Banners, as a form of advertising on the web, are important for businesses. Conversely customers want to navigate the site without being distracted by irrelevant or annoying ads. Design and placement of banners is not well understood and banner blindness , which occurs when users overlook the banner entirely, is what causes the ineffectiveness of the banner. This study employs eye tracking to investigate how banner background color and the banner’s relevance to users’ tasks influence banner blindness. Eye movements were collected for users performing several tasks and viewing banners in a task-free context. Different banners were counterbalanced with task order. Findings on viewing behavior and user preference based on both questionnaires and eye tracking analysis offered evidence that banner background color and relevance did not influence banner viewing behavior. Through the use of eye tracking, we attempt to identify the effectiveness of banners on a website and offer recommendations for redesign
