Do display banners actually "display" to anyone?

Share This Post

A common question that clients have about placing digital advertising is the question of is anyone actually going to see their display banner.  Of course, the same can be asked about radio, television, outdoor, print and direct mail, but clients are a little more cautious about display advertising at times.
To help answer that question, several media outlets, including The New York Times, have reported that Google will announce a new web analysis tool that will offer more insights regarding ad performance and will even go as far as to report if the ad is actually seen by the visitor to the site, even if it is not clicked on.
My hope is that this will help advertisers understand that we should not expect such incredibly high engagement rates on display banners, such as 80%.  I believe that first time digital advertisers tend to look at performance reports and be very disappointment by CTRs that are 0.9% or even 2%, which as you and I know are actually very good.
I think advertisers then go on to believe that users are not engaging with their message because the CTR is not near 100%.  If we think about those statistics more closely, we realize that the action of clicking really just means that user wants to learn more about the offer.  It’s the same action that someone would take if they picked up the phone to call about a special they heard on the radio or visited a website after viewing a billboard, however the click is simply tied directly to an impression.
While I don’t anticipate Google’s new measurement tool to calm the worries of all the skeptics, I do hope that this opens another avenue that will showcase that digital advertising is a viable medium for advertising messages.

More To Explore

Current360 2024 Predictions crystal ball

2024 Predictions

Thanks to everyone who responded to our 2024 Predictions survey last month. While the sample size wasn’t quite the size of a Pew or Nielsen,

Contact Us

"*" indicates required fields

I am not a robot
Ed Sharp Current360 headshot

Ed Sharp

Ed brings 15 years of traditional and digital media sales experience to the agency, giving us a perspective most agencies don’t have. When he’s not working or seeking new knowledge, Ed hangs out with his wife, two kids, two dogs, one cat, and a hamster. And yes, the cat and hamster are best friends.

Chaney Given

Chaney is a talented and accomplished designer and illustrator, who has expanded his skill set to include motion graphics and video editing. With nearly a decade of experience, his client work includes Waterstep, Baptist Health, the Archdiocese of Louisville Catholic Schools, First Harrison Bank, and many more