What are the Most Annoying Ads on the Internet?

It’s official: popups are the most annoying ads on the web. In fact, 50 percent of respondents in a recent survey said they would not return to or recommend a web page using them.

What Are the Most Annoying Ads on the Internet?

But it’s not just popups that annoy most people. Ads that distract like the ones with flashing animations and ads that clutter are also disapproved of by users.

These insights come from a study by Coalition for Better Ads, a forum of leading international trade associations and companies involved in online media.

Popups are Bad for Your Business

Consumers are so fed up with popups that 50 percent of them say they would not revisit or recommend a page that had a popup ad.

What’s more, 69 percent of people who installed ad blockers said they were driven by annoying or intrusive ads.

Popup Issues More Common on Smaller Sites

Interestingly, the report also found that most popup ad issues do not come from mainstream publishers such as newspapers or business publications. Rather they appear mostly on the smaller sites.

One reason why smaller sites encounter popup problems more often is because they lack quality control resources that larger publishers have at their disposal.

Mobile Advertising is Fraught with Problems

According to the report, mobile users face more wide-ranging ad issues.

Popups account for 54 percent of issues found, whereas 21 percent of issues are caused by high ad density. The latter problem makes it difficult for users to find the information they are looking for.

What Small Businesses Must Do to Succeed

With popups failing big time, businesses need to look at other ad options. For example, advertisers may opt for less disruptive alternatives such as full-screen inline ads that offer the same amount of screen space as popups.

It’s also important to remember that making a user wait to access content leaves them with a much more negative experience.

Google ran a global survey of 1800 ad block users for the report.

Image: Google

This article, "What are the Most Annoying Ads on the Internet?" was first published on Small Business Trends