Your statement “because the consumer is in control and disruptive messaging is irrelevant to someone who has a established purpose” is something I have always thought as well, and reminded me of a test we had done and along those lines an explanation for the results of the test.

Seth Godin says this all the time, the net is a terrible branding medium… in fact it’s the worst possible medium for branding because the consumer is in control and disruptive messaging is irrelevant to someone who has a established purpose.

That, I think, is the message here – if you want to hit a demo sans purpose disruptive adverts are the vehicle of choice. :) Otherwise, do your homework, find niche sites that are of value to your audience, and offer those people something creative/interesting/valuable, rather than just sticking your corporate logo in a banner.

If you’re making a comment on the sad state of marketing accountability, I’m also with you. Some online media folks will buy anything!

Otherwise, I’m not sure why you would remove the potential for a click, since some people would certainly want more information beyond what you could put in an ad…

Another way to say this is (personally) I don’t think Branding on the web happens at the ad level, it happens at the site.