Animated Ads VS Static Ads

Looks like everyone says that animated is better - although some say that it really depends on the creative.  If it is engaging then it has a tendency to perform better...  Here's what the blogosphere is saying

http://www.bannersnack.com/blog/flash-banners-vs-gif-banners-vs-static-banners-part-ii/
- Static Disadvantages:

•     They are not as eye catching as the animated ones are (read more about flash banners)
•     Static banners are not interactive
•     They contain a relatively limited amout of information
•     Are easily ingnored and less effective (lower CTR)

http://www.optimus01.co.za/different-types-of-banner-ads-facts-and-stats/
Benefits of flash made banner ads include:

Interactive nature – flash banners interact with the viewer and urge them to “engage” with the ad and its message. Flash banners work well with a viewer where interaction is concerned because people are able to run their mouse over the ad as well as click on links.

Flash ad facts:

Flash banners receive higher CTR (click through rates or ratio) than other banner design types.

Animated GIF ad fact:

Studies have shown that the use of animation in a banner increases CTR as they are designed to attract a viewer’s attention.

Static banner ad facts:

Static banner ads have been noted to have a higher CTR than those that are animated when placed on blog websites and pages. Static banner ads generally suit the editorial image or environment of a blog page and rarely clash with the page that they are displayed on.

http://www.strathcom.ca/blog/2014/02/26/display-advertising-flash-ads-vs-static-ads/
Rich Media Ads
People are like cats (well, kind of)! Moving things catch their attention. Put an animated ad beside a static one, and see for yourself which one catches your eye. Animated ads also give you up to 30 seconds to get your message across, which can give you more freedom than the limited space of a static ad.

While they take more time and effort to create than a text ad or a standard image ad, Flash ads are worth the investment. They give you more freedom to be creative, and more ways to advertise your message to the public. Bottom line: flashy ads—like flashy cars—catch your customers' attention.

http://blogs.webtrends.com/2013/12/which-works-better-static-vs-animated-ads/
..... started by checking the retargeted campaigns and, in every case, the animated ads had a lower click-through rate. So I moved on to analyze all of the display campaigns, assuming the animated ads would perform better with more traditional targeting methods. I was shocked to find that in almost every single campaign – which had significant data – across all four advertisers and every targeting method, the static ads prevailed over animated ads. Here are the overall results:

Additional reading on static ads >>>