Criteo Releases New Research Study, Proving That Clicks Matter in Display Advertising

Study Demonstrates that the Market Bias Against Clicks is Misguided

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Criteo (www.criteo.com), the global leader in performance display advertising solutions, today released a research study from their Business Intelligence Group, “Measuring the Value of Users Who Click on Online Display Ads.” The study, which took place in early March 2012, analyzed over $11B of e-Commerce transactions and 142 million users to whom a Criteo ad was shown. The study unequivocally underscores a strong connection between those who click and those who buy, proving for the first time that the click is a genuine expression of purchase intent, and not mainly accidental, as previously suggested by other research.

“Normally, marketers go to great lengths to get responses from customers, using the marketing channels in which they invest. So before writing off the click, it is worth taking a second look. What we found was surprising and does much to counteract some of the myths that surround click-based advertising.”

“It has always seemed strange that clickers should be so valuable in a search context, and yet irrelevant for banner advertising. It is therefore reassuring that this new research demonstrates that clickers are highly valuable in display advertising as well, at least for any advertiser looking ultimately to sell something,” said Pascal Gauthier, Chief Operating Officer at Criteo. “This huge study demonstrates that clickers buy much more than non-clickers, and that the more a user clicks, the more they buy.”

The online industry has been split over the last decade between Search and Display advertising. In search, where Google alone generates more than $40Bn revenue/year, the entire industry is measured and paid only when a user clicks on an ad. In the display world, by contrast, the $33B industry has generally placed little value on the click and argued that measuring the browser's "view" of a banner ad is much more important. A famous 2008 study by comScore, entitled Whither the Click, argued that clickers on display ads are “hardly an attractive target segment for most advertisers.”

“There is a common though misguided belief among many marketers that very few people click on online display ads and those that do are not the kind of people to advertise to,” said Patrick Wyatt, head of business intelligence at Criteo. “Normally, marketers go to great lengths to get responses from customers, using the marketing channels in which they invest. So before writing off the click, it is worth taking a second look. What we found was surprising and does much to counteract some of the myths that surround click-based advertising.”

Criteo’s Business Intelligence group investigated the online shopping behavior of millions of users in order to demonstrate the value of the audience that clicks on performance display ad campaigns. The proprietary research dispels four key myths and misconceptions about clickers on performance display and validates that clickers are highly valuable in display, for any advertiser seeking to sell something.

To receive a complete copy of “Measuring the Value of Users Who Click on Online Display Ads” research, please visit http://www.criteo.com/us/success-stories?cat=37; the study is available in English and French.

About Criteo

Criteo is the global leader in Performance Display. Thanks to Criteo, advertisers can reach more customers with the same return-on-investment as they get from search marketing. Every day Criteo generates millions of high-quality leads, through dynamically generated ads which are personalized with the products and services that consumers are searching for.

Criteo is measured purely on its post-click performance and offers a turnkey pay-per-click model including extensive real-time bidding tools, category and product level optimization and an in-house creative studio.

Criteo partners with over 2000 leading ecommerce brands and operates in 30 countries across America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.criteo.com.