Indic Language Ads Fare Better Than English: Ozone Media's OPUS Report

Advertisements in regional languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam receive 30% more clicks compared to ads in English, a study by online ad network Ozone Media reports.

The report looks at the click through leads (CTL) as a percentage, so if the CTL is 2% (as it is for Hindi and Telugu), it means that of 100 users, 2 users clicked on the ad and visited the brand (which is called a "lead" that has been generated). In comparison to English, the four regional languages have received a higher average number of click throughs. The OPUS survey was the result of analysis of 1,000 campaigns between January 2010 to December 2010 and includes Indian and NRI audiences.

"Internet media, like television and radio, is moving towards becoming a mass media. This is exhibited through the high response that language ads generate compared to English ads. The consumption of regional language ad signifies the emerging trend in online marketing campaigns of the kind of spread and specific targeting brands adopt to reach their desired audience," said Kiran Gopinath, CEO and Founder, Ozone Media Solutions.

Tamil and Telugu are especially being used in campaigns by banking, finance, services and insurance (BFSI) firms as well as matrimony sites.

Among ad formats, Catfish (which are horizontal ads that slide or fade in at the bottom of a page), popunder (similar to pop up ads except that the window of the ad opens up beneath the currently viewed screen) and slider ads, which are visually demarcated and separated from content, are more efficient than those which are contiguous with the content, the report adds.

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