6% of Web Users Generate 50% of Ad Clicks

pcause writes "A recent study finds that 6% of Web users generate 50% of the click-throughs. Worse news for advertisers: these clickers are not representative of the population as a whole, most have incomes under $40K, and their clicks are not related to any offline buying. (They are mostly males between 25 and 44 years of age.) The number of clicks on an ad campaign is also not strongly correlated with brand awareness for the ads' subject, according to the study. This is bad news for ad-supported Web sites and businesses, as rates should drop if the Net economy begins to take these findings seriously."

The remaining 50%

[HTH NE1]

The remaining 50% are made up of people who just gotta punch that monkey!

We must do something about this.

[whyde]

I propose limiting their ad clicking on the ISP side with advertising traffic shaping. It is an unfortunate market reality, but these ad-clicking hogs are wasting valuable advertising bandwidth for the rest of the users, and it must be stopped.

Don't let 5% of the ad clickers ruin the internet "experience" for the rest of the users.

This is good news

[oni]

If true, this 6% figure is good news. If it's really this small number of people, then it should be possible to track them down and kill them.

Sorry, had to

[alx5000]

- Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?

- Not in our dreams! Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ballgames. And on buses. And milk cartons. And t-shirts. And bananas. And written on the sky. But not in dreams! No sirree!

Re:Rates or targets?

[Anonymous Coward]

>> anyone who runs adds on a site like Penny-Arcade can be quite sure that any click throughs are exactly the type of people they want to reach

Retards?

FTA:

[Farmer Tim]

Heavy clickers are also relatively more likely to visit auctions, gambling, and career services sites

So basically they're unemployable opportunists with no ability to assess risks.

The surprise here is that it took three companies working together to figure this out.

Like thousands of other /.ers...

[Dystopian Rebel]

The Flash-based "Talking Woman" has helped me.

When Mom calls long distance, Talking Woman is cheerful and polite in the background. Mom thinks I've finally found a nice girl and given up computers.

Re:The remaining 50%

[6Yankee]

Punching? I find spanking it to be much more rewarding.

Re:Well Duuuh...

[calebt3]

5 clicks=0.01 percent of your ad clicks
So you've had 5000 ad clicks in the past 10 years.
5000/(365*10)=1.37 clicks per day.
Why are you encouraging them (advertisers)? ;-}

Re:We must do something about this.

[BeeBeard]

But what about those of us who are too lazy to even click on an ad, but still want this "experience" of which you speak!?

If only there were some way of putting the ads on the screen without even having to click on them. Perhaps the ads could even be in separate browser windows that are created and filled with ad content automatically--"popping up," if you will, onto the screen? That way, the user can take full advantage of valuable money-saving opportunities without having to complete the arduous task of clicking a mouse button!

Dare to dream, dare to dream.

Why track them down?

[jd]

They're in Innsmouth, they look vaguely squid-like and they're totally insane. What more do you need to know?

Re:The remaining 50%

[Urza9814]

I love the duck pond ones - if you have a pop-up blocker, you never get the reward. And you can keep clicking past the three and your 'hits remaining' counter starts going negative. As it gets lower, the ducks move faster, until eventually you can't even see the things - but if you keep clicking randomly, you'll still manage to hit a few.

Slogan

[JonTurner]

"Dummies. We click, so you don't have to."

Re:No Money

[a-zarkon!]

Let me know when your research grant kicks in. In the interest of the greater scientific good, I'll happily volunteer to let you give me a wad of cash and observe how I spend and/or save it.

Re:The remaining 50%

[John Betonschaar]

Dude, why do you know all this? You need to get out more ;-)

Re:The remaining 50%

[Anonymous Coward]

Bastard always spits at me when I do that.

Gmail thinks I'm gay

[Lost Engineer]

Not sure why, between emails from my girlfriend and not-even-spam messages from (straight) porno sites, but it does.

If you're @ the googleplex please make sure gmail knows I'm straight! I am much more likely to click if it seems likely there's nekkid womenz on the other end.

Re:No Money

[aquila.solo]

...unnecessary items like beer and snacks.

the hell you say!

Re:No Money

[cayenne8]

"Thankfully, I'm in the latter state right now, and I find myself cooking a lot more (as opposed to eating out) and buying less unnecessary items like beer..."

I was following you up to that last point.

Cooking at home is a GREAT thing to do....better for you, less additives (cooking from scratch), and can be fun alone or with friends.

But, "unecessary items like BEER"?!??! Dude, get your priorities straight, I mean, beer is a food group all of its own!! I would have a VERY hard time making a roux, without beer. I usually set out 2-3 beers, and that's about how long it takes to make a really good dark one.

:-)

Re:Like thousands of other /.ers...

[skeeto]

When Mom calls long distance,

So calling the basement is long distance now? The phone company is ripping you off, man.

Re:The remaining 50%

[Hoi Polloi]

You just explained what the other 94% of web users are doing.