Study: Online Ads Are Just as Effective as TV Commercials

One of the reasons given for old media's financial challenges is that ads on the Web pay a tiny fraction of what they would on television or in print. But according to a new survey from the folks at Lab 42, online advertisements are as just as effective as TV commercials and much more likely to encourage a purchase than print ads.

Most respondents in the survey said they have clicked on an ad (on purpose!), and half said they can still recall what the ad was for. Only a fifth said they have never clicked on a banner ad (e.g.: the rectangular advertisements that appear toward the top of your browser on a web page) or an in-app advertisement (i.e.: the same thing, but on your phone). Equally encouraging for TV advertisers, 70 percent of DVR owners said they didn't fast-forward through ads in shows they saved to watch later ... mostly because they were too lazy to press the button.

Here are more findings, presented in a handy infographic.