Display Advertising
Display advertising refers to visual banner ads "” images, HTML5, and rich media "” shown in defined placements on websites and apps, historically the foundational programmatic format.
Key takeaways
- Display ads are visual banner units placed on sites and apps.
- Standard sizes are defined by IAB guidelines for consistency.
- Display was the original programmatic format and remains high-volume.
- 'Banner blindness' pushed the market toward richer, native, and video units.
Standards and formats
Display spans static images, animated HTML5, and rich media. The IAB's size guidelines "” evolving from fixed 'standard' units toward flexible and responsive formats "” keep creative interoperable across publishers. Display's low cost and huge scale made it the workhorse on which programmatic infrastructure was first built.
Strengths and limits
Display offers cheap, scaled reach and is excellent for retargeting and awareness, but suffers from banner blindness "” users learning to ignore ad-shaped boxes "” and low engagement relative to video and native. That dynamic drove growth in higher-impact formats even as display volume stayed enormous.
| Formats | Static, HTML5, rich media |
|---|---|
| Standards | IAB size guidelines |
| Strength | Cheap, scaled reach |
| Weakness | Banner blindness, low engagement |
Frequently asked questions
What is display advertising?
It's visual banner advertising "” images, HTML5, and rich media "” placed in defined slots on websites and apps. It was programmatic's original and still highest-volume format.
What is banner blindness?
It's the tendency of users to consciously or unconsciously ignore banner-style ads, which reduces display engagement and pushed the market toward native and video formats.