NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Mechanical Clicks
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Mechanical Clicks
Andy Bourland (andy_at_clickz.com)
Wed, 28 May 1997 20:20:03 -0400
Jim Waltz wrote:
>
> Has anyone seen or heard of a study on the effects of Search Engine
> Indexing/Robots/Offline browsers on banner click rates? Also, what about
> inadvertant clicks that are aborted before a site is fully loaded?
>
> My thoughts are that these factors tend to inflate overall click rates, but
> by how much? Does a 3% rate really mean 1.5%, or even less?
>
Well Jim, let's put it this way... If I came to your site, went to every
single page and clicked on every single link and every single banner you
had, might it inflate your clickthrough percentage? That's what offline
browsers do.
While I've seen no formal studies on this, I know from plenty of
personal experience that the offline browsers and robots have a major
inflationary impact on your clickthrough.
The good news is that these offline browsers leave pretty clear tracks
behind them that any auditor will be able to pick up on. They identify
themselves on the logs (Webwhacker, etc), and you can tell why you got
the inflated numbers you got for a particular day. The other good news
is that these guys are fading fast. Individual Inc. today dumped
FreeLoader as a case in point.
The bad news, as I pointed out in an article on ClickZ
(http://www.clickz.com/archives/051697.html) is that Microsoft, with IE
4.0 and now Netscape, with Netcaster are now in the Offline Browser
business. I can't yet speak for Netscape, but I do know that IE 4.0, can
be put into "Subscription" mode, and an individual can suck down an
entire site -- ad banners and all -- and the tracks they leave behind
are no different than the casual surfer who dropped by to check a few
pages and leave. If Netscape Communicator with Netcaster behaves the
same way, we are in big trouble for tracking and discounting the
inflated clickthrough caused by their offline browser capability.
Frankly, whenever I hear about obscene clickthrough rates in the double
digits -- unless it's an ad chanting "Free Sex -- Click Here" -- I chalk
it up to offline browsers.
I'd caution Media Planners to cast a wary eye upon sites with unusually
high clickthrough rates, especially if they are similar in audience to X
number of other sites getting radically different results. There are
still a few sites out there sporting "free download" buttons for offline
browsers we know and love. I'd be particularly wary of those sites, as
often they have their own site built into the menu as part of the button
deal.
In fact, you may even want to download a bunch of these offline browsers
and note what sites are built in. Check the clickthrough rates from
those sites on campaigns you've run through them. It's one of our
industry's dirty little secrets.
I know. I've been approached by many of the offline browser folks. And
they know exactly what that means for clickthrough. They're no fools...
BTW, another tool you need to be aware of are those software packages
that "speed up the net". They do so by jumping out ahead of you and
sucking in all the images, pages, following links (and banners) so that
they come up quicker. I haven't checked to see what tracks they leave
behind, but they have a similar impact on clickthrough.
Andy Bourland
Publisher VP Online Business Development
ClickZ: The Daily Stop for Web Advertisers Andover.net
http://www.clickz.com http://www.andover.net
