Usability guru Jakon Nielsen wrote a report in mid-August about banner blindness. You might I've seen it at the time, but I missed it until now so thought it was worth flagging up.

The findings aren't new - the fact that the phrase "banner blindness" is well known already demonstrates the awareness that the phenomenon occurs - but they are worth reading to re-familarise yourself with the conclusions.

The conclusions include:

• Users rarely look at display advertisements on websites.
• Plain text, faces and other body shot photos attract eyeballs
• Unethical advertising works - ads disguised as content and ads made to look like dialogue boxes.

Personally I don't use banners with the expectation they'll get me many clicks, but I it does sometimes add to a pages visual appeal to have brands and attractive artwork represented in banners etc.

Jakob Nielsen: Banner Blindness

Labels: advertising, banner blindness