I recently read an article about online ad placements and I was disappointed to learn that there are online advertisers that are still blogging and recommending that people place their online ads on the left side of the page (where the left side navigation usually is). The strategy is that by positioning the ads there people are more likely to click them.

I would anticipate the following results from a website that positions their ads where the left navigation usually is:

1. People will feel deceived by that tactic and they will resist clicking on the ads out of spite
2. Sneaky ad placements like these lower the trust value of your webpage
3. By association, ad-spam-layouts lower the trust value of the advertiser's products/services
4. It lowers the usability of the website
   
5. It will keep you out of online search engines that focus on webpage quality for their search results

Dan Montano authors a transdisciplinary blog about ways of thinking for the 21st century.