Tough CR question..Need help

[gmat_boy]

Simon observed that Internet users tend to recall best the first advertisement that they see when they get on the Internet and that they largely
ignore other ads. Theodore responded by saying that Internet advertising is losing effectiveness because the ability of Internet users to recall
the ads they see while using the Internet is decreasing. Which answer choice could synthesize these two assertions?

A) The average time an Internet user spends on line is increasing.
B) People are increasingly less likely to click through ads.
C) The average number of hours per day that people spend on the Internet is decreasing.
D) A few sites get nearly all Internet traffic.
E) Studies show that when listening to a speaker, people remember the first and last things they hear most clearly.

[smashingdon]

This is a very tough question.. I agree.. uh..

though not happy with the answer I would go with A

B.. clicking on ads are not related to remembering them
C.. does not have any connection to either statement
D.. not related
E.. listening and surfing are different I guess

A , imho, implies some connection between what Simon and Theodore are saying. So if Simon is right, people remember the first ad, and according to theodore if effectiveness of internet ads is lost which means if people see 100 ads they can remember only a few of them.. So if people spend more time then they see more number of ads, but only recall the first ad as per simon, since they see more ads and can recall only a few, I am concluding that the effectiveness of internet ads is decreasing.. So both simon and theodore are correct!

Anyways I would like to know the Official Answer and I hope my explanation is not too confusing

[LegoLife]

My answer is A.

I agree with Smashingdon's explanation.

Argument : People tend to recall early Ads better than later ads when they use the Internet.

Argument 2 : Recently, people don't remember the Ads as they did before.The effectiveness of Internet Ads is decreasing.

Putting these two together, we can only conclude that if the average time spent on Internet is increased, then the ability to recall certain Ads would decrease.

[sunil4gmat]

i would go with A as well and satisfied with smashingdon's argument, though initially i thought choice as B.................... Official Answer plzzzzzz !!!!

[surya167]

One more vote for A...
Smashingdon and Lego are right on spot!

[gmat_boy]

I had marked option (B) and got it wrong . I thought that the more ads they click, more ads they come across and lesser number of ads they remember...
Though I did not consider the fact that "Clicking on ads" would be a person's priority..he may click or he may not...So this doesnt give much support to (B)

Official Answer is as below :

(A) Very hard question. The first choice indicates that the length of time on the Internet has been increasing. This means that the first
advertisement seen represents a smaller proportion of the total advertisements viewed. Thus, (A) provides an answer that reconciles both statements.
Internet surfers, therefore, would therefore likely give less attention to subsequent advertisements, and since they are spending more time on
line, they would give less attention, proportionally, to ads in general. (E) would work if it related to the Internet, but it only speaks to the
issue of public speaking, not online advertising. None of the other answer choices can explain how both statements could be describing the same situation.

[mfeaspire]

What is the source of this Question ?

[gmat_boy]

This is from the verbal 1 exam of 800scorecom

[kikipooh]

I was able to eliminate B, D, and E. Between A & C, A explains the situation where people still remember the first ad they see and the effectiveness of the ad is decreasing.