Programmatic Advertising
What is Display Advertising?
Sohel
October 1, 2025
Display advertising can be described as a kind of digital advertising that uses the use of visual elements such as animated videos, text photos, and other visuals. They are usually displayed in mobile applications and websites.
In contrast to traditional offline ads (such as billboards and printed advertisements) with the aim of raising awareness of a brand or product and awareness, displays are able to trigger instant action from the users. The majority of display ads direct viewers to the website of the advertiser where they are further enticed and progress towards the conversion.
Display advertisements come in various styles, shapes, and dimensions (literally), and each one is suited to a specific function and target audience.
Banner ads, also called image ads, appear on web pages in areas like the header, footer, or sidebar. They were the first kind of display ads and continue to be the most prominent on the internet in the present. The first banner advertisement appeared in 1994 through AT&T on HotWired, which was the first online version of Wired magazine.
In the beginning, banner advertisements had a width of 468 pixels by 60 pixels deep. However, nowadays, they come in various size standards. Horizontal banner ads (like their original design) tend to be placed at the upper part of the page in order to get the interest of the users. Banner ads that are vertical, and can be seen by users as they browse the web page, are generally situated on the right hand part of the webpage.
The banner ads are used in mobile apps to provide an income source for developers of apps. The dimension of mobile banner advertisements differs from the ones online as they are adapted to smaller mobile screens.
Native ads are designed to match the style and layout of the page where they appear. The term “native advertising” was introduced by venture capitalist Fred Wilson at the Online Media, Marketing, and Advertising Conference in 2011, but its roots trace back to print advertising.
Since native advertisements usually complement the visual style of content as well as layout and style as well, they are able to blend into the web page, rather than standing out. They are less intrusive for viewers as compared with traditional banner advertisements. Because native ads are more closely connected to the content around them, they are more in line with the viewers’ expectations.
Televisions began to show video ads as they began to become more commonplace during the 1940s. Television is today only one of the many channels that advertisers can use to advertise video such as websites and social media.
Video ads come in two types: in-stream and out-stream. In-stream video ads appear in the stream’s context video, like advertisements on YouTube as well as TikTok. In-stream video ads are not part of streaming media like traditional banner advertisements.
Rich media ads incorporate advanced options like audio and video animations, as well as other components that invite viewers to engage and interact with the content. They are typically designed with HTML5 which is the most recent version of Hypertext Markup Language, which powers contemporary web applications. Thus, rich media advertisements are often called HTML5 advertisements.
Display ad transactions involve two key parties: publishers and advertisers. Publishers are websites or mobile applications that host and show advertisements, while advertisers are the companies that create ads and then purchase them from publishers. That is to say, publishers sell their products while advertisers are buyers of a display advertisement.
There are three methods that advertisers can use to acquire advertising space from publishers: direct agreements through ad networks as well as programmatic advertising.
The name implies the term direct deal refers to an exchange of information between the advertiser and the publisher. The type of deal typically includes prominent publishers, for instance, wsj.com, as well as very big names. As there is no intermediary between buyer and seller, the pricing is decided directly by both the advertiser and the publisher. Direct contracts allow publishers to negotiate the highest-selling price while allowing the advertiser to get the best ads from the advertiser.
Ad networks gather ad inventory from many publishers and sell it to advertisers. Instead of buying advertisements directly from publishers, purchase ads through an advertising network that then sells the ads to different publishers. Through an ad network acting as an intermediary between sellers and buyers, advertisers are able to place their advertisements across multiple apps or websites without having to contact each publisher in isolation.
The Google Display Network (GDN) is the most popular ad platform, featuring over 2 million websites, videos, and apps. While it may appear to be a lot, however, this is only a small portion of the web and is thought to host more than one billion sites.
The term “programmatic advertising” refers to the method by which ad inventory is sold through an automated auction system between the advertisers and publishers. Trading takes place on the web, which is known as an ad exchange. It operates in a similar way to that of the NASDAQ stocks exchange (instead of purchasing and selling the company’s stock, both advertisers and publishers exchange space for advertising).
Advertisers are able to access the exchanges for ads through platform-based advertising programs like Google’s Display & Video 360 (DV360) as well as AdRoll; apart from helping with bidding for ads, programmatic advertising platforms offer audience targeting, creative managing, performance reports as well as other features for directing advertising campaigns.
The main benefit of advertising through display is its wide-ranging environment. As opposed to other forms of advertising on the internet — for example, search ads and social media advertising, in which a single entity displays advertisements control all channels operating through the internet’s open.
Since displays can be viewed on any site or mobile app, advertisers are able to access an enormous pool of inventory for ads from numerous advertisers. This not only keeps prices for display advertising low it also allows advertisers to effectively reach a vast number of users within their targeted viewers.
Although certain channels for advertising, like search, offer the most limited of advertising formats and display ads are accessible for advertisers in a range of types. Advertisers select from static banners or rich media ads to align with their goals and budget.
There are many options to attract your customers with display advertisements. The use of demographics, interests or lookalike targeting allows advertisers to target potential clients through the traits of their existing clients. When Google removes support for third-party cookie usage in its Chrome browser, targeted advertising — which does not rely on cookie data or other identifiers -will take on an increasingly important part when it comes to prospecting campaigns.
Retargeting is a different technique used to connect with audiences who have already had a relationship with an advertiser. It redirects users to the advertiser’s website for better engagement.
While it is highly effective, it isn’t free of challenges. Common obstacles that marketers encounter include ad blindness or blockers for ads, as well as the fatigue of advertising.
The phenomenon of blindness to ads is a general condition where people become used to not paying attention to all kinds of advertising regardless of the message or their frequency. This is because of the overwhelming amount of advertisements that are encountered every day and causes people to automatically block out ads as they browse through multiple media outlets. Since it decreases the efficacy of ads on display, ad blindness is a major issue for marketers.
To avoid advertising blindness, they need to work hard to ensure that their advertisements stand out from the rest and draw the attention of viewers with pertinent messages, appealing imagery, and a well-planned placement.
Ad blockers allow users to stop ads from appearing on web pages.They function by eliminating ads from users’ view while they surf on the web. Internet users looking to improve their browsing experience on the internet by removing unnecessary ads are using them frequently. Blockers for ads benefit the user but pose an issue for advertisers since they reduce the visibility and the number of people who view their ads.
Ad fatigue is when customers encounter the same advertisement, leading to lower engagement and less performance as time passes.
It’s crucial to know that ad fatigue is distinct from ad blindness as well as ad blockers. Ad blindness refers to the tendency of people to ignore the ads in their entirety; ad fright is the result of repeatedly being exposed to a specific advertising. Ad fatigue reduces the effectiveness of advertisements that ultimately be seen by the public, thus less effective.
Take the following example A retailer of clothing introduces a campaign on the internet to announce its latest environmentally friendly fashion line. The targeted audience initially responds favourably to the advertisement, and the website’s traffic is significantly increased as well as increasing sales.
However, as time passes and people see the same adverts repeated over and over across different sites, interested buyers become bored of the same ads. The initial excitement and interest diminish, and customers get bored of seeing the same ads every time they visit the internet. Therefore, the chance of people clicking on ads or engaging with the content of the brand decreases and the campaigns’ general effectiveness.
The retailer may need to alter its targeted tactics to appeal to new demographics of customers and rotate different ads, or even replace their ad designs frequently to combat the effects of ad fatigue. By doing this, it is possible to maintain the effectiveness of their online marketing campaigns by making sure that their advertising content is interesting and distinctive.
Ad blindness, blockers of ads, and fatigue from ads are becoming more common; marketers should look into alternatives to advertising or employ strategies to bypass blocking devices and make sure that they reach their audience in the way they want them to advertisements.
Companies can profit from advertising through display by strategically placing themselves and effectively timing their ads. Despite having exceptional products or products, an organization’s revenues will stagnate if the audience isn’t aware of it. Advertising on display is an essential method for businesses looking to increase awareness and boost sales.
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