Ad Age reported this week that there are fewer ads on the web today than there were a year ago.  While we are all still bombarded by annoying pop-ups, banner ads and now more and more in-content ads, apparently they are on the decrease:

In aggregate, web surfers are exposed to 12% fewer display-ad impressions per page view than they were a year ago, according to ComScore AdMetrix data.

This is probably a good thing for both advertisers and consumers….. consumers face less clutter and harassment from ads, and advertisers have higher quality ads… wait – why is this good for advertisers?  Less clutter is actually better for advertisers.

Dynamic Logic has been looking at clutter for a while and has found it reduces the likelihood of a message getting through. Last year, a study conducted with Dynamic Logic, Starcom and DoubleClick found that a 15% increase in ads on a page results in about a 10% decline in click-through rate.

“We found clutter variables didn’t impact awareness messages as much but did affect lower-funnel metrics such as message association and purchase intent,” said Ken Mallon, senior VP-custom solutions, Dynamic Logic. “As you increase clutter, the message is less likely to be conveyed.”

Is the economy really to blame for this decrease? Who knows.  I think that advertisers are getting smarter about how they spend their online dollars, and as things like social media become less scary and unknown, more dollars are shifting into integrated campaigns with multiple touchpoints vs. display based advertising.