U.S. Users Don't Mind Ads, Don't Click On Them Either

The majority of online news users in the U.S. are accepting of online advertising, but most also claim to ignore it, according to data from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and its Internet and American Life Project.

The research, conducted during December and January, found 81 percent of online news users “do not mind” online advertising. However, 77 percent of respondents also said they tend to ignore those ads, with 42 percent claiming they “never” click on them, and 35 percent claiming to do so “hardly ever.”

The research also found 21 percent of overall users click on ads “sometimes” or “often,” with 80 percent clicking “never” or “hardly ever,” as shown in the graphic below.

However, a report issued by comScore last week suggested ads don’t necessarily need to be clicked on to be effective. Citing the results of studies conducted in 2008, that report found U.S users were 49 percent more likely to visit an advertiser’s site having previously been exposed to a display ad. In addition, it found they were 40 percent more likely to conduct a search query on an advertiser trademark after seeing an ad, regardless of whether or not they clicked on it.