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Display Advertising

What is Display Advertising?

Simply put, display advertising refers to the practice of advertising using visual banners that appear on websites, apps, and other digital platforms. These banners can contain images, text, animations, or videos and are designed to attract attention and encourage users to engage with the ad.

The term “display advertising” is primarily used for digital banners that appear on websites and mobile apps. When it comes to physical billboards or posters, such as those seen along highways or in public spaces, the term “out of home (OOH) advertising” is more commonly used.

A typical example of display advertising is the banners with photos, graphics, or animations that you see on news websites, blogs, e-commerce platforms, and social media. These ads can be static images or dynamic and interactive banners that change based on user behavior, location, or browsing history.

How does Display Advertising work?

There are many aspects that Display Advertising covers. Here are a few examples:

Bidding and deals

In the past, advertisers made direct agreements with websites and provided a display banner. For years now, ad space for display banners has been managed through tools. This also applies to direct agreements that are still being made.

Most advertisers use tools like Google Ads to advertise with display banners. In these tools, you can create a structure with campaigns and underlying ad groups, where you can specify what type of websites or which kind of users should see your display banner.

Different pricing models

There are different pricing models for display advertising. The most common ones are:

  • Cost per click (CPC): You pay for the number of clicks that lead to your website. The abbreviation stands for “Cost per Click.”
  • Cost per 1000 impressions (CPM): You pay per 1000 impressions of your banner, regardless of whether someone clicks on it. The abbreviation stands for “Cost per Mille.”

Targeting

A key advantage of display advertising is the ability to target specific audiences. Advertisers can choose from various targeting methods to ensure their banners reach the most relevant users. Some common targeting options include:

  • Demographic targeting: Focuses on users based on age, gender, income, or other personal attributes.
  • Interest-based targeting: Uses browsing behavior to show ads to users who have shown interest in related topics.
  • Contextual targeting: Places ads on websites with content that matches the ad’s theme or keywords.
  • Geotargeting: Displays ads to users in specific locations, from entire countries to local neighborhoods.
  • Remarketing: Targets users who have previously visited a website, encouraging them to return and complete an action.

By using a combination of these targeting strategies, advertisers can increase the effectiveness of their campaigns and maximize return on investment.

AI Optimization

Artificial Intelligence plays an increasingly important role in display advertising. AI-driven tools help advertisers optimize their campaigns by analyzing large amounts of data and making real-time adjustments. Some key ways AI improves display advertising include:

  • Automated bidding: AI adjusts bids in real-time to maximize conversions while staying within budget.
  • Predictive analytics: AI predicts which users are most likely to engage with an ad based on past behavior.
  • Creative optimization: AI tests different ad variations and automatically selects the best-performing design.
  • Fraud detection: AI identifies and prevents fraudulent clicks or impressions to protect ad budgets.
  • Dynamic ads: AI personalizes ads based on user behavior, showing the most relevant content to each viewer.

By leveraging AI, advertisers can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve the performance of their display advertising campaigns.

How to use Display Advertising effectively?

The most important aspect of advertising is showing the right message to the right person at the right time. With search engine advertising, you already have an idea of the user’s intent, but with display advertising, this is more difficult, making these campaigns harder to make profitable. By using remarketing audience lists, you can better align with user intent and avoid extremely high costs.

Which display banner formats are popular?

According to Google, the following banner sizes perform best:

  • 300 x 250 pixels (Medium Rectangle Banner)
  • 336 x 280 pixels (Large Rectangle Banner)
  • 728 x 90 pixels (Leaderboard Banner)
  • 300 x 600 pixels (Half Page Banner)
  • 320 x 100 pixels (Large Mobile Banner)

You can also choose to create responsive ads.

Want to learn more?

Display Advertising is a broad topic with endless possibilities. If you would like advice or need help implementing it in your organisation, feel free to reach out via the form below 
or call  +31 651378397.