What is ad fatigue? Like anything else that becomes wearisome, “ad fatigue” sets in when an audience becomes less and less responsive to an ad due to repeated exposure to the same creative. In addition, being bombarded by display ads (aka “banner blindness”) or even traditional TV commercials occurs when the viewer is overwhelmed by marketing when they want to view, read, or access information from the media they’re engaged with.

How to measure ad fatigue: The most common method involves tracking a number of key performance indicators (KPIs), including:

• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who see an ad and click on it. A decrease in CTR over time may indicate ad fatigue.
• Conversion rate (CVR): The percentage of people who see an ad and take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. A decrease in CVR over time may indicate ad fatigue.
• Cost per click (CPC): The average amount of money an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on their ad. An increase in CPC over time may indicate that the ad is becoming less effective due to ad fatigue.

Why is ad fatigue important to marketers? When people are exposed to the same ad over and over again, they are less likely to pay attention to it or take action. For advertisers, this can lead to a decrease in CTR, CVR, and ROI – or, in other words, diminishing returns. And for publishers, this can jeopardize the quality of the user experience on their site and ultimately lead to less visits, lower engagement, and a less valuable environment for paid ads and subscribers.

Who needs to know what ad fatigue is:

• Digital marketing manager
• Paid search specialist
• Social media manager
• Programmatic advertising specialist
• Media buyer
• Ad operations specialist
• Marketing analyst
• Brand manager
• Product manager

Use ad fatigue in a sentence: “By rotating ads regularly and instituting frequency caps, publishers can reduce the prevalence of ad fatigue — and maintain the value of the ads they run.”