In a moment in time where millions are surfing the web on iPhones and everyone from senior citizens to children are online, users who are new to the web are increasingly rare in the developed world. However, I exchanged emails with a site visitor who described himself as new to the web and I mentioned removing the ads for repeat visitors. Their response indicated they knew they were ads, and that they never clicked on them, and thus was a non-issue for them. Even though this guy was a senior citizen new to the web, they clearly understood the difference between content and advertising. That response goes against the commonly held belief that those who are new to the web are click-happy. Google ads are prominently labled as ads, and it's not unusual for them to display in promiment colors, despite best efforts of publishers to blend them with content. Because of those reasons and more, I'm beginning to believe that being new to the web does not necessarily make a site visitor more likely to click.
I believe that Google ads as well as other ads are functioning the way they are suppose to be, and continue to follow in that trend as the internet developes. People will click on what they are interested in. Not much more needs to be said.