Thursday, July 26, 2001

Pop-Under Ads Build Brand Awareness At The Expense Of Brand Affinity

Jupiter Media Metrix, a global leader in Internet and new technology analysis and measurement, today reports that while pop-under ad campaigns generate mass reach online, they fail to convert browsers to buyers. Media Metrix ratings data show that although x10.com reached 32.8 percent of the Web's entire audience between January 2001 and May 2001 with pop-under ads for wireless cameras, it also experienced a large traffic drop off, with 73 percent of unique visitors leaving the site or window before 20 seconds. Jupiter analysts caution marketers planning to ride the pop-under wave because in the end, the strategy is dependent on cheap and limitless inventory—a market condition they believe will disappear at high-traffic sites within six to nine months.

"Looking only at reach, it would appear that x10.com has deployed an incredibly successful campaign," said Marissa Gluck, senior analyst, Jupiter Media Metrix. "However, consumer behavior tells a different story. As advertisers become increasingly intrusive online, consumers react just as they do with their TV remote control—they eliminate advertising they don't find relevant or entertaining. That's what's happening with x10.com."

Additional key findings and forward-looking analysis from the latest Jupiter online advertising research—to be presented at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum August 7-9 in New York—include:

- Between April 2001 and May 2001, x10.com's Web reach almost doubled—rising from 17.5 percent to 32.8 percent. At the end of May, x10.com had more than 28 million unique visitors. Other companies that deployed the pop-up and pop-under ads, such as Half.com, Real.com and Colonize.com also experienced a significant increase in unique visitors. With inventory cheap and plentiful online, Jupiter analysts expect to see other advertisers employ similar methods to boost site traffic. However, mass, undifferentiated traffic should not be the end goal for most marketers.

- Despite its reach, x10.com faces the steepest decline in unique visitors over time (73 percent). Even pop-ups from BizRate.com and Unicast superstitials face much lower drop-off rates—37 percent and 64 percent respectively. Jupiter analysts attribute x10.com's sharp unique visitor drop-off in part to the frequency with which their pop-under ads appear. While sites that employ pop-ups usually have a frequency cap of two ads per user per session, x10.com places no limit on frequency, thus inundating consumers with ads.

- According to Jupiter analysts, publishers willing to accept negotiated performance-based pricing for pop-under ad campaigns could be entering into a losing deal. A closer look at the Media Metrix ratings data reveals that without traffic from their pop-unders, x10.com would have 2.7 million unique visitors. The site's number of engaged shoppers (i.e. visitors who spend at least three minutes on a site) is 1.2 million, which produces a conversion rate of only 4.2 percent.

"While pop-unders such as x10.com have achieved mass reach online, relevancy still matters more than format," Gluck said. "The ubiquity of the x10.com ads, and consumers' subsequent rejection of them, reinforces the notion that allowing consumers to exercise free will in their surfing and providing them with targeted, relevant offers are the keys to successful online marketing."

Policy on Reporting Pop-up and Pop-under Web Pages
Specific audience behaviors measured and reported by Jupiter Media Metrix include the viewing and usage of the Internet and other digital media, regardless of whether the user behavior was intentional or not. Accordingly, it reports on all content with which users interact. This includes pop-up and pop-under pages, which spawn a new browser. As an objective, third-party measurement company, Jupiter Media Metrix has a responsibility to include and report exposures to all legitimate Web pages regardless of their content, business purpose, or method of acquiring viewers. Jupiter Media Metrix will continue to remove all Ad Network URLs from the syndicated data reports.

Removing pop-up and pop-under pages undermines objective, third-party audience measurement standards and would undermine Jupiter Media Metrix' commitment to measuring and reporting Internet and digital media audience usage accurately and consistently. Most pop-unders are indistinguishable from regular, intentional Web site visits. Several Media Metrix Top 50 sites and properties, including eBay, Real Networks and Colonize.com among others gain visitor traffic through pop-up and pop-under activity. Yet, it is impossible to determine whether a user intended to visit real.com, for example, or whether that visit was the result of a pop-up or pop-under page. In keeping with accepted audience ratings standards, Jupiter Media Metrix does not presume user intention and therefore will continue to report pop-up and pop-under usage.