I ran across this interesting article. Starcom MediaVest Group

"...the study reveals that a very small group of consumers who are not representative of the total U.S. online population is accountable for the vast majority of display ad click-through behavior."

"The study illustrates that heavy clickers represent just 6% of the online population yet account for 50% of all display ad clicks. While many online media companies use click-through rate as an ad negotiation currency, the study shows that heavy clickers are not representative of the general public. In fact, heavy clickers skew towards Internet users between the ages of 25-44 and households with an income under $40,000. Heavy clickers behave very differently online than the typical Internet user, and while they spend four times more time online than non-clickers, their spending does not proportionately reflect this very heavy Internet usage. Heavy clickers are also relatively more likely to visit auctions, gambling, and career services sites – a markedly different surfing pattern than non-clickers."

Any thoughts?

Is our IM crowd suprised by this?

Sounds like a classic case of low IQ.

I bet the other 30-40% represents another 14%.

It looks like the old 80-20 rule, or a minority of a group generating a majority of the result.

Not surprised at all...and I'd bet that this gets worse and worse each year. The money I spent on adwords campaigns used to do a lot for me. But every month seems to draw more money and less return.

I finally called a halt to my own campaigns, and am urging some of my clients to do the same.

Other PPC campaigns seem to be even worse than adwords.