the "opportunity" to see an ad.
Roadblocks dramatically increase that opportunity beyond the additional cost required. Remember, aim for peripheral focus in your ad creation and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns. Don't create ads that annoy us.
Sean X Cummings is director of marketing for Ask.com.