Digital Advertising: All Grown Up?

There’s a birthday in our midst! Digital advertising counts its 15th birthday today! And my, what a long way its come.

Fifteen years ago today, the first banner ads hit the Web. Granted they were tacky, awkward banner ads, often missing basic elements, like, I dunno, calls to action… but eureka, advertising had discovered the Internet!

Since then, digital advertising has evolved into the measurable, multi-faceted, major force of marketing it is today. And indications show there’s still improvement underway.

Premier publishers are scrubbing clean their digital ad inventories of the scummy ads that turn off audiences. From The LA Times article:

But the monkey — indeed, a whole class of flashy, shaky, maddening advertising collectively known as “punch the monkey” ads — is going away, or at least slinking off to some forgotten cavern of the Internet where few will ever see it. Like MySpace.

One ad network representative said that publishers and advertising are realizing that “Those kinds of ads can really alienate users, drive traffic away and erode the brand.”

Woo hoo! Advertisers have gotten past the point of generating junk to recognize it for what it is!

Doubts about the value of online advertising are a thing of a past. Questions about how the format works have been answered. Next stop, making the content better and the formats more engaging. There are exciting times ahead in the online advertising space.

Everyone has some growing pains to go through, and digital advertising has been no different. But with quality, trust and engagement in mind, the growth can be positive and beneficial for advertisers, publishers and consumers.

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About the Author

Virginia Nussey - Media Writer - Virginia likes to take day trips, play Rock Band and dote on her tortoise, Hiccups. You can follow her on Twitter!