Another Study States Obvious: People Hate Internet Ads

A study just out by the Ponemon Institute and provided to USA Today found, unsurprisingly, consumers feel bombarded by online ads, want less ad clutter but won't pay for content not supported by ads. Other findings include :

• 80 percent find pop ups annoying.
• 60 percent dislike spam (who are those other 40 percent?).
• 60 percent are always annoyed by banners.
• While ads are hated, 31 percent respond to ads.
• 7 percent made a purchase from a banner.
• 65 percent won't pay for ad blocking services.
• 52 percent are more likely to respond if ad is relevant.
• 66 percent state relevant banner ads are less annoying.
• 45 percent will volunteer personal info in return for more targeted ads.
• 55 percent would respond to an ad that was targeted but was not based on the requirement of providing personal info.
• 31 percent would trust an advertiser more if they had a solid privacy statement backed by a third party such as TRUSTe or BBB.
• Perhaps shedding the brightest light on "ad hate factor" is the finding that 44 percent think unwanted ads should be banned by law.

While it's nice to see it in black and white, the findings are not suprising.

We've always known most advertising of any kind is disliked and no one wants to pay for content when they can get it for free. While we are not there yet, we will arrive at the day when upwards of 90 percent of delivered ad content is 100 percent relevant to a consumer. Until then, expect more survey results like this.