mobile - Is there a "best place" to put ads in an app to avoid user irritation or will users look over them anyway?

I'm embarking on a new project and one of the stipulations from the client is that the Android app I am designing MUST have banner ads in it but they are also to be put where they will "cause the least amount of irritation". The revenue made from these ads is based on impression rather than clicks so it makes sense to put them where they are least likely to get in the way This made me wonder, is there somewhere to place ads that will annoy users less than if they are placed elsewhere or do users just ignore ads anyway?

I know that this shares some points with web based advert placement but as with all things mobile it has it's own unique problems.

Most apps seem to put their ads at the bottom of the screen, however a fair few put them at the top now too. I know from personal experience that I tend to look over ads and don't really notice them so if I place the ads in these usual places will it cause less irritation to the user? Have users seen so many ads that their eyes automatically skip over them in a sort of mental ad block?

Answer

Android developer docs has a section titled Advertising Without Compromising User Experience

Unfortunately, it only highlights the don't do's rather than the do's:

When deciding where to place ads within your application, you should carefully consider user-experience. For example, you don’t want to fill the screen with multiple ads that will quite likely annoy your users. In fact, this practice is banned by some ad networks. Also, avoid placing ads too closely to UI controls to avoid inadvertent clicks.

Not the most helpful, but I think it's because you're already going down a limited path when you start implementing ads. That said, I would stick to common patterns. Deciding between top and bottom placement should depend on your layout (i.e. away from controls).

In response to some of the other discussion about ads in general, a user experience will be diminished by ads, but less so by targeted ads as a result of a value-for-value tradeoff (i.e. free product that has ads).

I'm taking a bit from another thread, but if the rest of you are more interested in this, check it out.

Appending to my prior answer.

I found this use of banner ads to be a good example for a couple reasons:

• Not blatantly staring at the user the whole time


• Doesn't force the user to close it


• If accidentally tapped, it doesn't launch the browser (only expands and requires one more tap to launch browser).


• Despite being loud, it's not cleverly hidden/disguised to attract unwanted taps.