Online advertisers lose money for websites that are down

Google Ads, Meta Ads, programmatic media.. There are many names of online ad platforms in which companies and agencies bet their chips to attract the public, generate clicks and ideally convert this into sales or engagement. But what about when the site is down or facing instability?

Boby Vendramin, Planner of KAKOI Communication, says that the site is a living organism and needs to be fed and cared for so that it does not fail at the time it is most accurate:

“It is important for companies to understand that the site needs to be fast, responsive and up to date, including plugins, in addition, of course, to security.”

In the world of paid ads, the average cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads, for example, varies greatly, but in Brazil, it is around R$ 1 to R$ 5 per click in competitive sectors such as retail and technology. Whenever the possible customer is impacted with the ad, clicks and does not have the correct answer $ or slow 1, this leads to a loss beyond the cost of the click itself:

“First, there is the direct question of loss of sales. Imagine someone excited about an announcement of a promotion, click on the link and. nothing. The site does not load or take so long that the person gives up. This lost customer may not return, even more if you find a competitor who delivers quickly what he wants”, explains Vendramin.

According to market estimates, large online retailers lose something between 1% and 3% of daily revenue when their sites go offline. For example, in 2022, Americanas, a Brazilian e-commerce giant, had an estimated loss of R$ 250 million for four days.

User experience studies show that 53% of people abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. A Google search pointed out that the probability of bounce (when the user leaves quickly) increases by 32% if the load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds. If the site is down, this number goes to 100% of the lost clicks of the ad.