I unintentionally click ads far too often.

Where I clicked while the page is still loading. But by the time my click is registered, an ad has loaded in the target location.

I suppose you could say loading ads asynchronously improves the user experience, but my skeptical experience is they intentionally load in high activity localities.

Every time it feels like a bait and switch.

That's a super common dark pattern with clickbait sites. It's definitely on purpose (in a lot of places).

I wish web browsers were designed such that they never dynamically move text that's currently visible.

I can't run an ad blocker on the Instagram app, but I really don't mind much. I end up clicking on ads all the time there. They're usually super relevant.

You can run an adblocker in the instagram app.

It's just a bit too much. You need to have a rooted android.

I did it when they increased the ads to one ad every 2-3 posts.

Then I suspect you've been binned in a low-ROI segment by advertisers.

This is the whole reason they do so much tracking and analysis, to suss out the idiots who'll just buy whatever is shoved in front of them.

Wouldn't this create a feedback loop? Someone doesn't click adds, show them cheap ineffective ads, they click less ads...

I have clicked on ads of the political parties I won't be voting for to cost them money...

I used to be like that, but for whatever reason a significant proportion of my adds these days are from smaller, local companies - a vineyard or clothing company for instance.

I click on these adds, and if I like what I see, I'll buy it. I feel a lot more comfortable supporting small businesses that someone has poured their heart and sole into. I want to see these companies thrive, and if targeted advertising is the way I'm alerted to them, then so be it!

that's super awesome to hear as a small business owner. My gf and I started http://buyfunnyaprons.com/ and running ads on IG and FB have been the only way to get exposure. FB's targeting is super advanced and allows smaller guys like us to compete with the corporates (since we can't buy traditional media like tv ads or billboards).

Even if I’m both intrigued by the product advertised and really want to support the site/app I’m on, I’d rather go google the product in an incognito window than give any money or information to adtech with that click.

Don’t show ad-network ads.

"I find it so weird idea that people really click on ads. I don't know if I've ever done so (intentionally)."

In the very beginning - say, circa 1995 when I was building my first websites - I would click on almost every banner ad I saw.

I wanted to send a signal to advertisers, and to the market in general, that there really were people out there.

I was trying to do my part to care for, and feed, the infant industry I was taking part in.

Yup. I remember those sites that would say "please click on the ads and support us!"

There was also that one in the early 2000s that claimed to donate a cup of rice for every ad clicked, and maybe another one that planted seeds or something. I think I clicked on those a bunch for a while. Doubt they ever did any good, and I should probably have just donated the $2 I probably "earned" for those charities with my clicks.

I once used a hosting provider whose business model was to give you "credits" every time you clicked on an ad. Enough credits got you a month of hosting. So of course I wrote up a little HTML page with some javascript that had a dozen iframes to load each click into a different frame, then refresh the ads list. Host told me to knock it off a couple days later :(

He did end up hiring me for a tiny bit of website work after that, paid like $200. My first ever paid tech gig.

Even if I see something interesting in an ad I won't click it. I much rather just google it and get info that way.

The ad worked even better then! You went to their site AND they didn't have to pay for it

I run an ad blocker, but I’ve also occasionally clicked on ads. Usually it was some cool looking gadget or clothing item, not sure if I ever purchased through ad-initiated interaction, but it definitely made me aware of products.

I've intentionally clicked on plenty of ads before. I've never made a purchase right after doing so, but I have bought that item later on, because of the ad.

People do click them but unsurprisingly the rate is pretty low. Often times ~0.5% - 1% for a reasonably well targeted ad. So 1 in 100-200.

On mobile I could easily imagine 7/8 are miss-clicks. Do you have clickrate for desktop vs mobile? I mean they should be about the same for on purpose clicks.

Yeah, 35-50% is just appallingly low; does anyone have ideas on how to improve this number?

Advertising delenda est.

I’ve never bought anything because of an advertisement.

Most of the ads in general, like in TVs or newspapers, are there to let you know about the product and the brand. You are not expected to buy immediately after seeing the ad. However, you will more likely prefer a brand or product you already know about when you buy something you are not familiar with.

I buy popular brands I see on ads often enough (especially if you consider food items). Granted, there was a reasonable chance I was going to buy the products anyway, but seeing the ad probably raised the chances. I think every time I thought about the product, there was a chance that I was going to pull the trigger on buying it, and seeing the ad prompted another thought about the product. Also, when I see ads, I often have a thought like "I see this ad more often than the competitor's ads. Are they doing better? Maybe it really is because their product is better than the competitor's".

Consciously.

Not very often, for me. I used to consciously avoid them.

Nowadays on search engines knowing that they're likely spending a dollar or two to reach me, I'll click to test the veracity of their targetting. If they're going to bid for people searching from X in country Y, they'll be needing an ROI and providing I'm genuinely interested in whatever X is, the ad is no problem.

Not consciously, perhaps.