Faces Can Be Tricky in Online Ads

Only one of the top five ads tested featured a person, compared to three of the bottom performing ads that did, according to a study Yahoo [video] has published called "Capitalizing on the Creative Canvas," conducted in partnership with Innerscope Research. It is conventional wisdom that faces in ads drives more CTRs, but in the lower performing ads, the faces distracted consumers from key messaging by either having too many competing facial images or faces that were visually unappealing.

Other findings from the study, which used biometric research techniques to develop best practices for larger online ad units:

Locate Buy Buttons Near Elements That Draw a Strong Emotional Response

Buttons with higher CTRs are located near elements on the page that generate a strong emotional response, like deals or immediate results. Generic call-to-actions like “more info” or “click here” don’t create an emotional response. The button itself will not generate much emotional response, which is why having a strong call-to-action located near the button provides the most impact.

High Contrast Ads Work Best

Best performing ads had backgrounds that contrasted with the white login area. These contrasting backgrounds drove both higher fixation levels for the ads and higher emotional response to the background itself.

Consumers Start Reading at the Right, Where the Navigation Button Is

Conventional wisdom says that consumers read from left to right. However, when examining consumers’ gaze plots and heat maps for the Login Takeover ad, the study discovered that consumers read from right to left and middle to top because the navigation of the page started with at the login area on the right side of the page. Likewise, the area just to the left of the login area received the most visual attention and generated the strongest emotional response.