What's more annoying and contextually irrelevant than the text in a captcha - those squiggly, gibberishy words and phrases you have to type to authenticate an online log-in? A start-up, Solve Media, thinks it's found a solution: replace gobbeldygook captcha text with an ad.
Solve's TYPE-INTM advertising platform launches today. The company claims it "guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers." Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures, AOL, Tribune, and Meredith Publishing are on board as clients already. Because advertisers pay not for impressions but for correctly entered text, the company claims higher retention and impact, and a 40% engagement rate versus one percent for the typical display ad.
It's true that the text in these units is infinitely more legible than that in your typical captcha - and thus enhances user experience. but it must also be pointed out that user engagement with the ads is of necessity, not relevance, intent to purchase, or other advertising benchmarks. Still, for brand advertisers, these units may prove a worthwhile way to drive home a slogan or ad recall. The units also create a new category of inventory for online publishers.
Reader comments (20)
SEO & Social Media Manager at Web Marketplace Solutions
3:29PM on 20th September 2010
I think this is actually a clever idea. Forcing users to type something out, potentially multiple times, really does help them to remember the phrase, especially if it's only three words long. It could be a great way to get a certain message across; even if you're not selling something on that specific page it's highly likely that the users will remember what you had to say when they go to buy. It seems to be a way around ad blindness - but I guess we'll see how successful it is in the future!
European Web Analytics Specialist at Canon Europe
4:44PM on 20th September 2010
Great idea - Tweaking an essential security application and turning it into advertising inventory, at little or no negative effect on the user
4:52PM on 20th September 2010
"I think this is actually a clever idea. Forcing users to type something out"
How is forcing the user to do something a good idea? As a web user, I object against having any brand shoved under my nose and every given opportunity.
If I ever come across this on any website then I will be "forced" to leave.
4:55PM on 20th September 2010
I really like this idea. It's creating an advertising opportunity out of a routine security check.
3:34AM on 21st September 2010
I think this is actually a good idea. There's a minimal impact on UI, and its a presentation of advertising that people will "put up with" because they feel like it actually has a purpose.
That being said, UI and acceptance of this type of advertising would likely drop off sharply if sites start adding uneccessary "captcha" ads to sell more ad space.
Director at Adido Limited
8:24AM on 21st September 2010
Agree with others on this, simple idea which will should work very well for all concerned. There are obviously people who will resent 'another' brand being put infront of you, like Jim above, and they obviously have a point, but for advertisers and average users it looks like a bit of a win win. Personally I find the captcha things are getting harder to read than ever and I quite often end up typing in what I think the word is several times as it is so hard to decipher!
9:12AM on 21st September 2010
What a great idea, this should really drive online advertising in to a new era. I agree with Gary reading the captcha code has become more and more difficult over the last year or so. Often the words/numbers are so obstructed that its truly impossible to decipher.
9:19AM on 21st September 2010
Just like to comment on the irony that in order to enter this comment, I have had to respond to a conventional reCaptcha. Thats all.
Director of US Sales & Marketing at Brodart Co.
1:39PM on 21st September 2010
Income potential aside, any improvement in user experience is a good thing. I for one would much rather retype a legible "advertisement" than try to figure out if that character in the captcha is an "O" or a "Q"...those damn things drive me nuts.
3:30PM on 21st September 2010
I absolutely love this idea. What an increadible (and simple) solution to a long held problem. Great usability for the customer and an increadible marketing opportunity for the advertiser. Clean, simple, and wish I had thought of it first!
Ugh and now I have to use a traditional Captcha to post this comment :(
11:28AM on 22nd September 2010
The whole point of a captcha is that you are trying to render text that is not programmatically determinable. Having easily read text on the page, with a big arrow pointing to it, is a bit of a pointless exercise.
"It's true that the text in these units is infinitely more legible than that in your typical captcha - and thus enhances user experience."
If you don't need captcha it has no purpose. Not great UX. If you do need captcha then you're going to need to have another captcha with the squiggly, gibberishy words to actually prevent the malicious behaviour you're trying to protect against. Not great UX.
The whole thing is bonkers, I imagine it sounds great to the marketing teams - who doesn't want to force the user to repeat verbatim your marketing message? - but it will never be adopted as a resonable alternative to cutrrent captcha.
4:28PM on 22nd September 2010
Great idea...
Sometimes the CAPTCHA images are nearly unreadable.
I could enter them even quicker if they used slogans that are already in my conciousness - "I'd rather have a bowl of coco pops" and "only from Tomy" for example....
8:05PM on 27th September 2010
Great stuff! I hate captcha's and this will make a nice replacement.
1:27AM on 29th September 2010
Captcha's are annoying so this is a great idea. Thanks.
11:29AM on 20th October 2010
I don't agree with it to be honest. Captcha is used as a way of verifying conscious usage more and more on blogs and forums as they try to protect against programs automatically submitting links to other sites. People are increasingly using forums and blogs as a way to avoid big company interruption marketing strategies and get an insight into real people with real opinions, having to prove you're human by being subjected the kind of blanket marketing users are to trying to move away from would in many cases negate the authenticity of sites who implemented it.
Captcha appear to moving away from the more indescript or criptic messages anyway, to simpler text. I'm someone whose trying to flag wave for Captcha but I'd rather input a couple of words that be reminded that I can get O% APR on a Toyota Corolla every five minutes.
11:32AM on 20th October 2010
That was supposed to be *not* somone who is trying to flag wave for Captcha
11:05PM on 15th January 2011
quello che stavo cercando, grazie
10:39PM on 12th April 2011
Most good folks have attained their biggest success just one step beyond their biggest failure
2:16PM on 26th November 2012
What a great idea, this should really drive online advertising in to a new era. I agree with Gary reading the captcha code has become more and more difficult over the last year or so. So, thanks your blog side.
6:41PM on 23rd January 2013
I thought it was just me; the captcha's are completely unreadable on some sites!
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