Text link ads

A few years ago, we did some market research on intellitxt ads - I've been asked to conduct some research to find out how they're perceived in 2009.

If you're wondering what the hell I'm on about, please visit the following page:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTYxNSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

There should be a number of words highlighted and underlined in green - when you hover over that text, a small ad pops up. That's an IntelliTXT advertisement.

If kept to a minimum (i.e. a maximum of one link per article page, not in comment pages or the forums), are they more intrusive than traditional banner advertisements or less so?

Our community is the lifeblood of bit-tech.net - so your opinion is very important to us. If the feedback is overwhelmingly negative, it gives me something to show my overlords because, while I'm keen to grow the publication by increasing staff and content levels, I don't want it to be at the detriment of the readers with invasive advertising methods. On the other hand, if you guys don't mind them, we'll run them on a trial.

 

Much more intrusive, they interfere with the reading of a page and for people that (like me) may have their mousepointer over the text then random intellitext pop ups will appear as you scroll down the page.

 

Voted

 

I would block the intelitext (sorry) but not the other ads but since that's the closest option that's what i've ticked.

I browse much like doug and find they get in the way...

 

ditto, the're hideous

Although it's now a lot harder to whitelist bit-tech without whitelisting a whole host of adverts from doubleclick

 

It'd get in the way a bit but not really affect the way I use the site. Nothing against banner ads though.

 

Banner ads I don't mind - I understand that you have to pay for the site somehow.

But I hate intellitxt ads with a passion - even if you only have a couple on a page, they're still intrusive. They stand out like a sore thumb becuase they're a different colour to other links and double-underlined; they're annoying, becaue they're so easy to activate by accident, and often the only way to get rid of them is to actively click the close button, which detracts from what you were trying to read.

The CSI one you have running in Joe's Dragon Age article is even worse because it has sound and video too. Yeugh.

tbh, I tend to steer clear of sites that use Intellitxt too much, because it's intrusive and annoying.


Just my 2p worth

 

As most of the comments in this thread go, I hate text ads. I hate them more than popups tbh.

The banner ads work really nicely imo; well placed, fairly sensible adverts in terms of flashing/strobing, and for related products. Great!

 

Stick with the banner ads - I any points I could raise about the proposed ads have already been made

 

No, no, and no. Definitely no.

They make a website look cheap, so many rubbish websites use them and when I see them I automatically think the website is crap and leave very quickly. The worst thing about them is that when you move the mouse across the screen and go over an intellitxt, you, unintentionally, get a popup.

If this is added to this site, you may find that traffic will decrease and hence advertising revenue decrease.

EDIT: Something else worth mentioning: I'd rather the ad to the side of what I am reading and if it gets my attention then it gets a click. I will not wait for an animated ad to show it's worth whilst I am trying to read something.

 

At the level you're talking Tim, (one text ad per article page) I think I could tolerate them (*cough*barely*cough*) if it does mean more content.

I do hate them with a passion on most sites, but that's because there are normally 5-10 on a tiny page (the size of the first couple of paragraphs of most articles on here) and it then becomes a problem.

However, I have seen two different types - one type open on a mouseover, and then you need to click on the close link to get rid of it. These are bad.
The other ones I've seen close a 1/2 second after you move your mouse off, and aren't that bad if you accidentally activate them. These are the lesser of two evils.

 

Having just spotted the one in the UK larger than Japan news item, I think I could cope with one if it means more content...but I hate them with a passion. Especially the type used in that item.

 

I voted for not minding them, but then I just checked out that news item. Please, do not use them. It loaded a video which made my browser slow down, and also moved around a bit so I couldn't close it easily (I know it probably isn't meant to move, but still).

 

Ugh. There is no single thing more distracting and annoying than words having a different color/appearance when I'm trying to read something

Ads surround content. They don't go in content.

 

Are they being provided by doubleclick? I can't see any intelitext ads but my corporate firewall blocks doubleclick.

 

Oh, and it Crashes Chrome too, when I close the ad.

 

Intellitxt ads are possibly the worst kind of ad on the internets.

 

Funnily enough the ads don't appear here at work as text links, must be the awesome ISP we use

 

I think they're awful tbh.
I just hate it when you accidentally mouse-over them and this thing pops in your face when your busy reading.