A new ad-selecting tool, ASq, is to be employed by major websites in a programme of user empowerment over online advertising. Sites such as Yahoo.com, Hulu.com and MSNBC.com aim to have the tool implemented as of next month, when users will be able to choose which adverts appear in the videos they consume online.

The reasons behind such an alternative method of product promotion are not purely altruistic. In a piece of research carried out by Vivaki, the digital branch of French advertising company Publicis Group, it was revealed that users are twice as likely to click an ad if offered with a selection rather than having a pre-determined advert forced upon them.

According to the global research director at Microsoft’s ads unit, Beth Uyenco Shatto;

“When you give people a choice, they tend to love you because you’re showing them respect.”

Perhaps love is a strong word, but the opportunity for site visitors to be given a say in the promotional material they encounter will represent a drastically fresh approach to an otherwise chore-some element. After all, as Beth Shatto reminds us;

“If it wasn’t for advertising, they [users] wouldn’t be getting the content for free.”

Already, the video advertisement market represents the fastest-growing sector within online advertising. It is expected to continue in a similar, if not more impressive vein, with predictions f r o m IDC that global online video ad spending will reach $11.3 billion by 2014. UK SEO company QueryClick.com cited the continued prosperity of online advertising as a reference for the future success of the medium, informing us that;

“2009 saw advertising spend for online marketing overtake television for the first time, witnessing growth of 4.6% despite the otherwise universal recession experienced by the entire advertising sector.”

Via EPR Network
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