Perception and effectiveness of search advertising on smartphones

ABSTRACT This paper explores the perception and effectiveness of mobile search ads from the perspective of users. The study investigates the attention and interaction of users as well as their subjective estimation of paid listings within Google search results on smartphones. During the tests, each of the 20 users has to accomplish four different search tasks. Data collection methods combine eye‐tracking with click‐through analysis and interviews. Results indicate that there is no “ad blindness” on mobile search, but similar to desktop search, users also tend to avoid search advertising on smartphones. For mobile search, ads appear to cause higher usability costs than on desktop.