Webmasters: Do ads get your attention?
 

If so, when?

As Top banners?
As Sigs?
As Magazine ads in publications like Xbiz?

Just curious where your eyeballs are and aren't.

I'm so used to the ads here that they don't generally do anything. Sigs have a better chance of getting my attention.
WG

ads get my attention only if it's something I'm interested in...

guns
dogs
hawaiian related shit
software
etc...

but ads for porn or porn programs? Never.

Big advertising (banners and print ads) smell of desperation, which is the nature of the biz I guess.

interesting views. keep the comments coming!

No. I don't pay attention to the banners on GFY. The only thing that really gets my attention are sigs.

banners and sigs. Flash for sure.

New ads get my attention.

Also, funny, creative or obnoxious ads.

I am most likely to click an ad in someones sig.

Most ads I do not pay attention to... but there is a basic reason why... In most forums everyone in their dog goes overboard with posting ads and don't focus on a more personalized manor of doing business...

If you can create a interactive experience incorporated into your marketing method then I think you could do very well...

The only ads I ever see are the ones that are disguised to look like another text link on the page...

the banners on top dont really get my attention

No.

Most of the time I never see them. Sure, they are there. But I still almost never see them.

I would say the sigs..after all those stupid talking banners,I ignore them

Same here. I prefer whacky ones. I'll almost always click a sig made by sperminator. He has some great ones.

I dont see 95%+ of the banner ads because I have flash turned off.

I look at sigs though.

i dont care where, but if i see numbers it draws my attention CVs Retentions...

I will tell you what makes a good ad.

FIRST OFF: AD's that are not intrusive or annoying. Sure they get attention but really it's not worth the headache to look over for information you may be seeking. More importantly I believe that first impression is everything.
Make those first impressions classy, then get to the grit of closure.

Secondly: Most the ad's I see on GFY completely suck. I will give one basic example as to why. Most Webmaster's have niche based traffic, meaning they are focused in a particular area of traffic or have alot of work within an area of expertise. Now with that in mind it does not matter what the pay out is or how high a payout day is. Fact is many webmasters wont have the traffic interested in that programs offerings.

Those are two primary reasons why advertising is not wholy effective.
IMHO Branding is over emphasised these days and over valued entirely as well.

So what makes a good ad?

One that focuses on the site portfolio's that show results in givin niches. No one really does this and I would hope maybe someone gives it a shot soon.

Ad's need to demonstrate stability, strength to pay and websites they are succesful with. The BroNetworks out there that have a handful of 20 sites with no focus on any given niche or understanding of a niche have never really worked for me, though I have seen great ad's that appealed to me just because the primary site they had was within my reach of promotion with my niche traffic.

My best converting sponsors only got like 3 or 4 sites usually but those 3 or 4 sites are focused on the niche, not the spectra of everything with multi site pass this and that.

Surfers dont give a shit about that and I as a webmaster do not give a shit about that.

i usually click new top ads on this board if there is a new product to check out or new program... same with press releases

Sure they do. I see them everywhere. Thats the point no? We can learn lots of things. Sometimes we need to pay attention at the ads, this can be really important for us, even as a webmasters.

My :2 cents:

I notice ads when they are new or creative.. the form itself is not that important

they do sometimes when im looking for a new sponsor or something in particular

but sigs get me alert ... sometimes

something important to remember about ads is even though people may not click on them, it gives your brand visibility and will put your name at top of mind for many webmasters which can have long term, un-trackable dividends.

have you ever heard the quote: "I know a half of my advertising isn't working, but I don't know which half".... that often sums it up ;)

Ads get my attention if they are unique and really stand out. Your basic affiliate ad with the sports cars and stuff...all the same and I very rarely ever click onto them. I say that if you have a UNIQUE ad then your chances of people clicking it go up much higher as opposed to having your run of the mill sponser ad.

I think I've pretty much trained myself to ignore adverts - so much so, that I'm usually able to find the "close" link for one of those flash "pop-up clones" or interstitials faster than the advert is able to load.

My main concern now is that surfers are probably doing this too - which could explain why the advertising on my sites is completely ineffective.

Yep, ads get my attention.

Both in sigs and banners...

I get almost all new sponsors off the "Spam me with XXXX" threads...rarely a banner or specific sig.

IMO, if GFY was a little faster, more banner ads would be routinely viewed and clicked. As it is now, I refresh the screen and go do something else while I'm waiting for it to load...then on return, view the list of threads skipping the ads. If they popped immediately, there would be a much better chance of seeing them.