Abstract

Media websites (e.g., news, video platforms) rely on user engagement to ensure profitability, growth, and relevance. To this end, they often offer customization options to encourage users to spend more time on pages, visit more pages, and return to the website. Previous studies have focused on web customization for desirable editorial content (e.g., topics of news articles). Our research examines ad quantity customization (AQC), or how users interact with websites that offer choice-based versus direct-exposure advertising models. We reveal a counterintuitive dynamic: While ads are typically viewed as detrimental to user engagement, they can be strategically leveraged to enhance it. In a randomized field experiment covering 17,289 visits on a European music news website, only two-thirds (66.6%) of visitors used AQC to eliminate ad exposure, while the remaining one-third (33.4%) opted for a reduced or regular ad quantity. The provision of AQC was associated with 20.5% more time spent on the website, 9.5% more unique pages visited, and a 37.8% higher return rate. Furthermore, the impact of AQC on visit duration was particularly strong for users who visited the website using mobile (vs. stationary) devices. Supplementary analyses further revealed that participants accessing an AQC-enabled website spent 13.7% more time on the site and visited 6.4% more unique pages compared to participants accessing an ad-free website. This study counterintuitively reveals that elements that typically detract from user engagement can be strategically utilized to enhance it and outlines specific circumstances where users may prefer the presence over the absence of ads.

DOI

10.17705/1jais.00907

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