Jakob Nielsen writes about “studies of how people react to online advertisements have identified several design techniques that impact the user experience very negatively.”
Here is a list of bad web ad techniques:
– Pops-up in front of your window
– Loads slowly
– Tries to trick you into clicking on it
– Does not have a “Close” button
– Covers what you are trying to see
– Doesn’t say what it is for
– Moves content around
– Occupies most of the page
– Blinks on and off
– Floats across the screen
– Automatically plays sound
Here’s what’s considered good:
– indicate what will happen if people click on them,
– relate to what people are doing online,
– identify themselves as advertisements,
– present information about what they are advertising, and
– provide additional information without having to leave the page.
