Online Ads Are Getting Even More Annoying

Online ads are getting more intrusive and equally, more annoying.

According to Digiday, a recent study from ad viewability firm Moat projects that “high-impact” ads will increase by about 11 percent from 2013 to 2014.

A “high-impact” ad is essentially any big ad you come across online that moves away from the classic banner ad and is designed to elicit more user responses. Digiday suggests that because websites have become more crowded with information, ads need to be bigger and more in-your-face. That way, more people will feel inclined to click on them.

Take for example this high-impact, pushdown ad from the LA Times. When you first arrive at the web page this is what you see:

It appears to be a normal banner ad, but suddenly, the ad expands or drops down:

It takes up roughly half of the web page and hopefully (for advertisers and brands) visitors of the site will click on the ad before navigating elsewhere.

This Hollywood Suit ad isn’t particularly intrusive when you’re on the site, but it does get annoying. You want to start reading the headlines or browsing online, but you’re distracted, albeit briefly, by the expanding suit ad.  

Data gathered from Moat shows that individual publishers including AOL, Forbes, and USA Today are drastically increasing the number of big online ads from last year. AOL, for example, is up from 13 to 212, while Forbes has increased its number from 183 to 269. 

SEE ALSO: Everybody Hates Mobile Advertising

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