Report: Consumers trust branded websites more than ads

That’s good news for PR pros and communicators fighting over budget dollars with their advertising colleagues.

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Fighting for more content dollars? You just got some ammunition, thanks to a Nielsen report.

Branded websites are trusted more than TV ads, banner ads, text ads, online video ads, and ads on social networks, according to Nielsen’s Digital Consumer Report (pdf).

Of those surveyed, 52 percent trust content they find through branded websites, compared with TV ads (46 percent) or when they’re paid to click (36 percent). Thirty-two percent trust social media ad campaigns. The report doesn’t define “branded websites,” but we assume that they are company websites. Consumers simply have a greater affinity for familiar consumer brands than they do for promotional content.

Globally (except in Japan), Google is the No. 1 Web brand, YouTube is a top 10 online destination, and Facebook is among the top three sites (again, except in Japan).

Men vs. women

We already know we’re from different planets offline, but what about online? Although most people (97 percent) who access social networking sites do so from their computers, there are some differences between the sexes.

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