Javascript Turned Off Alternate Ads Experiment Results

On January 16, 2006 I started an ad experiment involving alternate ads for those with Javascript turned off. In my entry "Monetizing From Those With Javascript Turned Off" I covered that 7.5% of my users on Diggers Realm have Javascript turned off and therefore do not see Google Ads and other forms of advertising that use Javascript for display. In that entry I covered how to implement alternate ads with the noscript tag.

After some thought of the types of end users that have Javascript turned off I started an experiment using ads that I thought would be of interest to the tech savvy crowd. Namely Battlestar Galactica and Serenity DVD's. Thinking back on it now, these tech savvy people are probably smart enough to get these episodes via BitTorrent and other file sharing services.

So, how did my little experiment go after running for nearly a month? Lets run the numbers.

I marked down the date and the current clicks and sales when I started the program so that I could track the results. Now there is one caveat, I have some older entries and articles that recommend books and other items and these were still live during the experiment. A few clicks could have come from them, but there's not many so I don't think those skewed the numbers too badly.

Using the 7.5% number average that I've found for users to my site that have Javascript turned off as mentioned in the monetizing article The numbers were as follows:

From Jan 17 - Feb 12: 29446 Page Views by those with Javascript turned off.

Clicks through to Amazon: 236

Click Through Rate: .8%

Now this click through rate is low on average for advertising. But I think you have to realize the users seeing these ads have been around the block. They're not your typical end user. So I think the click through rate wasn't totally horrible. After all without the alternate ads you would have 0 clicks!

What's the bottom line though, that's what really matters in the end right?

Bottom line: 0 Sales and 0 Revenue

So I didn't monetize from those with Javascript turned off.

There could be a number of reasons there were no sales.

1. I don't see many sales from Amazon anyway. I'm not sure if it's their landing pages or if it's just people who are curious and click though to look at the product, but don't buy.
2. The products I were displaying weren't attractive enough
3. The price didn't fit with what they could find elsewhere
4. Tech savvy people don't buy things like DVD's they download them

So what have I learned from this? Well a little bit. First, alternate ads do work! Those even with Javascript turned off will click ads. Second, the product you advertise is going to have to be more compelling, be unique or be something that can't be found for free elsewhere. Third, I'll need to think hard on what I want to replace the current alternate ads with or whether to ditch them all together.

What do you think of these results? Am I overlooking something in the results that I see? What results have you had?

This entry is in the following archive(s):
Analysis Of Changes Archive

A Review Of Microsoft AdCenter
Selling Text Links On Your Site