Discovering banner blindness for different banner formats: An eye-tracking study

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Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences DOI: 10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055771
Connectst: Istanbul Unversty Journal of Communcaton Scences
E-ISSN: 2636-8943
Research Artcle


Farklı banner formatları için banner körlüğünü keşfetmek:
Bir göz izleme çalışması
1, 2, 3
1Prof. Dr., Anadolu Unversty, Faculty of
Communcaton Scences, Department of
Publc Relatons and Advertsng,
Esksehr, Turkye.
2Prof. Dr., Anadolu Unversty, Faculty of
Communcaton Scences, Department of
Journalsm, Eskehr, Türkye.
3Assoc. Prof. Dr., Anadolu Unversty, Faculty
of Communcaton Scences, Department of
Publc Relatons and Advertsng,
Esksehr, Turkye.
ORCID: N.B.İ. 0000-0001-7572-9048;
D.K. 0000-0001-7852-9084;
G.M.A. 0000-0003-2074-3568
Correspondng author/Sorumlu yazar:
G. Motf ATAR,
Anadolu Unversty, Faculty of
Communcaton Scences, Department of
Publc Relatons and Advertsng,
Esksehr, Turkye.
E-mal/E-posta: gmatar@anadolu.edu.tr
Received/Geli tarihi: 10.01.2022
Revision Requested/Revizyon talebi:
08.02.2022
Last revision received/Son revizyon
teslimi: 22.09.2023
Accepted/Kabul tarihi: 24.02.2023
Onlne Publshed/Onlne Yayın: 19.04.2023
Ctaton/Atıf: Ispr, N.B., Klc, D., Atar, G.M.
(2023). Dscoverng banner blndness for
derent banner formats: An eye-trackng
study. Connectst: Istanbul Unversty Journal
of Communcaton Scences. Advance Onlne
Publcaton.
https://do.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055771
Abstract
Banner blindness is ignoring the ads on internet websites either consciously or
unconsciou sly, and it has been recently u sed as one of the new terms i n the digital
world. Adver tisers struggle to overcome this blindness and get the audience to
notice banners. Moreover, they work on creative advertisement ideas. As banner
blindness increases, brands have to be more attentive and careful about where
and how to use their banners. Therefore, advertisements must primarily be
remarkable.
In this study, measurements for banner blindness and attention variables were
made by an eye-tracking device. In the 4x2 factorial experimental study, a news
website was designed, and banners were created and placed on the website.
160 students took part in the experiment in an isolated room individually.
According to the results, lef t-side banners and top-side banners got more
xation. The participants xated at least once on horizontal banners more than
vertical banners. The free surng group found online ads more informative and
believable than the focused group. If users focus on the website content, they
cannot remember ad names and do not look at the banners. Therefore, the free
surng gro up remembered mo re ads than the focusin g group. Banner ty pe (visual
or text-b ased) was not signicant ly eective on xatio n.
Keywords: Banners, banner blindness, eye-tracking, online advertisement, ad
avoidance
Öz
Banner körlüğü, nternet stelerndek reklamların blnçl veya blnçsz olarak
göz ardı edlmesdr ve son zamanlarda djtal dünyanın yen termlernden br
olarak kullanılmaya balanmıtır. Reklamcılar bu körlüğün üstesnden gelmek ve
zleyclere bannerları fark ettrmek çn mücadele etmektedr. Ayrıca reklamcılar
daha yaratıcı reklam fkrler üzernde çalımaktadırlar. Banner körlüğü arttıkça,
markaların bannerlarını nerede ve nasıl kullanacakları konusunda daha özenl
ve dkkatl olmaları gerekmektedr. Bu nedenle, reklamlar öncelkle dkkat çekc
olmalıdır.
This work is licensed under Creave Commons Aribuon-NonCommercial 4.0 Internaonal License

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
2Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Introduction
In all forms of advertisement, the prior condition to success is exposure to the
advertisement. However, exposure by itself is not enough. Many factors determine the
effectiveness of an advertisement. The very first condition of the effectiveness of
advertisement is attention. Besides, the audience uses avoidance of advertisements
as a defense mechanism. Among all formats of advertisement, internet advertisements
have perceived by consumers as the most annoying (Wolin, Korgaonkar, & Lund, 2002).
In particular, avoiding advertisements on the internet ranks high.
The basic reason why rates of avoiding advertisements on the internet are high, and
the attitude towards internet advertisements is negative is that the internet has been
shown as target-oriented (Cho & Cheon, 2004). Users generally visit a certain web page
to meet their definite information needs, and some internet advertisement formats
interrupt users’ goal-oriented actions. Therefore, users are annoyed, and as a result of an
advertisement being more annoying, avoidance behavior occurs. Two main types of
advertisement avoidance behavior are defined: physical avoidance and cognitive avoidance
(Speck & Elliott, 1997). Another way to avoid advertisement in the internet world is named
“banner blindness”. Banner blindness is defined as the users’ not “paying attention” to or
“avoiding looking” at banners (Hervet, Guerard, Tremblay, & Chtourou, 2011).
The purpose of this study originating from attention to advertisement and the term
avoidance is to understand the attention to banners on the internet and the term
banner blindness. For this purpose, data were collected and analyzed with eye-tracking
technology in a 4x2 factorial experimental design. The results showed that the majority
of the participants fixated on banners at least once during their visit to the websites.
Bu çalımada, göz zleme (eye-trackng) chazı le banner
körlüğü ve dkkat değkenlerne yönelk ölçümler
yapılmıtır. 4x2 faktöryel tasarım çalımasında, br haber
stes tasarlanmı ve bannerlar oluturularak steye
yerletrlmtr. Deneye zole br odada 160 öğrenc
breysel olarak katılmıtır. Aratırmanın sonuçlara göre,
sol taraftak bannerlara ve üst taraftak bannerlara
daha fazla sabtlenme olmutur. Katılımcılar en az br
kez yatay bannerlara, dkey bannerlara göre daha fazla
odaklanmılardır. İnternet stesnde serbest geznen
grup çevrmç reklamları, odaklanan gruba göre daha
blglendrc ve nandırıcı bulmutur. Kullanıcılar web stes
çerğne odaklanırsa, reklam adlarını hatırlayamamakta ve
bannerlara bakmamaktadır. Bu nedenle serbest geznen
grup, odak grubundan daha fazla reklamı hatırlamıtır.
Banner türü (görsel veya metn tabanlı) sabtleme üzernde
öneml ölçüde etkl değldr.
Anahtar Kelmeler: Banner, banner körlüğü, göz takb,
çevrmç reklam, reklamdan kaçınma

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
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Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
It is important to understand the phenomenon of banner blindness in consumers’
online use by marketers. This study tries to understand banner blindness. Banner
blindness studies usually have one dependent variable for example banner type,
website content, banner position, etc. To understand banner blindness, this study used
two dependent variables. These are banner type and web page usage motivation. This
study provides both professionals and academics with valuable information on how
banner blindness works through banner type and web page usage motivation.
Banners as online advertisement application
The interest towards social network websites indirectly caused advertisement applications
to move from traditional settings to new-age electronic settings, and new-age
applications are preferred and used by both small and large-scale companies (Özdemir,
Özdemir, Polat, & Aksoy, 2014). In 2021, the advertisement investments in Turkey were
16 billion Turkish liras. The percentages of investments were 42.4% for television, 2.6%
for print, 46.7% for digital, 5.6% for open-air, 2.5% for radio, and 0.2% for cinema
(Reklamcılar Derneği, 2022).
On the internet, the basic advertisement format is banners. There are different types of
banner formats. Mostly preferred ones are tower (120x600 pixels), square (250x250 pixels),
wide rectangle (336x280 pixels), and vertical rectangle (240x400 pixels) banners (IAB, nd.).
Banner ads are placed in two basic approaches. Behavioral advertising practices
and contextual advertising practices. Behavioral advertising is a practice of collecting
data about an individual’s online activities for use in selecting which ad to display
(McDonald & Cranor, 2010, p. 2). Behavioral advertising creates profiles for Internet
users based on a variety of different types of data and inferences from that data. Third-
party cookies are one of several mechanisms used to enable behavioral advertising.
Advertisers create profiles of an individual’s characteristics and possible interests by
correlating which sites a person visits, the ads they click, inferences about age and
gender, and the approximate physical location based on the computer’s IP address
(McDonald & Cranor, 2010). Online behavioral advertising (OBA) can be considered a
type of personalized or customized advertising. OBA refers only to advertising that is
based on people’s online behavior (Boerman, Kruikemeier, & Borgesius, 2017, p. 364).
The goal is to deliver targeted ads to the behavioral market segments most likely to
be found interesting.

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
4Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Contextual advertising has been defined as the practice of placing ads on pages
based on matches to their relevant content, obtained through a relatively simple
keyword analysis (Broder & Fontoura, 2010). Contextual advertising, as opposed to
brand advertising, usually falls under the category of direct marketing and is “direct
response” ads whose purpose is to measure the impact of a campaign by user reaction
(Broder & Fontoura, 2010). Contextual advertising refers to the practice of placing ads
on web pages based on the content of those pages. For example, this could be baby
food ads in a baby care news article or tablet ads on a tech e-commerce site.
Because contextual advertising refers to the practice of placing ads on web pages
based on the content of those pages, the effects of contextual influences on online
banner advertising influencing behavior, it is reasonable to assume that the sympathy
of brands placing banners depends, among other things, on the context in which the
banner is placed (Schöber & Kindermann, 2020).
To attract the consumer’s attention, it is common to use colorful animations and
dynamic visuals in banners. Banners, a common form of advertisement, appeared in
1994 as a method to attract users’ attention and trigger the desired reaction.
Predominantly, the desired reaction is the users’ clicking on the banner to visit the
advertised website. This is commonly known as banners’ “click rate” and is calculated
by dividing the number of banners clicking by the number of page screenings (Lapa,
2007). The size of a banner helps users ignore it easily, and the form limits the number
of rich media that advertisers could use to attract users. Web advertising is an area
where banners are most commonly used on websites. Advertisers pay the owner of
the website which shows the banner and expect web users to click on the banner and
visit the advertisers’ web address for more information (Benway, 1999). Today, banners
are considered a source of income by many websites.
Internet banners share the same area with the editorial content and cover only a
small part of the screen. However, internet users carry out some goal-oriented missions
like reading the news, searching for information, and socializing. Consequently, it is
considered that internet banners are the classic examples of unconsciously processed
messages, and internet users most likely will show a tendency to be persuaded with a
low participation rate (Meyers-Levy & Malaviya, 1999). Web page banners are an
important type of advertisement for companies who want to increase their product
and service sales or send messages to their users. Users want to surf the website and

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find the information they are searching for without being distracted by irrelevant or
annoying advertisements. Conflicting results about the effectiveness of banners on
websites have been presented (Lapa, 2007). According to the results of a study conducted
by the IAB, online advertising has tremendous communication power. According to
The Internet Advertising Bureau, a single exposure (to banner ads) can generate an
increase in advertisement awareness (Lapa, 2007).
In a study conducted by the digital advertising company DoubleClick in 1996, it
was found that most banners did not attract users’ attention at all. According to their
study, the idea that banners include information that was irrelevant to the task at hand
was supported. This reinforced situation, therefore, causes users to avoid this
advertisement area. According to the results of DoubleClick, the possibility of a user
clicking on an advertisement area on a website decreased when they were exposed
to it over and over again (Lapa, 2007). In addition to the number of exposures, to
increase the rate that banners are noticed, variety in message components (with or
without graphic items, stable, animated, etc.), dominant colors, dimension, position,
and similar factors were suggested and tested as solutions. In this context, the overlap/
consistency between the subject of the banner and the context of the web page was
considered to overcome users’ distrust as a potential method (Porta, Ravarelli, & Spaghi,
2013). The current study focused on message content and position variables.
According to the Sajjacholapunt and Ball (2014) study, in online advertisement
content, because of the due to the model looking at the picture of the product, the
attention is drawn to the text and the product information, and this increases the
possibility for the audience to understand the brand that is advertised and its messages
(and potentially internalize). The analysis of the average time of looking at each word
related to the advertisement showed the interaction between the banner format and
face position, at the same time. Especially, in cases where faces were not used, compared
to vertical banners, horizontal banners’ texts had more watch time, while in cases where
glances were away, and faces were used, it was just the opposite (Sajjacholapunt & Ball,
2014).
Internet-mediated advertising is a new term and quite variable. Moreover, compared
to traditional advertisements, online advertisements are more active and enable more
interaction. Therefore, the attitude of avoiding online advertisements may happen in
a variety of ways. For example, the question “when the consumer rolls down the web

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
6Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
page in order not to see the advertisement, should this behavior of avoiding advertisement
be categorized as mechanical or behavioral?” flashes (Lo, Hsieh, & Chiu, 2014).
Attention, advertising avoidance, and banner blindness
Advertisements are designed to attract attention. Marketers and web designers spend
plenty of time creating online advertisements to draw users’ attention. However, these
messages do not reach some consumers. Savvy internet users have adapted to visually
blinding themselves when it comes to ads (Djamasbi, Hall-Phillips, & Yang, 2013).
Attention by itself is not enough for an advertisement to persuade consumers, but
they need to be able to process what they see. However, if there is no attention, no
further processing can occur to influence subsequent consumer decision-making.
Depending on this for more attention, decoding the messages and keeping in mind
more opportunities arise (Lee & Ahn, 2012). Attention and recall are related variables.
Goodrich (2011) found that attention and aided recall are correlated with each other.
Pieters, Warlop, and Wedel (2002) suggested that attention increases the information
available to memory, which improves brand recall.
Placing a banner that changes the form of the website, whether the advertisement
is suitable for the content or not, is a powerful tool to increase the time spent while
looking at the advertisement and attract the attention of users. However, it does not
guarantee notice of the content of the advertisement, because the participants could
only remember the advertisement’s content when it was coherent with the editorial
content (Hervet et al., 2011). Users want a site that offers a clean interface and is free
of irrelevant information or distracting advertisements. Maximizing the effectiveness
of banners for both companies and site visitors requires an understanding of the design
and placement of these banners on the website better (Lapa, 2007).
Speck and Elliott (1997) proposed three strategies for advertising avoidance. These
are cognitive, behavioral, and mechanical strategies. For example, for TV ads, the
audience can remove attention from advertising by ignoring it (cognitive strategy),
leaving the room (behavioral strategy), or switching channels (mechanical strategy).
Alternatively, when they look at magazines and newspapers, readers can remove a
newspaper or magazine ad from their attention by ignoring it (cognitive) or turning
the page (behavioral). Cho and Cheon (2004) presented three types of avoidance
strategies, such as Speck and Elliott (1997): cognitive, affective, and behavioral. However,

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Chatterjee (2008) defined two types of avoidance: cognitive and physical. Cognitive
ad avoidance is an automatic process, involves visual screening out of ad stimuli
embedded within content, and does not need any conscious decision or behavioral
action by the consumer. Physical ad avoidance involves a conscious decision to take
action to avoid advertising, and accordingly, it generally induces a different level of
resistance response. Avoiding advertisements cognitively is an automatic method in
which consumers become blind to the advertisements placed in the media and therefore
do not need to make conscious decision-making using advertisements for or act. In
other words, there is no other conscious behavior apart from ignoring the advertisement
(Lo, Hsieh, & Chiu, 2014).
A special type of ad avoidance that applies to online advertising is banner blindness.
Banner blindness is the behavior of visitors of a website to ignore banners consciously
or unconsciously. This phenomenon happens because web users are exposed to many
banners every day, and before they decide if the banner is useful or not, their brains
automatically ignore them (Resnick & Albert, 2014). The term banner blindness caught
the attention of the study “Banner Blindness: Web Searchers Often Miss Obvious Links”
published in 1998 by Benway and Lane. Many studies measure banner blindness to
understand what types of banners on websites are effective or not.
When commercials are broadcast on traditional media such as television or radio,
the existing space is used to attract the attention of the audience. However, banners
cover about 10% of a typical website (Muñoz-Leiva et al., 2019). The phenomenon of
banner blindness lowers the effectiveness of banners, and advertisers try hard to find
effective strategies for online marketing. Therefore, it is a basic principle for website
designers to understand banners and users’ relationships with them (Porta et al., 2013).
Being exposed to advertisements all the time can make them a “background noise” for
internet users, and this can reduce the effectiveness of advertisements.
If banner blindness is defined as not being fixed on banners, according to the results
of the study conducted by Hervet et al. (2011), banner blindness is not valid for online
advertisements. Hervet et al. (2011) conducted an eye-tracking study. They used four
advertisement banners, two of them are congruent with the editorial content and two
of them are incongruent. According to their study, 82% of the participants fixated on
at least one of the four banners during the web page visit.

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
8Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Burke et al. (2005) revealed that, in eye-tracking experiments, people seldom looked
at banners and did not remember the banner content. They also claimed that banners
placed at the top of the screen are catchier, but this could be the result of the specific
screen layout of existing experiments. Banners, browser address bars, and standard
site navigation areas appear roughly in the same screen region in their layout. According
to the result of their study, there was a surprising difference between animated and
static banners, which was that animations make advertisements less catchy.
Studies considering the overlap/consistency between the subject of a banner and
the content of the web page have also been conducted. Some studies explored the
relationship between the subject of the banner and the content of the website, when
there was a banner that was incompatible with the content, the users were interested
more, and they showed a higher rate of recall (Moore, Stammerjohan, & Coulter, 2005).
A study carried out by Hershberger and Costea (2009) evaluated the correlation between
advertisement recall, consistency, and task orientation. According to this, in the case
of task-oriented surfing, ad avoidance behavior was more apparent. However, it was
claimed that this effect could be reduced thanks to consistency.
In a study by Lee and Ahn (2012), the goal was to research entire banner processing
and its efficiency. First, how much attention was given while being exposed to the message
was measured. Then, the conscious and unconscious effects of attention were analyzed.
By using a modern eye-tracking device in a natural environment, where the participants
were surfing the internet at their own pace, instant attention data were collected. Especially
in a low participation advertising example like banners, the data obtained from
environments people are automatically exposed to are more reliable than the ones
achieved by force. Third, cases were found in which banners were interested in but not
recalled, and the users were affected unconsciously. Eye-tracking data showed that, in
natural advertising areas, many internet users pay less attention to banners. This means
that banners are placed in a definite area that opposes the advertiser’s demands. However,
when repeated, very short fixations (being exposed to them was hardly recalled) changed
users’ attitudes. As a result, in the context of banners, a definite exposition effect was
confirmed. These findings were especially significant for most internet users to pay less
attention to banners or none and not distinguish their cognitive sources.
Djamasbi et al. (2013) collected eye-tracking data with an eye tracker in their study,
and each participant was asked to do two web-based searches using the Google search

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engine. The study examined whether or not there were any differences between mobile
phone users and desktop computer users while looking at the Search Engine Results
Page (SERP). One of the studies was carried out using a desktop computer, and the
other was conducted using a mobile phone. In both studies, real-time Google search
engine web pages were used. The initial analysis of the data showed that the
advertisements in the mobile SERP could be more effective than their desktop computer
equivalents. A majority of people looked at advertisements on mobile phones (90%)
more than those on desktop computers (77%). Besides, in the mobile phone study on
the subjects’ viewing patterns, it was seen that advertisements had a minimal effect.
Whether the advertisements were shown or not, the mobile phone SERPs were in a
similar scope. This was different for desktop computers. The subjects here scanned the
page in more detail when the advertisements were not displayed.
Porta et al. (2013) conducted a survey on the effects of online news and banner
consistency, and when the participants read freely, consistency increased both the
number of fixations on the banner and the total fixation period. Consistency also
increased memory, but it did not affect recognition distinguishably. In the same study,
it was revealed that nonmatching banners could be recalled more easily in the case of
exposed reading.
A recent study carried out by Barreto (2013) tested if Facebook users looked at the
advertisements displayed; in short, whether the phenomenon called “banner blindness”
existed or not. In the study, eye-tracking technology and a survey were applied to the
subject. The results showed that online advertisements were less salient than their
friends’ suggestions, so, this resulted in banner blindness.
Owens, Palmer, and Chaparro (2014) tried to explore the impact of web page layout
(standard and nonstandard) conventions on text advertising blindness. Their study
showed that text advertising blindness was prevalent regardless of the website layout.
Users adapted to the reversed layout rapidly.
Resnick and Albert (2014) tried to explore the emergence of ad banner blindness
in the viewing of e-commerce home pages. Their study assessed the gaze path of users
in goal-directed and free-viewing tasks when viewing pages with advertising banners
on the right side of the page and the top of the page above the main navigation menu.
Using an eye-tracking methodology, their results identify significant differences in

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
10 Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
visual attention for banner ad location and task type. Banner blindness is strongest for
advertising banners on the right side of the page and goal-directed tasks.
The study of Zouharová, Zouhar, and Smutný (2016) showed that appropriate banner
placement can significantly increase banner efficiency. They revealed that the results
depended significantly on the indication of exposure effects for particular page
sequences. It is therefore very important to specify these exposure effects correctly.
Vangelov’s study (2019) analyzed the two main ad formats on Facebook – image,
and carousel. Both were analyzed within the context and placement of the news feed,
which could prove to be a more lucrative placement than the right-hand position,
according to the theory based on banner blindness. Facebook users often have little
time to devote to advertisements and perceive them as distractors. Therefore, ads
should be as succinct as possible to attract more attention. In terms of banner blindness,
it was concluded that the news feed could be a more effective ad placement on Facebook,
as users are accustomed to seeing ads on the right side of the webpage.
Kaspar, Weber, and Wilbers (2019) aimed in their study to understand whether
demographic targeting attracts visual attention and to exploratively examine whether
it also affects brand attitude and website evaluation. Their Eye-tracking data revealed
that demographic targeting can have medium- to large-sized effects on several eye
movement parameters when internet users are in a free-viewing mode.
Aim and Methodology
It is important to understand the phenomenon of banner blindness in consumers’
online use by marketers. The main aim of this study was to understand whether web
users avoid looking at banners. While there are publications in the international literature
on banner blindness, there are hardly any studies in this area in Turkey. It is thought
that this study will fill the gap in the field.
A 4x2 factorial design was used in the study. Two dependent variables were banner
type and web page usage motivation. Four banner types were used: text-based vertical,
text-based horizontal, visual-based vertical, and visual-based horizontal banners. Two
web page usage motivations were used: free surfing and focused.

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
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Time to first fixation, total fixation duration, first fixation duration, and visit count
were used as the independent variables.
Four different news web pages were created for the study. Advertising banners are
of great importance for online newspapers because they are used as the main revenue
source. Each web page had the same news but four different banners (text-based
vertical, text-based horizontal, visual-based vertical, and visual-based horizontal banners).
Advertisements of GAP, Çiçek Sepeti, Arçelik, and Spotify brands were selected. The
brands in the banner advertisements are the advertisements that were published and
exposed at the time of the study. Since brand recall was not measured in this study,
the advertisements of these brands, which have text-based and visual-based
advertisements, were chosen for the purpose of the study. The banners were inserted
on the right and left sides and at the top and bottom sides of the web pages.
Three Areas of Interest (AOI) were defined. Every web page included two banners.
So, the banners were defined as AOI. Examples are seen on web pages with banners
in Figure 1. The figure banner was indicated with a red rectangle.
Figure 1: Examples of web page and banner stimulus (banner was indicated with a red rectangle for readers)
When the correlation between eye movement and attention is taken into account,
measuring eye movements is an inevitable tool when visiting a website if it is the focus
of an advertisement or not and examining how long has it been processed (Hervet et
al., 2011). Lee and Ahn (2012) claimed that advertisers have to know when users do
not identify a banner -or do not recognize it - these advertisements can affect users’
future attitudes by unconscious influence.

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
12 Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Thanks to eye-tracking technology, it is possible to understand where users expect
to find an item (such as a link to an exact part) on a website, so, the design goals at the
beginning are recognized (Mosconi, Porta, & Ravarelli, 2008). Eye-tracking lets us track
how a user interacts with only a web page using a mouse, and at the same time, the
movements they track. It shows us how users use the content provided. We can test
advertisement recall, determine the best content and position, and reach the best page
design and order with eye-tracking (Evoc Insights, 2009).
The experiment was controlled by a desktop computer with a screen resolution of
1920x1080 pixels. Eye movements were recorded with a Tobii eye tracker X3 120 desktop
device. The sampling rate was 50 Hz. Eye movement was captured with the Tobii device
at the bottom of a 24’’ computer screen that was located 60 cm from the participant.
Anadolu University Ethics Committee approval was obtained for this study.
The study was carried out at Anadolu University in May 2019. The sample consisted
of 160 participants. Students were chosen with convenience sampling. Their ages
ranged between 18 and 33 years. Half of the participants were male, and half were
female. Participating students took part in the experiment one by one in an isolated
room. The participants were randomly assigned to eight groups. The participants were
invited to take part in a study and instructed that their eye movements would be
recorded. Each participant was exposed to the web page that they were assigned for
three minutes. 80 free surfing motivation group participants surfed freely for three
minutes. 80 focused motivation group participants were asked questions about the
news, and they were asked to find out the answer to questions from news content for
three minutes. With these questions, it was assumed that the participants were focused
on the web page content. Before the beginning, for recording, the eye tracker system
was calibrated with nine red calibration dots. At the end of the experiment, the Attitude
towards Online Advertising Scale (Ducoffe, 1996; Brackett & Carr, 2001; Tsang, Ho, &
Liang, 2004) (seven-point Semantic type) was administrated to all participants who
were also asked to write the names of advertisements that they remembered.
The main aim of this study was to understand whether web users avoid looking at
banners and how this behavior was moderated by web usage motivation and banner
type. The following hypotheses have been defined for the experiment designed for
this purpose.

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
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Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
H1: Left side banners and top side banners receive more fixation than right side
banners and bottom banners.
H2: Visual based banners receive more fixation than text-based banner.
H3: Free surfing group members recall more ads than focused group members.
Findings
In the first section, heat maps were created by using the Tobii Studio software v3.4.8.
In the second section, ANOVA test was performed. Heat maps for free surfing motivation
groups are seen in Figure 2 and heat maps for focused motivation groups are seen in
Figure 3.
Figure 2: Free surfing motivation group’s heat maps

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
14 Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Figure 3: Focused motivation groups’ heat maps
Percentage fixated
Percentage fixated measurement is a percentage of participants that fixated at least
once within an AOI. Table 1 shows the fixation percentages of all groups.
Table 1: Percentage fixated



   
       
 0.85 0.70 100.0 0.80 0.85 0.80 0.95 0.50
 0.60 0.15 100.0 0.95 0.80 0.65 0.95 0.70
 0.26 0.22 0.50 0.44 0.41 0.36 0.48 0.30
The participants fixated at least once on the left vertical banners more than the
right banners. The participants also fixated at least once on the top banners more than

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
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the bottom banners. In total, almost half of the participants did not fixate on banners
even once.
Fixation duration
The fixation duration was measured in seconds. Table 2 shows the mean and standard
deviation scores for all banners.
Table 2: Total fixation duration

   
       
1.3339 1.48 1.3507 1.75 2.7388 3.41 3.5719 4.17
A two-way ANOVA was performed to explore the impact of motivation group and
banner type on the total fixation durations. The subjects were divided into two groups
according to their motivation (group 1: free surfing; group 2: focused) and two groups
according to banner type (group 1: visual vertical; visual horizontal, group 2: text vertical;
text horizontal).
The first ANOVA test was performed for the right vertical banners (visual and text-
based). The interaction effect between motivation and banner type was not statistically
significant. F(1)=0.134 p=0.71. There was no statistically significant main effect for both
motivation (F(1)=2.095 p=0.15) and banner type (F(1)=2.142 p=0.15). Figure 4 shows
mean plots for the right banner’s total fixation duration.
Figure 4: Mean plots for right vertical banner total fixation duration

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
16 Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
The second ANOVA test was performed for left vertical banners (visual and text-
based). The interaction effect between motivation and banner type was not statistically
significant F
(1)
=0.096 p=0.758. There was a statistically significant main effect for
motivation F(1)=15.498 p=0.00, and the effect size was large (partial eta squared=0.21).
The free surfing group (M=1.94, SD=1.75) was fixated more than the focused group
(M=0.59 SD=0.40). There was no statistically significant effect for banner type F(1)=0.406
p=0.52. Figure 5 shows mean plots for the left banner total fixation duration.
Figure 5: Mean plots for left vertical banner total fixation duration
The third ANOVA test was performed for top horizontal banners (visual and text-
based). The interaction effect between motivation and banner type was not statistically
significant F
(1)
=0.765 p=0.38. There was a statistically significant main effect for motivation
F
(1)
=17.838 p=0.00, and the effect size was large (partial eta squared=0.19). The free
surfing group (M=4.21 SD=4.24) was fixated more than the focused group (M=1.26
SSD=1.09). There was no statistically significant effect for banner type F(1)=1.336 p=0.25.
Figure 6 shows mean plots for top horizontal banner total fixation duration.

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
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Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Figure 6: Mean plots for top horizontal banner total fixation duration
The fourth ANOVA test was performed for bottom horizontal banners (visual and
text-based). The interaction effect between motivation and banner type was statistically
significant F(1)=6.347 p=0.01. Therefore, the data were split by banner type, and an
independent-samples t-test was performed to compare the total fixation durations for
the motivation groups. According to the t-test results, there were statistically significant
differences between the free surfing group (M=1.68 SD=2.07) and the focused group
(M=5.05 SD=4.79); t(33)=-3.916 p=0.000.
Attitude toward online ads and ad recall
At the end of the experiment, the respondents answered a seven-point Semantic type
attitude towards online ads scale (Ducoffe, 1996, Brackett & Carr, 2001, Tsang, Ho, &
Liang 2004) and were asked to write down the names of the advertisements they
remembered.
The scale includes seven bipolar adjectives such as entertained-not entertained,
useable-not useable. An independent sample t-test was performed to compare the
attitude scores between the motivation groups. According to the t-test results, there
were statistically significant differences between the free surfing group (M=3.26 SD=1.83)
and the focused group (M=2.93 SD=1.61); t
(158)
=2.340 p=0.02 in the informative

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
18 Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
dimension. The free surfing group found online ads more informative than the focused
group did. There were also statistically significant differences between the free surfing
group (M=3.11 SD=1.72) and the focused group (M=2.55 SD=1.38); t(158)=2.283 p=0.02
in the believable dimension. The free surfing group found online ads more believable
than the focused group did. Table 3 shows the attitude towards online ads t-test results.
Table 3: Attitude toward online ads t-test results
  N 
   
  80 3.65 1.71 1.233 158 0.219
 80 3.31 1.75
  80 2.83 1.51 0.051 158 0.959
 80 2.81 1.57
  80 3.56 1.83 2.340 158 0.02*
 80 2.93 1.61
  80 3.11 1.72 2.283 158 0.02*
 80 2.55 1.38
  80 3.69 1.82 1.646 158 0.102
 80 3.21 1.83
  80 3.39 2.02 0.551 158 0.582
 80 3.21 1.99
  80 4.23 1.87 0.338 158 0.736
 80 4.13 1.88
*p<0,05
Recall of ad names was coded in three categories: 0=none, 1=one ad, and 2=two ads.
A chi-squared test for independence indicated significant relationships between ad recall
and motivation groups. x2
(1, n=160)=59.444 p=0.000 phi=0.61. It may be stated that the free
surfing group recalled more ad names than the focused group (see Table 4).
Table 4: Ad recall-motivation group cross tabulation


   

30 24 26 80
37.5% 30.0% 32.5% 100.0%

76 3 1 80
95.0% 3.8% 1.3% 100.0%

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
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Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Discussion and Conclusion
To summarize the results of our study, left-side banners and top-side banners received
more fixation. The participants fixated at least once on horizontal banners more than
vertical banners. The free surfing group found online ads more informative and believable
than the focused group. If users focused on the website content, they could not
remember ad names and did not look at the banners. So, the free surfing group
remembered more ads than the focusing group. Banner type (visual or text-based) was
not important for fixation. Focusing on web content prevented recalling ad names and
caused banner blindness. Attention was required for the recall. Banner type and position
were important factors for attention and recall.
The main aim of this study was to understand whether web users avoid looking at
banners and how this behavior was moderated by web usage motivation and banner
type. The results showed that the majority of the participants fixated on banners at
least once during their visit to the websites. It may be stated that banner type (visual
or text-based) was not significantly effective on fixation. This study showed that all
types of banners received the same amount of fixation percentages. However, the
banner position was important. Left side banners and top side banners received more
fixation. This result supports Resnick and Albert’s (2014) and Burke et al. (2005) findings.
If banner blindness could be defined as fever fixation on banners, the results showed
that banner blindness may differ based on banner position. The participants fixated at
least once on horizontal banners more than they did on vertical banners.
The results showed that if users focused on the website content, they could not
remember ad names and did not look at the banners. This result shows parallelism with
Hershberger and Costea’s (2009) finding. Hershberger and Costea (2009) evaluated the
correlation between advertisement recall, consistency, and task orientation. According
to this, in the case of a task-oriented surfing advertisement, avoidance behavior was
more apparent. Our study showed that attention was required for the recall. Pieters,
Warlop, and Wedel (2002) suggested that attention increases the information available
to memory, which improves brand recall. The results also showed that banner type and
position were important factors for attention and recall. Previous studies have also
shown that banners draw less attention from users in task-oriented or free-surfing
information research. According to Resnick and Albert (2014), banner blindness is
strongest for advertising banners on the right side of the page and goal-directed tasks.

Discovering banner blindness for dierent banner formats: An eye-tracking study
20 Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
The findings of Muñoz-Leiva et al. (2021) eye-tracking study support our study. Their
study shows that placing a banner at specific locations on a web page can lead to better
recall. This appears to be due, in part, to the visual attention such locations attract. The
mediation analysis in the study showed that lower-right and lower-left positions had
a negative impact on banner recall, in part due to shorter attention spans and fewer
fixations caused by these positions (Muñoz-Leiva et al., 2021).
Advertising banners are of great importance for online newspapers because they
are used as the main revenue source. To avoid banner blindness, advertisers need to
find effective strategies for online marketing. Therefore, it is an important requirement
for them to learn users’ attitudes and interests towards banners. Advertisements are
designed to attract attention, but internet users have focused on blinding themselves
to advertisements. Therefore, it is not enough to draw attention to convince, but users
are also expected to remember the ad. In this process, the size of the banner, position,
and elements such as compliance with the content gain importance.
A recommendation for future studies may be the selection of banners with animation,
color, and moving images as stimuli. The presence of moving images can attract users’
attention and prevent banner blindness. It is also a remarkable element to use celebrities
in banners. This will make them easier to remember. Another research proposal is to
insert banners that are congruent with the content of the web page. The effect of
content-compatible banners on remembering ads and banner blindness may be
investigated.
Endnotes
1. Çiçek Sepeti is leading online retail company in Turkey.
2. Arçelik is leading household appliances brand in Turkey.
3. This study was supported by Anadolu University Scientific Research Projects Commission under grant
no: 1801E001.

Ispir, N.B., Kilic, D., Atar, G.M.
21
Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 2023, 64, 1-xx
Peer-revew: Externally peer-revewed.
Conflct of Interest: The authors have no conflct of nterest to declare.
Grant Support: The authors declared that ths study has receved no fnancal support.
Author Contrbutons: Concepton/Desgn of study: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Data Acquston: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Data Analyss/
Interpretaton: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Draftng Manuscrpt: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Crtcal Revson of Manuscrpt: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Fnal
Approval and Accountablty: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.
Hakem Değerlendrmes: Dı bağımsız.
Çıkar Çatıması: Yazarlar çıkar çatıması bldrmemtr.
Fnansal Destek: Yazarlar bu çalıma çn fnansal destek almadığını beyan etmtr.
Yazar Katkısı: Çalıma Konsept/Tasarımı: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Ver Toplama: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Ver Analz /Yorumlama: N.B.İ., D.K.,
G.M.A.; Yazı Taslağı: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; İçerğn Eletrel İncelemes: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.; Son Onay ve Sorumluluk: N.B.İ., D.K., G.M.A.
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