Nielsen Online: Kids Encounter Ads Less Than Adults

Kids and teens encounter far less advertising than do adults as they surf the Web, according to a new report issued by Nielsen Online, perhaps bucking conventional wisdom that the younger, social networking and instant messaging-loving generation is constantly bombarded by banner ads. Nielsen's analysis found that kids 2-11 endure the lowest level on ad clutter on the Internet, while the 12-17 group experiences the second lowest level, based on the company's new "clutter expose" metric for online advertising. Meanwhile, the 65 and older Web surfing crowd sees more ads than any group, reported Nielsen, which found that higher ad clutter correlates with consumers' ages. The researcher said its new clutter exposure measures pieces together data from a variety of sources, including it's own Web site audience reports as well as ad campaign data—include page views, impressions, time spent and even ad pixel numbers. The hope is to give advertisers information on where on the Web they can place ads without getting drowned out.