Comments on: Putting banner ads out to pasture

By: David Spark

David Spark — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:24:44 +0000

Unless that flashy banner has something timely or relevant about it, it’s pointless in my mind. I know you can probably cite a bunch of click through statistics showing that Flash banners perform better than static banners. And I’ll also show you that current blog posts blow both of them out of the water.

I’m simply saying that there are a lot of people like me that completely ignore online ads yet we spend an inordinate amount of time online. If advertisers want to reach us, they need to stop throwing all their money into static or animated banner ads.

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:53:53 +0000

Well I think you cannot rule out the effectiveness of banner ads all together. it depends on the banner itself ( I mean the graphics)whether they are attracting the attention of the viewer or not. Flash are better

By: Graham Humphreys

Graham Humphreys — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:28:41 +0000

Dave – thanks for the article. I feel the concept of using advertising real-estate for ‘live’ (rss) feeds has far greater utility for consumers. And folks who know me know I love utility: http://tinyurl.com/yjq2b5k.

But whatever the possibilities of the format, the old-school truths remain: you need ‘brand’ activity to cultivate your market, and ‘direct’ activity to harvest it. (We are badly in need of some new industry vocabulary here).

Beyond this, everything else is just a question of the tools you use. Every job is different. And so there are many, many at our disposal – far more than those in which our risk-averse industry over-invests.

But on some jobs, just occasionally, you need to pick that ‘flash banner’ tool, rusted and cobwebbed, from it’s forgotten corner in the back of the toolshed…

By: David Spark

David Spark — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:36:47 +0000

Again, repeating my earlier comment, I think it’s a bad route. You can actually get BOTH (click through and search lift) instead of one. Still advertise using the ad networks, but replace those static ads with something relevant using RSS.

By: Mario Sgambelluri

Mario Sgambelluri — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:19:13 +0000

if we’re measuring banner effectiveness on clicks, sure, get rid of ‘em. however, banners “generate significant lift in brand-site visitation, trademark search (searching for, say, Toyota or Prius) and both online and offline sales among those exposed to the ads,” reported AdAge. More here: http://tinyurl.com/y9eskow

By: David Spark

David Spark — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:15:57 +0000

Charlie, great input and yes you’re right. The problem is if you’re ONLY doing static brand ads, you’ll NEVER reach a person like me. And I know there are tons of other people out there that never click on ads.

But, with that said, I’m happily a member of MyCokeRewards, so I actually do have a connection with the brand. They reach me by sending me reminder messages that I need to keep adding points so I don’t lose them.

While I’m happily a member of MyCokeRewards, I’ve never clicked on a Coke banner ad and never will.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:12:43 +0000

Thanks, Dave for the article. I agree with your point that banner ads tend to be terrible on a direct conversion/ROI level.

However, I think the posting above omits a very important reason why display advertising should exist both now and into the future: Brand advertising.

So many players in the online community (advertisers, publishers, agencies etc…) are focused on the bottom of the funnel selling and immediate conversions that they forget that the basis for many consumer purchases are seeded at the brand association level, days, months or even years before the consumer actually make a purchase.

Think of brands like Coca-Cola, Clorox, Crest, Colgate, McDonalds, Budweiser, Nike, Marlborough, Pepsi, Dial, etc… How would you know which toothpaste to buy or have that “understanding” that drinking Gatorade– and not any other type of electrolyte sugar water — will help your performance if you were not introduced to it through brand-based advertising years before.

I am guessing far less than 8% of people who see an ad for a product in a magazine immediately run to the store to buy the item, and yet most advertisers and agencies will tell you these ads are highly influential. Why are online display ads any different?

I think the bigger challenge moving forward will be to put together the analysis to see in what ways banner ads influence people and then open the minds of online advertisers to realize that advertising online can do far more to improve your market-share than just the results of immediate conversions…