Adobe has some new US research out looking at consumer reaction to online advertising and it is’t good news. Consumers don’t like it.

While almost 70% of those polled were using social media, and over half had liked a brand page, 68% found online ads ‘annoying’ and ‘distracting’.

Critically for marketers, 54% said that online banner ads don’t work. Instead consumers would rather see ads on TV. Maybe more importantly 33% of marketers said banners don’t work.

Interestingly, while Facebook is testing a “want” button what the majority of consumers really want is a “dislike” button when it came to social media.

The research, which surveyed 1,250 consumers and marketers, found consumers would rather see traditional TV ad spots and print magazine ads.

The least favourite place to see ads was apps, followed by digital magazines and social media.

Perhaps most damningly for digital marketers was the statistic that 53% agreed that “Most marketing is a bunch of B.S.” and 30% think that online advertising is not at all effective.

Furthermore, the two adjectives used most when describing online ads were “annoying” and “distracting”. Traditional media was also considered the best place for marketing and advertising, with blogs the worst!

It’s not all doom and gloom for digital marketers though. Respondents replied that 29% would look into the products that a friend ‘Liked’ and 5% said that would would ‘Like’ the product themselves. 2% said they would even buy the product after a friend ‘Liked’ it!

User generated content

In addition, it was considered that professional advertising is the most effective form of advertising, however, 27% of marketers believe that user-generated content is the most popular form of online advertising, presumably as it prompts people to buy into and be more emotionally invested in a brand.

The figure among consumers is slightly higher with 28% favouring UGC.

Give us a dislike button

Noticeably, over half of those who responded said they wanted a dislike button on social media, (ignoring the face YouTube has such a feature.) Well all publicity is good publicity I suppose.

It all leads to some serious questions for marketers and content producers trying to make money in the digital economy – if people are not engaged or interested with adverts how can they sell products or generate ad revenue? While there is no doubt that as consumers we will get more and more used to seeing advertising on websites, apps and social media, marketers and content producers are going to have to work very hard to find interesting ad models and copy until the tide turns.

You can read the full survey here.