Display advertising

Example of display advertisingfeaturing geotargeting

Display advertising conveys its advertising message visually using text, logos, animations, videos,
photographs, or other graphics. Display advertisers frequently target users with particular traits to
increase the ads' effect. Online advertisers (typically through their ad servers) often use cookies,
which are unique identifiers of specific computers, to decide which ads to serve to a particular
consumer. Cookies can track whether a user left a page without buying anything, so the advertiser
can later retarget the user with ads from the site the user visited.
As advertisers collect data across multiple external websites about a user's online activity, they can
create a detailed profile of the user's interests to deliver even more targeted advertising. This
aggregation of data is called behavioral targeting.[27] Advertisers can also target their audience by
using contextual to deliver display ads related to the content of the web page where the ads
appear.[21]:118 Retargeting, behavioral targeting, and contextual advertising all are designed to
increase an advertiser's return on investment, or ROI, over untargeted ads.]
Advertisers may also deliver ads based on a user's suspected geography through geotargeting. A
user's IP address communicates some geographic information (at minimum, the user's country or
general region). The geographic information from an IP can be supplemented and refined with other
proxies or information to narrow the range of possible locations.[29] For example, with mobile devices,
advertisers can sometimes use a phone's GPS receiver or the location of nearby mobile
towers.[30] Cookies and other persistent data on a user's machine may provide help narrowing a
user's location further.[29]
Web banner advertising
Web banners or banner ads typically are graphical ads displayed within a web page. Many banner
ads are delivered by a central ad server.
Banner ads can use rich media to incorporate video, audio, animations, buttons, forms, or other
interactive elements using Java applets, HTML5, Adobe Flash, and other programs.
Frame ad (traditional banner)
Frame ads were the first form of web banners.[19] The colloquial usage of "banner ads" often refers to
traditional frame ads. Website publishers incorporate frame ads by setting aside a particular space
on the web page. The Interactive Advertising Bureau's Ad Unit Guidelines proposes standardized
pixel dimensions for ad units.[31]
Pop-ups/pop-unders
A pop-up ad is displayed in a new web browser window that opens above a website visitor's initial
browser window.[32] A pop-under ad opens a new browser window under a website visitor's initial
browser window.[1]:22 Pop-under ads and similar technologies are now advised against by online
authorities such as Google, who state that they "do not condone this practice".[33]
Floating ad
A floating ad, or overlay ad, is a type of rich media advertisement that appears superimposed over
the requested website's content. Floating ads may disappear or become less obtrusive after a preset
time period.
Expanding ad
An expanding ad is a rich media frame ad that changes dimensions upon a predefined condition,
such as a preset amount of time a visitor spends on a webpage, the user's click on the ad, or the
user's mouse movement over the ad.[34] Expanding ads allow advertisers to fit more information into
a restricted ad space.
Trick banners
A trick banner is a banner ad where the ad copy imitates some screen element users commonly
encounter, such as an operating system message or popular application message, to induce ad
clicks.[35] Trick banners typically do not mention the advertiser in the initial ad, and thus they are a
form of bait-and-switch.[36][37] Trick banners commonly attract a higher-than-average click-through
rate, but tricked users may resent the advertiser for deceiving them.[38]
News Feed Ads
"News Feed Ads", also called "Sponsored Stories", "Boosted Posts", typically exist on social media
platforms that offer a steady stream of information updates ("news feed"[39]) in regulated formats (i.e.
in similar sized small boxes with a uniform style). Those advertisements are intertwined with non-
promoted news that the users are reading through. Those advertisements can be of any content,
such as promoting a website, a fan page, an app, or a product.
Some examples are: Facebook's "Sponsored Stories",[40] LinkedIn's "Sponsored Updates",[41] and
Twitter's "Promoted Tweets".[42]
This display ads format falls into its own category because unlike banner ads which are quite
distinguishable, News Feed Ads' format blends well into non-paid news updates. This format of
online advertisement yields much higher click-through rates than traditional display ads[43][44]
Display advertising process overview
The process by which online advertising is displayed can involve many parties. In the simplest case,
the web site publisher selects and serves the ads. Publishers which operate their own advertising
departments may use this method.

Online advertising serving process - simple publisher case

The ads may be outsourced to an advertising agency under contract with the publisher, and served
from the advertising agency's servers.

Online advertising serving process using an ad agency

Online advertising serving process using online bidding

Alternatively, ad space may be offered for sale in a bidding market using an ad exchange and real-
time bidding. This involves many parties interacting automatically in real time. In response to a
request from the user's browser, the publisher content server sends the web page content to the
user's browser over the Internet. The page does not yet contain ads, but contains links which cause
the user's browser to connect to the publisher ad server to request that the spaces left for ads be
filled in with ads. Information identifying the user, such as cookiesand the page being viewed, is
transmitted to the publisher ad server.
The publisher ad server then communicates with a supply-side platform server. The publisher is
offering ad space for sale, so they are considered the supplier. The supply side platform also
receives the user's identifying information, which it sends to a data management platform. At the
data management platform, the user's identifying information is used to look up demographic
information, previous purchases, and other information of interest to advertisers.
Broadly speaking, there are three types of data obtained through such a data management platform:
First party data refers to the data retrieved from customer relationship management (CRM)
platforms, in addition to website and paid media content or cross-platform data. This can include
data from customer behaviors, actions or interests.[45]
Second party data refers to an amalgamation of statistics related to cookie pools on external
publications and platforms. The data is provided directly from the source (adservers, hosted
solutions for social or an analytics platform). It is also possible to negotiate a deal with a particular
publisher to secure specific data points or audiences.[46]
Third party data is sourced from external providers and often aggregated from numerous websites.
Businesses sell third-party data and are able to share this via an array of distribution avenues.[47]
This customer information is combined and returned to the supply side platform, which can now
package up the offer of ad space along with information about the user who will view it. The supply
side platform sends that offer to an ad exchange.
The ad exchange puts the offer out for bid to demand-side platforms. Demand side platforms act on
behalf of ad agencies, who sell ads which advertise brands. Demand side platforms thus have ads
ready to display, and are searching for users to view them. Bidders get the information about the
user ready to view the ad, and decide, based on that information, how much to offer to buy the ad
space. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, a demand side platform has 10 milliseconds to
respond to an offer. The ad exchange picks the winning bid and informs both parties.
The ad exchange then passes the link to the ad back through the supply side platform and the
publisher's ad server to the user's browser, which then requests the ad content from the agency's ad
server. The ad agency can thus confirm that the ad was delivered to the browser.[48]
This is simplified, according to the IAB. Exchanges may try to unload unsold ("remnant") space at
low prices through other exchanges. Some agencies maintain semi-permanent pre-cached bids with
ad exchanges, and those may be examined before going out to additional demand side platforms for
bids. The process for mobile advertising is different and may involve mobile carriers and handset
software manufacturers.[48]

Interstitial
An interstitial ad displays before a user can access requested content, sometimes while the user is
waiting for the content to load.[49] Interstitial ads are a form of interruption marketing.[50][51]
Text ads
A text ad displays text-based hyperlinks. Text-based ads may display separately from a web page's
primary content, or they can be embedded by hyperlinking individual words or phrases to
advertiser's websites. Text ads may also be delivered through email marketing or text message
marketing. Text-based ads often render faster than graphical ads and can be harder for ad-blocking
software to block.[52]

Search engine marketing (SEM)]

Search engine marketing, or SEM, is designed to increase a website's visibility in search engine
results pages (SERPs). Search engines provide sponsored results and organic (non-sponsored)
results based on a web searcher's query.[21]:117 Search engines often employ visual cues to
differentiate sponsored results from organic results. Search engine marketing includes all of an
advertiser's actions to make a website's listing more prominent for topical keywords.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization, or SEO, attempts to improve a website's organic search rankings in
SERPs by increasing the website content's relevance to search terms. Search engines regularly
update their algorithms to penalize poor quality sites that try to game their rankings, making
optimization a moving target for advertisers.[53][54][55] Many vendors offer SEO services.[1]:22
Sponsored search]
Sponsored search (also called sponsored links, search ads, or paid search) allows advertisers to be
included in the sponsored results of a search for selected keywords. Search ads are often sold via
real-time auctions, where advertisers bid on keywords.[21]:118[56] In addition to setting a maximum price
per keyword, bids may include time, language, geographical, and other constraints.[21]:118 Search
engines originally sold listings in order of highest bids.[21]:119 Modern search engines rank sponsored
listings based on a combination of bid price, expected click-through rate, keyword relevancy and site
quality.[23]

Social media marketing

Social media marketing is commercial promotion conducted through social media websites. Many
companies promote their products by posting frequent updates and providing special offers through
their social media profiles.[57]

Mobile advertising
Mobile advertising is ad copy delivered through wireless mobile devices such
as smartphones, feature phones, or tablet computers. Mobile advertising may take the form of static
or rich media display ads, SMS (Short Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)
ads, mobile search ads, advertising within mobile websites, or ads within mobile applications or
games (such as interstitial ads, "advergaming," or application sponsorship).[1]:23 Industry groups such
as the Mobile Marketing Association have attempted to standardize mobile ad unit specifications,
similar to the IAB's efforts for general online advertising.[51]
Mobile advertising is growing rapidly for several reasons. There are more mobile devices in the field,
connectivity speeds have improved (which, among other things, allows for richer media ads to be
served quickly), screen resolutions have advanced, mobile publishers are becoming more
sophisticated about incorporating ads, and consumers are using mobile devices more
extensively.[1]:14 The Interactive Advertising Bureau predicts continued growth in mobile advertising
with the adoption of location-based targeting and other technological features not available or
relevant on personal computers.[1]:14 In July 2014 Facebook reported advertising revenue for the June
2014 quarter of $2.68 billion, an increase of 67 percent over the second quarter of 2013. Of that,
mobile advertising revenue accounted for around 62 percent, an increase of 41 percent on the
previous year.

Email advertising
Email advertising is ad copy comprising an entire email or a portion of an email message. [1]:22 Email
marketing may be unsolicited, in which case the sender may give the recipient an option to opt out of
future emails, or it may be sent with the recipient's prior consent (opt-in).
Chat advertising]
As opposed to static messaging, chat advertising refers to real time messages dropped to users on
certain sites. This is done by the usage of live chat software or tracking applications installed within
certain websites with the operating personnel behind the site often dropping adverts on the traffic
surfing around the sites. In reality this is a subset of the email advertising but different because of its
time window.

Online classified advertising

Online classified advertising is advertising posted online in a categorical listing of specific products
or services. Examples include online job boards, online real estate listings, automotive listings,
online yellow pages, and online auction-based listings.[1]:22 Craigslist and eBay are two prominent
providers of online classified listings.

Adware
Adware is software that, once installed, automatically displays advertisements on a user's computer.
The ads may appear in the software itself, integrated into web pages visited by the user, or in pop-
ups/pop-unders.[58] Adware installed without the user's permission is a type of malware.[59]

Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing occurs when advertisers organize third parties to generate potential customers for
them. Third-party affiliates receive payment based on sales generated through their
promotion.[1]:22 Affiliate marketers generate traffic to offers from affiliate networks, and when the
desired action is taken by the visitor, the affiliate earns a commission. These desired actions can be
an email submission, a phone call, filling out an online form, or an online order being completed.

Content marketing
Content marketing is any marketing that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing
content in order to acquire and retain customers. This information can be presented in a variety of
formats, including blogs, news, video, white papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-to
guides and more.
Considering that most marketing involves some form of published media, it is almost (though not
entirely) redundant to call 'content marketing' anything other than simply 'marketing'. There are, of
course, other forms of marketing (in-person marketing, telephone-based marketing, word of mouth
marketing, etc.) where the label is more useful for identifying the type of marketing. However, even
these are usually merely presenting content that they are marketing as information in a way that is
different from traditional print, radio, TV, film, email, or web media.

Online marketing platform

Online marketing platform (OMP) is an integrated web-based platform that combines the benefits of
a business directory, local search engine, search engine optimisation (SEO) tool, customer
relationship management (CRM) package and content management
system (CMS). Ebay and Amazon are used as online marketing and logistics
management platforms. On Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and other Social
Media, retail online marketing is also used. Online business marketing platforms such
as Marketo, Aprimo, MarketBright and Pardot have been bought by major IT companies (Eloqua-
Oracle, Neolane-Adobe and Unica-IBM).
Unlike television marketing in which Neilsen TV Ratings can be relied upon for viewing metrics,
online advertisers do not have an independent party to verify viewing claims made by the big online
platforms.[60]

Compensation methods
Main article: Compensation methods
Advertisers and publishers use a wide range of payment calculation methods. In 2012, advertisers
calculated 32% of online advertising transactions on a cost-per-impression basis, 66% on customer
performance (e.g. cost per click or cost per acquisition), and 2% on hybrids of impression and
performance methods.[1]:17
CPM (cost per mille)
Cost per mille, often abbreviated to CPM, means that advertisers pay for every thousand displays of
their message to potential customers (mille is the Latin word for thousand). In the online context, ad
displays are usually called "impressions." Definitions of an "impression" vary among
publishers,[61] and some impressions may not be charged because they don't represent a new
exposure to an actual customer.[62] Advertisers can use technologies such as web bugs to verify if an
impression is actually delivered.[63][64]:59
Publishers use a variety of techniques to increase page views, such as dividing content across
multiple pages, repurposing someone else's content, using sensational titles, or publishing tabloid or
sexual content.[65]
CPM advertising is susceptible to "impression fraud," and advertisers who want visitors to their sites
may not find per-impression payments a good proxy for the results they desire.[66]:14

CPC (cost per click)

CPC (Cost Per Click) or PPC (Pay per click) means advertisers pay each time a user clicks on the
ad. CPC advertising works well when advertisers want visitors to their sites, but it's a less accurate
measurement for advertisers looking to build brand awareness.[67] CPC's market share has grown
each year since its introduction, eclipsing CPM to dominate two-thirds of all online advertising
compensation methods.[1]:18[66]:1
Like impressions, not all recorded clicks are valuable to advertisers. GoldSpot Media reported that
up to 50% of clicks on static mobile banner ads are accidental and resulted in redirected visitors
leaving the new site immediately.[68]

CPE (cost per engagement)

Cost per engagement aims to track not just that an ad unit loaded on the page (i.e.,
an impression was served), but also that the viewer actually saw and/or interacted with the ad.[69][70]

CPV (cost per view)

Cost per view video advertising. Both Google and TubeMogul endorsed this standardized CPV
metric to the IAB's (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Digital Video Committee, and it's garnering a
notable amount of industry support.[71] CPV is the primary benchmark used in YouTube Advertising
Campaigns, as part of Google's AdWords platform.

CPI (cost per install)

The CPI compensation method is specific to mobile applications and mobile advertising. In CPI ad
campaigns brands are charged a fixed of bid rate only when the application was installed.

Attribution of ad value
Main article: Attribution (marketing)
In marketing, "attribution" is the measurement of effectiveness of particular ads in a consumer's
ultimate decision to purchase. Multiple ad impressions may lead to a consumer "click" or other
action. A single action may lead to revenue being paid to multiple ad space sellers.[72]

Other performance-based compensation

CPA (Cost Per Action or Cost Per Acquisition) or PPP (Pay Per Performance) advertising means the
advertiser pays for the number of users who perform a desired activity, such as completing a
purchase or filling out a registration form. Performance-based compensation can also
incorporate revenue sharing, where publishers earn a percentage of the advertiser's profits made as
a result of the ad. Performance-based compensation shifts the risk of failed advertising onto
publishers.[66]:4, 16

Fixed cost
Fixed cost compensation means advertisers pay a fixed cost for delivery of ads online, usually over
a specified time period, irrespective of the ad's visibility or users' response to it. One examples is
CPD (cost per day) where advertisers pay a fixed cost for publishing an ad for a day irrespective of
impressions served or clicks.

Benefits of online advertising

Cost
The low costs of electronic communication reduce the cost of displaying online advertisements
compared to offline ads. Online advertising, and in particular social media, provides a low-cost
means for advertisers to engage with large established communities.[57] Advertising online offers
better returns than in other media.[66]:1

Measurability
Online advertisers can collect data on their ads' effectiveness, such as the size of the potential
audience or actual audience response,[21]:119 how a visitor reached their advertisement, whether the
advertisement resulted in a sale, and whether an ad actually loaded within a visitor's view.[63][64]:59 This
helps online advertisers improve their ad campaigns over time.

Formatting
Advertisers have a wide variety of ways of presenting their promotional messages, including the
ability to convey images, video, audio, and links. Unlike many offline ads, online ads also can be
interactive.[20] For example, some ads let users input queries or let users follow the advertiser on
social media.[74] Online ads can even incorporate games.[75]
Targeting
Publishers can offer advertisers the ability to reach customizable and narrow market segments for
targeted advertising. Online advertising may use geo-targeting to display relevant advertisements to
the user's geography. Advertisers can customize each individual ad to a particular user based on the
user's previous preferences.[28] Advertisers can also track whether a visitor has already seen a
particular ad in order to reduce unwanted repetitious exposures and provide adequate time gaps
between exposures.[76]

Coverage
Online advertising can reach nearly every global market, and online advertising influences offline
sales.[77][78][79]

Speed
Once ad design is complete, online ads can be deployed immediately. The delivery of online ads
does not need to be linked to the publisher's publication schedule. Furthermore, online advertisers
can modify or replace ad copy more rapidly than their offline counterparts.[80]

Concerns
Security concerns
According to a US Senate investigation, the current state of online advertising endangers the
security and privacy of users.[81]

Banner blindness
Eye-tracking studies have shown that Internet users often ignore web page zones likely to contain
display ads (sometimes called "banner blindness"), and this problem is worse online than in offline
media.[82] On the other hand, studies suggest that even those ads "ignored" by the users may
influence the user subconsciously.[83]

Fraud on the advertiser

There are numerous ways that advertisers can be overcharged for their advertising. For
example, click fraud occurs when a publisher or third parties click (manually or through automated
means) on a CPC ad with no legitimate buying intent.[84] For example, click fraud can occur when a
competitor clicks on ads to deplete its rival's advertising budget, or when publishers attempt to
manufacture revenue.[84]
Click fraud is especially associated with pornography sites. In 2011, certain scamming porn websites
launched dozens of hidden pages on each visitor's computer, forcing the visitor's computer to click
on hundreds of paid links without the visitor's knowledge.[85]
As with offline publications, online impression fraud can occur when publishers overstate the number
of ad impressions they have delivered to their advertisers. To combat impression fraud, several
publishing and advertising industry associations are developing ways to count online impressions
credibly.[86][87]

Technological variations
Heterogeneous clients
Because users have different operating systems, web browsers[88] and computer hardware (including
mobile devices and different screen sizes), online ads may appear to users differently from how the
advertiser intended, or the ads may not display properly at all. A 2012 comScore study revealed that,
on average, 31% of ads were not "in-view" when rendered, meaning they never had an opportunity
to be seen.[89] Rich media ads create even greater compatibility problems, as some developers may
use competing (and exclusive) software to render the ads (see e.g. Comparison of HTML 5 and
Flash).[90]
Furthermore, advertisers may encounter legal problems if legally required information doesn't
actually display to users, even if that failure is due to technological heterogeneity. [91]:i In the United
States, the FTC has released a set of guidelines indicating that it's the advertisers' responsibility to
ensure the ads display any required disclosures or disclaimers, irrespective of the users'
technology.[91]:48
Ad blocking
Ad blocking, or ad filtering, means the ads do not appear to the user because the user uses
technology to screen out ads. Many browsers block unsolicited pop-up ads by default.[92]Other
software programs or browser add-ons may also block the loading of ads, or block elements on a
page with behaviors characteristic of ads (e.g. HTML autoplay of both audio and video).
Approximately 9% of all online page views come from browsers with ad-blocking software
installed,[93] and some publishers have 40%+ of their visitors using ad-blockers.[4]
Anti-targeting technologies
Some web browsers offer privacy modes where users can hide information about themselves from
publishers and advertisers. Among other consequences, advertisers can't use cookies to serve
targeted ads to private browsers. Most major browsers have incorporated Do Not Track options into
their browser headers, but the regulations currently are only enforced by the honor system.[94][95][96]

Privacy concerns
The collection of user information by publishers and advertisers has raised consumer concerns
about their privacy.[29][64] Sixty percent of Internet users would use Do Not Track technology to block
all collection of information if given an opportunity.[97][98] Over half of all Google and Facebook users
are concerned about their privacy when using Google and Facebook, according to Gallup.[99]
Many consumers have reservations about online behavioral targeting. By tracking users' online
activities, advertisers are able to understand consumers quite well. Advertisers often use technology,
such as web bugs and respawning cookies, to maximizing their abilities to track
consumers.[64]:60[100][101] According to a 2011 survey conducted by Harris Interactive, over half of
Internet users had a negative impression of online behavioral advertising, and forty percent feared
that their personally-identifiable information had been shared with advertisers without their
consent.[102][103] Consumers can be especially troubled by advertisers targeting them based on
sensitive information, such as financial or health status.[100] Furthermore, some advertisers attach the
MAC address of users' devices to their 'demographic profiles' so they can be retargeted (regardless
of the accuracy of the profile) even if the user clears their cookies and browsing history.[citation needed]

Trustworthiness of advertisers
Scammers can take advantage of consumers' difficulties verifying an online persona's
identity,[104]:1 leading to artifices like phishing (where scam emails look identical to those from a well-
known brand owner)[105] and confidence schemes like the Nigerian "419" scam.[106][107][108] The Internet
Crime Complaint Center received 289,874 complaints in 2012, totaling over half a billion dollars in
losses, most of which originated with scam ads.[109][110]
Consumers also face malware risks, i.e. malvertising, when interacting with online
advertising. Cisco's 2013 Annual Security Report revealed that clicking on ads was 182 times more
likely to install a virus on a user's computer than surfing the Internet for porn.[111][112] For example, in
August 2014 Yahoo's advertising network reportedly saw cases of infection of a variant
of Cryptolocker ransomware.[113]