The top seven reasons why mobile ads don’t work

Ad Week reports that a Dartmouth researcher’s study sheds light on the mobile web and app users who don’t click on ads.

On a high level from the study, here are the top seven reasons they steer clear of the ads on smartphones and tablets (with some Adweek commentary thrown in).

  1. The screen is too small, per 72 per cent of survey participants. Mobile marketers everywhere will want to bang their heads against the wall over that one. And for tablet marketers, the researcher believes most respondents were thinking of their smartphone usage more so than their time on an iPad or Nexus 7.
  2. People are just too busy for ads, according to 70 per cent surveyed. You mean on-the-go consumers don’t have time to kill? No shocker here, either—outside maybe actually not being No. 1.
  3. After tapping an ad and going to the landing page, 69 per cent of respondents hate it that they cannot easily return to the content they were reading or watching. This interfacing problem can probably be successfully addressed by technologists, can’t it?
  4. Too hard to get online with cell phones, said 60 per cent. There’s a 3G joke in here somewhere.
  5. Per 54 per cent, it’s too frustrating when mobile consumption is interrupted. From TV to T-Mobile, some things never change.
  6. Ads take too long to load, stated 53 per cent. Once again, this one seems fixable long-term on a technological level and can probably be creatively circumvented in the meantime.
  7. Consumers are just not in the mood for ads, said 42 per cent. Fantastic marketing content could change this attitude, couldn’t it?

Read the rest of this story at Ad Week.

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