• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, December 19, 2013

The typical Internet user is served 1,707 display ads each month. Counting all Internet users, those display ads are worth $9.8 billion. With only 14% of those ads actually being seen, $8.4 billion of that  total doesn’t even have a chance.

New research from Sticky, a company with software that uses Webcams to track users’ eye movements, reveals some steps that marketers can take to increase the likelihood that their ads are seen.

According to the report, when a face is shown in an ad -- either human or animal -- the chances of the ad being seen are doubled. And contrary to popular belief, men look at faces first (and then chests), and women look at chests first (and then faces).

Sticking to the “popular belief” theme, the report suggests that size matters when it comes to display ads. In a stat that is more of a verification than anything groundbreaking, Sticky's data says the larger the ad the greater the likelihood that it will be seen -- and the longer it will be looked at.

“As we move toward better transparency in the digital space, being seen is step one for everyone to create a fair and true marketplace,” Jeff Bander, Sticky’s president and chief change agent, told Online Media Daily. “Publishers will understand the true value of their inventory, and brands will know who is delivering the best value and best creative.” He added: “No one wants to spend money on a billboard on the bottom of the ocean.”

Bander’s bottom-of-the-ocean quip brings up another point from the report: placement matters. A banner ad placed below the menu of a screen is seen by twice as many people and has twice the impact compared to ads that are served above the menu.

Even when the ads are seen, they are only seen for 22% of the time they appear in-screen. This shouldn’t be too surprising, given that people typically browse the Web for its content, not its ads.

The full infographic can be found here.