How To Show Your Message: Types Of Display Advertising

There are many different ways to display messages online, and as technology

develops, so does online advertising. Here are some of the most common:

Interstitial banners

These are banners shown between pages on a website. As you click from one

page to another, you are shown this advert before the next page is displayed.

Sometimes the advert can be closed.

Pop-ups and Pop-unders

As the name suggests, these are adverts which pop up, or under, the web

page being viewed. They open in a new, smaller window. You will see a pop-up

straight away, but will probably only become aware of a pop-under after you

close your browser window.

These were very prominent in the early days of online advertising, but audience

annoyance means that there are now “pop-up blockers” built into most good

web browsers. This can be problematic as sometimes a website will legitimately

use a pop-up to display information to the user.

Floating advert

This advert appears in a layer over the content, but is not in a separate window.

Usually, the user can close this advert. In fact, best practice dictates that a

prominent close button should be included on the advert, usually in the top

right hand corner. Floating adverts are created with DHTML or Flash, and float

in a layer above a site’s content for a few seconds. Often, the animation ends by

disappearing into a banner advert on the page.

Wallpaper advert

This advert changes the background of the web page being viewed. Usually, it

is not possible to clickthrough this advert. The effect of these adverts is difficult

to measure as there is no clickthrough, and its chief purpose is branding as the

branded page will be visible so consistently.

Map advert

This is advertising placed within the online mapping solutions available, such

as Google Maps.

Banner advert

A banner advert is a graphic image or animation displayed on a website for

advertising purposes. Static banners are in GIFs or JPEG format, but banners

can also employ rich media such as Flash, video, JavaScript, HTML5 and other

interactive technologies. Interactive technology allows the viewer to interact

and transact within the banner. Banners are not limited to the space that they

occupy; some banners expand on mouse over or when clicked.