The Future Of Online Advertising

While we have become used to the Internet as a free medium where we can

read and interact with any content we want, it is the fact that it is an advertiser’s

medium that keeps it free. And that means that as technologies evolve and the

way we interact with content changes, so advertising follows.

Previously the level of interaction a web user had with a website could be

measured by the number of pages of that website the user viewed. Now,

technology such as AJAX and rich media such as video mean that the time

spent on a web page can be more meaningful than the number of pages

viewed. The key word here is “engagement”, and technology and data analysis

is working towards being able to determine how websites can quantify the level

of engagement with a viewer.

A little online research will reveal plenty of commentary declaring the decline

of display advertising. Increasingly, consumers are becoming both weary

and wary of advertising. Clickthrough rates on banners are dropping, so the

effectiveness of display advertising is being questioned by some. With the focus

in digital marketing on tracking and measuring response and engagement,

should a company spend money on less measurable activities such as “brand

building”, where they are paying on a CPM basis?

Consider this: anecdotal evidence shows that banner advertising can increase

clickthrough rates on contextual adverts by 249% (Godin, 2006).

Using third-party ad servers and post impression tracking, the effect of

different advertising and marketing channels on each other can be observed.

Banner advertising can see an increase in search volume, for example.

What does this tell us? Measurement should take place across all channels,

and no channel should be utilised in isolation. The best results will be gained

through an integrated and holistic approach to digital marketing.