The research which was commissioned by AOP Ireland and conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes found that 78% of Irish internet users recognise that ads on Irish premium content sites are relevant to them in contrast to only 11% who think that ads on international sites are aimed at them, despite geo targeting. This underlines the trust and loyalty that Irish internet users place in Irish premium content sites and how that influences the effectiveness of the advertising displayed on those digital properties. The study highlights the threat for marketing managers that there is a risk of undermining the impact of advertising campaigns as Irish internet users simply overlook ads due to the international nature of the sites they appear on. The same ad creative which appears in other environments could also be discounted by viewers as they have previously ignored the same ad.
The key reason why Irish internet users have a higher level of recall and believe advertising is more relevant on AOP Ireland sites is because of the environment and context they appear in. Despite being unprompted, when asked why they believed that ads on Irish premium content sites were of more relevance to them, the first reason 35% of all survey participants responded with was that the Irish origin of the site meant that they understood that the ads were aimed at them. In contrast, the same people disregarded ads on sites like DailyMail.co.uk, Gawker.com and Guardian.co.uk as they implicitly understand that these sites are of an international nature and as such did not think that any advertising would be aimed at them, despite the use of geo targeting by ad networks.
The research highlights the effectiveness of advertising on AOP Ireland sites as audiences find advertising on their properties more relevant and are more likely to respond to ads as a result. This is a result of the level of investment AOP Ireland members have made in developing their brands in terms of content which engages visitors and advertising solutions they offer brands.
3. 3
About AOP Ireland
● The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Ireland is the industry body
representing Irish digital publishing companies that create
local, original, branded, quality content
● All AOP Ireland members support a common goal in publishing high quality
content where advertisers can have confidence that viewers will attribute
higher levels of trust in the ads they see considering these to be both
relevant and accessible to them
● AOP Ireland members include
IrishTimes.com, Entertainment.ie, TV3.ie, Independent.ie, TheJournal.ie and
RTE.ie
● AOP Ireland publishes research similar to its sister organisations, the Online
Publisher’s Association in the USA and the Association of Online Publishers in
the UK, so that advertisers, the media and the public clearly understand the
benefits that quality, local digital publishing provides
4. 4
Research Overview
● The research set out to examine whether Irish internet users are more likely
to notice and react to advertising that appears on Irish sites compared to
international sites
● It consisted of a national internet survey among 571 adults through
Behaviour & Attitudes’ consumer panel Acumen. The fieldwork took place
between 18 and 26 of February 2013
● The survey was controlled by gender, age and region. The data was
subsequently weighted to national internet population (representative of all
internet users in Ireland)
● The research was divided into 2 sections:
1: RECALL TEST
2: PERCEIVED AD RELEVANCY TEST
● In section one of the survey, 4 web pages were shown (2 AOP Ireland sites
and 2 international sites). In section two, 8 web pages were shown (4 AOP
Ireland and 4 international sites). Across each section independently, the ads
were rotated in random order to ensure equal representation
6. 6
Key Findings
● 78% of Irish internet users recognise that ads on
Irish premium content sites are relevant to them
in contrast to only 11% who think that ads on
international sites are aimed at them, despite geo
targeting
● Irish internet users also have a higher level of recall of
ads displayed on Irish sites. 72% of users recall
online ads on Irish premium sites compared to
52% on international sites
7. 7
Recall
This survey is about the Internet. You will now be
shown a sequence of four web pages. You will
then be asked a series of questions based on your
observations. None of the pages are live. They
are static and therefore non scrolling. When you
have reviewed all four pages, we will begin the
survey.
9. 9
Level of recall on AOP versus international sites
Base: All internet users - 571
Q Taking all four web pages into consideration, which if any of the following brands can you recall being advertised on
any of these pages?
72
60
41
52
39
28
ANY IRISH
WEBSITE
Meteor
BMW
ANY NON IRISH
WEBSITE
Vodafone
Sky
%
Entertainment.ie
RTE.ie
Huffingtonpost.co.uk
DailyTribune.com
Irish Internet
users have a
higher recall
of brand ads
when posted
on AOP
Ireland sites
AOP Ireland Site
International Site
10. 10
Recall findings
● Survey participants were asked to look at a series of sites and
given no indication that they would be asked about their thoughts
on the advertising on those pages
● The research found that Irish internet users are more likely to
recall advertising that appears on Irish premium content
sites – 72% vs 52%
● These findings build upon the AOP Ireland study on online
engagement which shows that Irish internet users find
advertising on AOP Ireland sites is more engaging than
social networks or portals
● Previous research showed:
81% of Irish internet users agree that advertising is well
matched to the content on AOP Ireland sites
32% say advertising on AOP Ireland sites makes them feel
more positively towards the brand
11. 11
Relevance
We will now show you a sequence of two web
pages. After each page is displayed, you will be
asked a series of questions on the advertisements
you will have just viewed.
14. 14
Level of relevance on AOP versus international
sites
Base: All internet users - 571
Yes
No
Not sure
78
11
7
59
15
30
Across all
AOP Ireland
sites
Across all
international
sites
% %
Q4a We will now show you a sequence of two web pages. After each page is displayed, you will be asked a series of questions
on the advertisements you have just viewed. Thinking in general about advertisements on … (specified )website, do you
think these ads are aimed at an Irish audience or not?
The evidence suggests that
Irish internet users are 8
times more likely to pay
attention to ads appearing
on AOP Ireland sites than
ads appearing on
international sites.
*8 ads rotated across 8 web pages (4 AOP Ireland web pages and 4 international web pages)
TheJournal.ie
Independent.ie
IrishTimes.com
TV3.ie
TheGuardian.co.uk
Dailymail.co.uk
Gawker.com
NewYorker.com
Yes
No
Not sure
15. 15
Level of relevance on AOP versus international sites
Base: All internet users - 571
Q.4
a
Thinking in general about advertisements on … website, do you think these ads are aimed at an Irish audience or
not?
Yes
No
Not sure
78 75
80 76 81
11 14 17
7 6
7
7
8
7
7
59
60 55
54
67
15 18
12 16 12
30 26 27
39
27
Appeared on
AOP Ireland sites
Appeared on
International sites
TOTAL
(TheJour-
nal.ie)
(Indep-
endent.ie)
(Irish-
Times.com)
(TV3.ie)
TOTAL
(Theguar-
dian.co.uk)
(Daily-
mail.co.uk)
(Gaw-
ker.com)
(New-
yorker.com)
% % % % % % % % % %
An undeniable truth!
Yes
No
Not
sure
16. 16
Reasons why ad is relevant to Irish audience
Open/Freetext Response
Q.4
b
Why do you think this advertisement on the …. Website is relevant to an Irish audience?
35
9
5
5
4
7
Advertised on Irish website
viewed by Irish market
Prices displayed in Euro
Leading company/large
presence within Ireland
Good value/offers provided
News stories/advertising shown
relevant to Ireland
Don’t know
%
Any Ads Appearing
on AOP Ireland sites
Base: All internet users - 571
“It's an Irish newspaper, which
will be viewed by Irish people.”
“Advert is in an obviously Irish
publication.”
“I associate the
Irish Times with
Ireland and Irish
people reading
it.”
“Yes it was on a .ie website and I
assume the majority of people who
click through are based in Ireland.”
17. 17
Reasons ad is not relevant to Irish audience
Open/Freetext Response
Q.4
c
Why do you think the advertisement on the …. Website is not relevant to an Irish audience?
8
7
6
6
5
2
Advertised on UK
website/aimed at UK market
Convertible car unsuitable for
Irish climate
International/global appeal
Generic advert/appeal
Lacking Irish
references/connection
Don’t know
%
Any Ads Appearing
on international sites
Base: All internet users - 571
“It’s an American
website and is
aimed at an
audience from
anywhere, not
specifically any
country.”
“It's a UK website. With
VRT I would tend not to
trust any facts or prices on
a site that wasn't defo
Irish”
“As this is a UK brand
that also operates in
Ireland it could have
been relevant for
either the UK or
Ireland. I don't recall
seeing an indicator
that it was for us.”
“It's relevant, but just doesn't strike me as
particularly targeted at Irish audiences.”
18. 18
Relevance findings
● Survey participants were shown two sites at random (one AOP
Ireland and one international) and asked about their views on the
advertising that appeared on those pages
● Irish Internet users are eight times more likely to pay attention
to online advertising on AOP Ireland sites than similar
advertising on international sites - 78% vs 11%
● The findings underline the trust and loyalty that Irish internet
users place in Irish premium content sites and how that
influences the effectiveness of the advertising displayed on
those digital properties
● In contrast Irish internet users disregard ads on international
sites like DailyMail.co.uk, Gawker.com and Guardian.co.uk, despite
the use of geo targeting by ad networks
● Despite being unprompted, when asked why they believed that
ads on Irish premium content sites were of more relevance to
them, the first reason 35% of all survey participants responded
with was that the Irish origin of the site meant that they
understood that the ads were aimed at them
20. 20
Executive summary
● Using ad networks in order to guarantee a high level of
exposure, does not provide the best return on investment
as Irish internet users overlook Irish ads on international
sites as they do not believe that they are targeted at them
● 78% of Irish internet users recognise that ads on AOP
Ireland sites are relevant to them in contrast to only 11%
who think that ads on international sites are aimed at
them, despite geo targeting
● Irish internet users also have a higher level of recall of ads
displayed on Irish premium content sites. 72% of users recall
online ads on AOP Ireland sites compared to 52% on
international sites
● Key reason why Irish Internet users have a higher level of
recall and believe advertising is more relevant on AOP
Ireland sites is because of the environment and context they
appear in
