Ads that don't want you to click

Short article - essentially it details pre-qualifying clickers (read: web surfers that click on your ad). Given that a business pays a banner hosting site by the click - the business is going to want to make sure the right person clicks.

Some ads should be designed to reduce response.... In order to qualify for a loan, the prospective business must accept all major credit cards and have been in operation for at least one year.

This ad does not mention these requirements and generated a 17 percent click-through rate (CTR):

Merchant Account Loans
Business Loans. Fast and easy.
Low rates. Quick approvals.

When we added the two requirements, and presented ad copy with qualifiers, response dropped dramatically -- to around a 10 percent CTR:

Merchant Account Loans
Must accept Visa/MC. Established
1 year. Fast/easy approval process.


...the conversion rate associated with the second ad, with pre-qualifiers, was significantly higher than the ... more generic ad. Not surprisingly, the overall return on investment (ROI) for the campaign improved dramatically.

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