Adding More to the Ads

Display advertising is the most innovative form of lead-generation marketing. The ads themselves, the technologies they use, and the ways that advertisers present the ads to customers have also evolved over time. When the Internet began, display ads were limited to image ads with static images or brand logos. The ads had to follow restrictive guidelines: They could be placed only in certain areas on a webpage, the images had to fit into a certain box or profile, and Web users had very limited interaction with the ads.

But then, advertisers and Web developers started to introduce new technologies to display ads. They added features like Flash animation, audio, and embedded video, and created ads that can expand on rollover. (The ad expands to page size when Web users roll the cursor arrow over it, using their mouse or touchpad.) Web developers also created pop-up ads that pop up in a new window or as a page overlay whenever someone accesses a certain site. (These are now called “modal ads.” Many advertisers don’t use them anymore because Web surfers find them annoying. But they are still in use on some websites.)

Also, Web developers now have the ability to place a display ad virtually anywhere on a webpage. A good example is Pandora, an Internet music/radio site, where the background of the webpage displays video/animation ads for online games and products like Sobe drinks. Developers can customize ads to reflect the theme or content of any webpage so they will appeal to the site’s regular audience of users. Display ads are now using advanced programming languages such as HTML 5, which allows webpages to better support audiovisual features within the ads.

In addition, advertisers are adapting display ads to serve new and emerging online mediums. The advent of smartphones and tablet computers has created new opportunities to exploit display advertising even more. You now have interactive experiences based on taps and touches instead of clicks, and new ways to create an interactive experience on the iPhone or iPad that happens from the time users see the display ad to the time they interact with it.

For example, Cadillac has teamed up with a website called Cool Hunting that promotes the latest trends and fashions in art, clothing, jewelry, electronics, etc. The Cool Hunting site offers an interactive app that promotes the Cadillac CTS and CTS-V coupes. Procter & Gamble’s Pampers brand offers a “Hello, Baby” app that allows pregnant women to chart the development of their baby. Users can interact with life-sized images of a developing baby, plan events and doctor’s appointments with a pregnancy calendar, and provide pregnancy updates to friends on Facebook. I’m positive that, in the years to come, we will continue to see further innovations and technologies that provide us with new and exciting ways to experience a display ad.