Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Attribution Problem - The “Fat Finger Factor”


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The attribution problem in online advertising is fascinating.  Thinking that 100% of the credit is given to the last impression seems very controversial.  It ignores all the contribution effect of the previous ads and overvalues the “last click”.  Many ads are not receiving the correct amount of credit for influencing consumer’s perceptions and behaviors.  This attribution problem has been further complicated by mobile-ad clicks which 40% of the times are a result of an accidental click.  To me this is not surprising especially from my own personal experience.  As an iPhone user, my “fat fingers” have countless times unintentionally clicked on an ad in an attempt to close it.  My click counted as an impression while in reality it was simply a frustration to me. 

The article, specifically sites that Facebook’s new “Sponsored Stories” on its users news feeds are receiving a superior amount of credit than they deserve.  As Facebook pushes to monetize its advertising potential, this “fat finger” phenomenon may eventually hurt user engagement on the site.  With 60% of its users being active on its mobile platform, Facebook is ramping up its mobile ad sales; nevertheless, they must take into account how this may interfere with the user’s experience.  Overall in mobile advertising, this "fat finger" problem makes one question the pay-per-click model.  How do we account for and recognize these worthless “fat finger” clicks?

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