NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Seeing an ad in context on a web page has a direct positive impact on ad effectiveness, according to a pilot study conducted by OTX (Online Testing eXchange), a leading consumer research and consulting firm. Advertising placed on relevant pages of content on neutral and general interest websites outperformed the same advertising on out of context pages and equaled the response to the same ad on a highly relevant website. The study, the first in a series, was commissioned by ContextWeb, creator of online ad exchange ADSDAQ.
The study tested a leading consumer electronics manufacturer's ad on web pages in three different environments. The first was a page on a typical consumer electronics-oriented website; the second was on a technology page of a leading national newspaper's website; the third was an ad on a page in the online opinion section of the same newspaper.
The ad on the technology page of the newspaper's site performed better than the same ad in the opinion section of the newspaper's website, including ad recognition (the number of consumers who recalled seeing the ad) and brand recognition (being able to recall the brand being advertised). The contextually served ad also improved performance in communicating information about the product to consumers versus the opinion page.
Comparing the results between the ad on the technology page of the newspaper's site to the same ad on the computer website, showed equal performance as the (relevant) computer website in the ad's ability to communicate meaningful information, its impact on likelihood to buy or consider the products being advertised, and its impact on consumers' affinity for that brand.
The data indicated clear superiority of ad effectiveness when the ad was in context - either on the relevant page or on the relevant website versus the ad's effectiveness when placed on the neutral opinion page.
The conclusion of this study was that ads placed on relevant pages can provide many of the same advantages as those placed on relevant sites, and can potentially outperform those sites when it comes to ad and brand recognition.
David Brandt, Managing Director of the Marketing Insights Division at OTX, said, "As the opportunities for advertisers continue to increase, it is imperative for OTX, as a leader in testing advertising effectiveness, to better understand how advertising effectiveness is impacted by the placement of online advertising. The results of this survey are clear -- an online ad in a relevant context results in more people becoming involved with the ad than one placed within a neutral page or site."
"This study demonstrates that context definitely matters, and selecting the page where the online advertising appears is much more important than simply selecting an appropriate website," says Anand Subramanian, CEO of ContextWeb. "ContextWeb's unique ability to give control to advertisers to place their ads in the correct context of a page, wherever the page appears, allows those advertisers to meet potential customers in places that are most effective for their dollars."
Methodology: OTX conducted this survey with 600 male and female respondents ages 18 - 65 in October 2007.
ContextWeb (www.contextweb.com) was founded in 2000 and launched the ADSDAQ exchange in 2005. The exchange's patent-pending, page-level technology offers advertisers efficient pricing and extensive reach, making inventory on the exchange comparable to a site specific buy. As of September, 2007, ContextWeb's ADSDAQ ranks among the top 25 ad supported properties, according to comScore Media Metrix reaching more than 70 million monthly unique visitors.
The exchange serves impressions from more than 386 advertisers, including 9 out of the top 10 marketing organizations, and more than 1,000 publishers. Also in 2007, Deloitte's New York Region Technology Fast 50 recognized ContextWeb as the 17th fastest growing company in the New York area. ContextWeb investors include leading venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Updata Partners.
The ContextWeb, Inc. logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3669
OTX (Online Testing eXchange) is a global consumer research and consulting firm that has established itself as a leading provider of online-based research. The company specializes in providing innovative, cutting-edge online technology, products and analysis to the marketing, entertainment and advertising communities. OTX has developed the most innovative products available for online research today - products that work to uncover deeper and more profound consumer insight. Today the company is one of the fastest growing research companies in the United States and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, Miami, Chicago and London, with strategic partners in Japan, Australia, Russia and China.