Today we’re talking about display advertising. You’ve seen it. You’ve ignored it. You’ve probably clicked one by accident while trying to close it. But here’s the thing: it still works. And not just for shady weight loss pills or oddly specific T-shirts. Done right, display ads can build serious brand visibility, retarget lost customers, and sneak into your audience’s brain like a catchy jingle they didn’t ask for.
So, what exactly is display advertising?
Let’s start with the basics. Display advertising is a type of paid online ad that relies on visuals—banners, images, videos, or interactive media—to get your message in front of people. Unlike search ads, which pop up when someone types in “best running shoes for flat feet,” display ads show up based on targeting parameters. That could mean the content of the page, your browsing habits, or whether you once looked at a pair of sneakers and then ghosted the checkout page.
These ads show up across websites, apps, and social platforms, usually through big ad networks like the Google Display Network (GDN). GDN alone reaches more than 90 percent of global internet users across over 2 million sites and apps. That’s… a lot of eyeballs.
There’s also Meta’s Audience Network, Amazon DSP, and programmatic exchanges like The Trade Desk. Think of these platforms as giant vending machines for ads; you put in your budget, targeting, and creative, and out comes a campaign that follows your audience across the internet like a very persistent dog.
What do these ads actually look like?
Display ads come in all shapes and file types. You’ve got your standard static banners (those flat image ads), animated GIFs for a little motion, HTML5 interactive ads that respond to user actions, and of course, video ads; pre-roll, mid-roll, or those sneaky outstream ones that play in the middle of articles.
The sizes are standardized by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which sounds like a secret society, but is really just a group that makes sure your ad fits where it’s supposed to. Common sizes include 300×250 (medium rectangle), 728×90 (leaderboard), and 160×600 (wide skyscraper). Yes, the names are weirdly architectural.
Now, let’s talk targeting
Because without it, you’re just throwing banners into the void.
Display advertising’s real power comes from how precisely you can aim. You can match ads to the content of a page (contextual
targeting), or to people’s past behavior (behavioral targeting). You can zero in on demographics like age or income, or go after lookalike audiences; people who resemble your current customers, but haven’t met you yet.
Then there’s retargeting. That’s when someone visits your site, doesn’t buy, and suddenly sees your ad everywhere. It’s not magic. It’s cookies. Or rather, it was cookies. More on that in a bit.
The point is, display ads let you be strategic. You’re not just showing ads. You’re showing up where your audience already is.
And how does this all actually happen?
Enter programmatic advertising. Most display ads these days are bought and sold through automated real-time bidding (RTB). Imagine a split-second auction happening every time a page loads. Advertisers bid for the chance to show you an ad, and the highest bidder wins. All of this happens faster than you can blink.
Programmatic platforms use AI to make those decisions; who to show the ad to, how much to bid, and where it should appear. It’s efficient, data-driven, and, frankly, a little spooky.
For a deeper dive, check out this explainer on programmatic advertising.
But how do you know if it’s working?
You measure it. Display campaigns are tracked through metrics like impressions (how many times your ad was shown), click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), and view-through conversions (VTC). That last one’s important. It tracks people who saw your ad, didn’t click, but came back later and converted. Because not everyone buys the first time. Sometimes they need a nudge. Or five.
Then there’s return on ad spend (ROAS), which tells you how much revenue you made for every dollar spent. The smarter your attribution model, the better you can see how display fits into the bigger picture. Google Ads, for example, offers data-driven attribution that distributes credit across multiple touchpoints, not just the last click.
So, why use display ads at all?
Because they scale, they retarget, and they get your brand in front of people who didn’t know they needed you yet. They’re especially good for awareness and mid-funnel nudging. Plus, with automation and AI, you can launch and tweak campaigns without needing a full-time analyst chained to a dashboard.
But it’s not all sunshine and CTRs
There are challenges. Banner blindness is real. People have learned to ignore ads, especially ones that look like they belong in 2009. Ad fraud is a thing too, with bots and click farms generating fake traffic. And then there’s viewability. Just because an ad was served doesn’t mean anyone actually saw it.
Privacy regulations are also reshaping the game. GDPR, CCPA, and the slow death of third-party cookies mean advertisers need to rethink how they track and target. Contextual targeting and first-party data are making a comeback, like vinyl records, but slightly less romantic.
What’s next?
A few trends are shaping the future of display. First, cookieless targeting. Google’s Privacy Sandbox and Unified ID 2.0 are two of the big players trying to build a more private, yet still targetable, web.
Then there’s AI-powered creative optimization. That’s a mouthful, but it basically means machines are now helping design and test ad variations in real time. They figure out which images, headlines, or calls to action perform best, and adjust accordingly.
And finally, display is moving beyond the browser. Connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) platforms are bringing display-style ads to your smart TV. So yes, that banner ad might show up during your next Hulu binge. Here’s the latest on video ad spend.
Display advertising isn’t glamorous. It’s not the shiny new toy. But it’s reliable. It’s adaptable. And when used well, it gets results. Like a good trench coat or a solid cup of coffee. It’s not flashy, but it’s hard to beat.
That’s the breakdown.
We’ll be back with more.
Until then, keep building.
– Perfect Sites Blog