The Law of Shitty Click-Throughs: Every Marketing Channel Gets Crowded and Stops Working—Unless You Keep Testing

In the early days of web advertising, a single banner ad drew clicks like crazy—some claimed three out of every four people who saw it would actually click. But as banners appeared everywhere, people tuned them out. Today, those same ads barely attract a fraction of the clicks, no matter how bright the colors or clever the headlines. This decline isn’t a fluke or a failing; it’s the so-called 'Law of Shitty Click-Throughs.'

Simply put, as more companies pile into a channel that’s working—whether that’s Instagram Reels, email newsletters, or sponsored podcasts—audiences get overloaded and stop responding. Prices go up. Results go down. What feels like a sure bet becomes yesterday’s news before you know it.

Winners don’t cling to past successes or complain about changing times. Instead, they build testing into their process. The best marketers keep a portion of their effort (and budget) set aside for new experiments: a different ad platform, a fresh creative format, or even a forgotten channel their competitors stopped using. As soon as the main tactic stalls, they already know what’s next.

This insight connects to the psychological concept of hedonic adaptation and market saturation models—people (and systems) naturally get used to what used to feel new, leading to a rapid drop-off in effectiveness. Smart operators treat every trick as temporary and always seek what's next.

Start by writing down the baseline click, conversion, or sales numbers for every marketing (or communication) effort you're running right now. Make a weekly habit of launching at least one small-scale experiment with a new channel, tool, or message—and keep your results side-by-side in a simple document. Whenever you see your go-to tactic stalling or getting expensive, pivot quickly to something fresher—there’s no harm in moving on when the market shifts. Let your testing mindset be the constant, not any single tactic. Put a reminder in your calendar this week and try a new tool or approach.