Display Advertising

Display advertising is, in its simplest definition, the act of advertising on websites. There are many different forms of display advertising that are used every day by businesses and organizations in order to push products, deliver brand messages, and make general announcements about the business.

Display advertising can be anything from content media to banner ads, using mainly images, video, and audio files to convey a message. Display advertising typically strays away from the more traditional forms of text-based ads, relying on visual stimuli to draw in a reader and a potential new customer. They are typically placed in premade “boxes” on websites, usually along the top or side margins of a page. It is built this way so that it does not interfere with the content of the website itself, but it is still obvious and visible as an advertisement.

All the Details

There are several types and forms of display advertising that may be useful across all Internet and digital platforms. Popular types of display advertising content include:

• Infographics
• Branded videos
• Images embedded in an article
• Rich media ads, such as a video that will begin as soon as the page opens, or ads that expand to show more information when the mouse hovers over them
• Interstitial ads, which is a full-screen ad that appears in the middle of an activity, such as when a user is moving from one page of an article to another
• Overlay ads, which is a transparent type of ad where the user can still see what’s behind it, but it must be X’d out or closed before allowing them to view the website’s content

Display Advertising Versus Native Advertising

Some people can get confused between the definitions of display advertising versus native advertising. While both make use of advertising space, and both are part of paid campaigns, there are a lot of differences between the two.

Native ads focus on blending in with the web content, whereas display ads create a unique image or video that stands out on the page and makes a “pop” to the visitors who see it.

Display advertising has flexibility in terms of the type, size, style, and placement of these noteworthy ads. However, some users can get annoyed if there are too many display ads in one location, causing them to leave the website and never come back to visit again. While display ads are used regularly, they are also ignored regularly.

Things to Consider

When considering a display advertising campaign, there are a lot of ways that you can make it successful in order to prevent customers from ignoring it:

• Try to complement the website that it is on – The more relevant and aesthetically similar the ad is, the less annoying it will be to customers.
• Use a lot of visual stimulation – This does not mean clutter your ad with too much information. Having an appealing infographic or other form of display can draw readers in.
• Try not to interrupt – Users do not like it when their content viewing is interrupted. Try to place your ads somewhere else.

Although it is one of the more traditional forms of digital marketing, display advertising has come a long way, and efforts are being made to incorporate it in a way that is less invasive.