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Obnoxious Banner Ads Turn 15 Years Old, No One Cares

by Caleb Johnson on October 28, 2009 at 11:01 AM

The banner advertisement is getting older. On Tuesday, the former revenue generator once plastered across many a Web page, turned 15 years old. But, according to Silicon Alley Insider, it's not aging gracefully. Banners, which debuted by plugging companies like Volvo and AT&T on the site Hotwired, peaked in the mid-'90s with a click-through rate of 78-percent. Now, a mere 8-percent of Internet users are responsible for 85-percent of the clicks on all banners.

Despite the banner ad's recent struggles, one of the men behind the idea, Frank D'Angelo, told Advertising Age that the online advertising market wouldn't be what it is today (a $24 billion market) without the banner ad. D'Angelo is certainly looking on the bright side of things, as the stats suggest 'shooting the ducks' have become obsolete. Frankly, it's embarrassing to think of a time when ad revenue was dependent on clicks, especially with the explosion and subsequent exploitation of Twitter by advertisers. [From: Silicon Alley Insider and Advertising Age]

Tags: advertising, banner ads, BannerAds, internet, milestone, money, online advertising, OnlineAdvertising, trends, web

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