High-cost banner blindness

TLDR

The seeming contradiction between “banner blindness” and Web users' complaints about distracting advertisements motivates a pair of experiments into the effect of banner ads on visual search. The study employed two experiments: one measuring cognitive workload and search times for short words with various banner types (animated, static, flashing cyan, blank), and another assessing search through news headlines at exact and semantic levels. Results show that flashing text banners raise perceived workload, while both animated and static commercial banners slow visual search, with eye tracking indicating infrequent direct gaze, low recall overall, and animated banners being harder to remember than static ones, underscoring implications for cognitive modeling and Web design.

Abstract

The seeming contradiction between “banner blindness” and Web users' complaints about distracting advertisements motivates a pair of experiments into the effect of banner ads on visual search. Experiment 1 measures perceived cognitive workload and search times for short words with two banners on the screen. Four kinds of banners were examined: (1) animated commercial, (2) static commercial, (3) cyan with flashing text, and (4) blank. Using NASA's Task Load Index, participants report increased workload under flashing text banners. Experiment 2 investigates search through news headlines at two levels of difficulty: exact matches and matches requiring semantic interpretation. Results show both animated and static commercial banners decrease visual search speeds. Eye tracking data reveal people rarely look directly at banners. A post hoc memory test confirms low banner recall and, surprisingly, that animated banners are more difficult to remember than static look-alikes. Results have implications for cognitive modeling and Web design.