Pop-up advertising equals 'brand suicide' says report

by Jennifer Whitehead,, Brand Republic 25-Feb-04, 08:00

LONDON - Another nail has been hammered in the coffin of pop-up advertising with a new survey saying that brands risk 'suicide' if they use the medium.

A new paper released by the consultancy Bunnyfoot Universality has found that pop-up advertising was the biggest turn-off among internet users, with every subject in the study expressing frustration when they appeared.

Furthermore, 60% of the people tested said that pop-ups could make them mistrust the brand being advertised and the host site where the pop-up appeared.

The findings come a week after MSN said that it was banning pop-up ads on its network. Research by the consultancy Forrester said that 14% of users now have pop-up blocking software on their computers, up from only 1% a year ago.

Bunnyfoot's study also questions the effectiveness of pop-ups, with the name of the company in the advertisement only being seen in 2% of cases and 50% of users closing the ad before it had even loaded.

Rob Stevens, director of business behaviour at Bunnyfoot, said: "Brands are undoubtedly committing commercial suicide by insisting on using pop-ups. The effect of such techniques goes way beyond simply annoying the user, they frustrate, they impose and they engender mistrust."

Stevens said that marketers should consider less intrusive means of online marketing, such as sponsored links, banners and search engine optimisation.

The full findings of the Bunnyfoot white paper can be downloaded for free here.

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