Dreze,X . "Internet advertising: Is anybody watching?" Journal of interactive marketing [1094-9968] 17.4 (2003). 8-23.

    In this study, the authors use an eye tracking device to investigate people’s attention to online advertising. While click through rates have plummeted, they believe that banner advertisements are, in fact, effective because they lead to brand awareness, which is more important in the long run. The authors acknowledge that internet surfers fixate on “less than 50% of the banners to which they are exposed,” and some actually “avoid looking at them.” The focus of this study is to provide advertisers with suggestions to improve their effectiveness, such as, concentrating on the message they send. What is said (content) and how often it is said (frequency) is more important than how it is said. This study also stresses the idea that click through rates may not be an accurate representation of actual effectiveness of an advertisement since a large part of consumer processing is done at the pre-attentive level, not leading to immediate action.
    When you think of an advertisement that might draw your attention, one would think of something colorful, shiny, and maybe incorporating some sort of movement. While this might be valuable for attracting initial attention, this study shows that the actual content of an advertisement / what is said is what leads to people remembering and possibly, in turn, affecting purchasing behavior. Additionally, frequency of a message is shown to affect unaided advertisement recall, brand recognition and awareness. While the statistics might show that people are avoiding or intentionally ignoring these banner advertisements, there are effective ways to reduce this occurrence. Therefore, advertisers and marketers should rethink their strategies of attracting people by focusing on a less obnoxious advertisement; maybe one that is not blinking and one that a consumer has seen over and over and gotten used to and stored some sort of image in their head about a brand.