Types of Display Ads in Digital Marketing

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What are Display Ads?

Display Ads represents a type of digital marketing, in which online businesses showcase their products and services, using visual and non-visual ads, that are strategically placed on publishers’ websites, mobile apps and social media platforms. Those ads enable online businesses to generate leads and sales, enhancing brand awareness and increase website traffic.

Based on my own experience in digital marketing, display ads have significantly aided me in enhancing my online presence and reaching the appropriate audience.

Display ads have evolved over the years. Nowadays, they can be used with interactive creatives, retargeting strategies and responsive technology. Great options to foster a more personal and engaging relationship with customers during their online journey and browsing experience.

Well-crafted display ads can increase website traffic, greater brand visibility and improve customer engagement. When merging compelling visuals with precise audience targeting, display ads transform into a reliable marketing strategy that encourages sustainable growth and enhances the overall success of online campaigns.

Recommended Ad Networks to Promote Your Website

• Ezmob – EZmob is an online advertising network located, established in 2013 by a group of digital marketing experts. They practical knowledge of diverse marketing technologies and platforms provides their clients with boundless reach. Their goal is to simplify the process for advertisers, media buyers, app developers and brands of all sizes to quickly launch campaigns and manage optimization.
• Mondiad – Mondiad was launched in 2019 as a natural progression from their popunder network, Popcash. Given Popcash’s remarkable success with numerous satisfied advertisers, Mondiad team is aimed to enhance their expertise and elevate it to a new level – creating a new system that is more versatile, robust and equipped with unique features.
• Evadav – EVADAV specializes in marketing performance through diverse formats such as popunders, push notifications, in-page messages, banners and native ads, utilizing CPM and CPC models.
• Popunder – Popunder is a well-known digital advertising network, focused on buying and selling traffic through their ad formats.
• Pushground – Pushground is an advertising network that offers extensive advertising and ad optimization solutions tailored for ad agencies, marketers and affiliates.

Classic Push Notifications Ads

Resemble a system alert or a personal message, Classic Push Notification Ads are interactive ads (required user consent before showing) sent straight to a user’s desktop computer, mobile device or tablet.

They show up directly as a notification on a mobile device or in the corner of a desktop display. They can reach users even when they are not actively utilizing their devices.

Since they required a user consent, when showing, they experience less of the web usability phenomenon known as Banner Blindness (a phenomenon in which users either overlook banners or banner like ads), and also effectively circumvent conventional ad blockers.

The Structure of a Classic Push Notification

A Classic Push Notification include the following parts:

• Icon – A concise square visual image (such as a logo), that immediately captures the user attention.
• Title – An impactful, concise and engaging headline prompting action (typically 30 to 50 characters).
• Description – A straightforward and succinct message (typically 150 to 250 characters) that articulates the value of the proposition.
• Image – Horizontal rectangular image.
• Destination URL – The destination the user reaches after clicking on the message. URLs of affiliate links are permitted.

Main Advantages

• Cost-Efficient – Usually purchased as a CPM (Cost Per Mille) or as a CPC (Cost Per Click), providing affordable website traffic. Mille = Per one thousand.
• High Effect – Outstanding conversion rates in various fields.
• Eminent Involvement – Users are required to engage with the push notification (either by clicking on it or dismissing it), resulting in elevated CTR (Click Through Rate).

In-Page Push Notifications Ads

In-Page Push (IPP) Notifications Ads, are display ads that resemble traditional push notifications, yet they are shown directly within a webpage as the user browses actively.

This advertising format was designed specifically to address the primary drawback of Classic Push Notifications: Users must opt-in (consenting to receive notifications). Since In-Page Push Notifications are integrated directly into the website’s design, they do not require users to opt-in.

When a user arrives at a publisher’s site, a script activates a small, unobtrusive notification box. The notification resembles an official operating system alert, capturing users’ attention instinctively, due to familiarity.

The Structure of an In-Page Push Notification

The structure of an In-Page Push Notification is similar to Classic Push Notification structure. Please see the above description.

Main Advantages

• Instant Engagement – The user is present and online at the moment they encounter the advertisement, resulting in quicker and immediate conversions.
• Enhanced CTR (Click Through Rate) – The system alert design inherently attracts significant engagement and visual emphasis.
• Access to High Value Audiences – Providing access to users who typically possess greater purchasing power.

Banner Ads

Banners are one of the first display ads on the internet. They are square or rectangular graphic promotions, integrated into a webpage to direct traffic to an advertiser’s site, mainly utilized to enhance brand visibility, implement retargeting strategies and facilitate direct conversions.

Banner Sizes Available at Ad Networks

• Skyscraper (120 x 600) – The Skyscraper, as its name implies, is a tall banner, typically placed on the side of a webpage, allowing users to view the entire content effortlessly as they scroll down.
• Wide Skyscraper (160 x 600) – One of the most notable advantages of the wide skyscraper banner is its continuous visibility. Positioned in a sidebar, it frequently remains in sight as users scroll, providing prolonged exposure time. This characteristic makes it particularly suitable for branding campaigns, where ongoing visibility is crucial.
• Square Banner (250 x 250) – Commonly accepted on ad networks. Its 1:1 aspect ratio allows for flexibility in sidebars, and on mobile websites and apps.
• Mobile Banner (300 x 50) – This banner is suitable for mobile devices. It is positioned at either the top or bottom of smartphone screens, ensuring great visibility. If your traffic primarily originates from mobile, you should certainly consider trying this option. Although it offers limited space, an engaging ad design combined with concise and persuasive ad copy can yield excellent results.
• Large Mobile Banner (300 x 100) – The banner serves as a highly efficient mobile advertising unit. Its design allows for considerably greater space for visual elements and text.
• Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) – This banner is typically the most effective banner ad available at ad networks. Is compact option, ensuring it occupies minimal space on a webpage, which allows it to appear appealing on both desktop and mobile devices.
• Medium Rectangle (315 x 300) – This banner is considered an outdated banner format. Due to its minimal advertiser demand and reduced engagement rates, most prominent ad networks, have shifted away from using it.
• Mobile Leaderboard (320 x 50) – The most commonly utilized and prevalent mobile banner format. It represents the standard banner size typically located at the top or bottom of nearly every mobile website and application.
• Small Rectangle (320 x 240) – A legacy mobile banner format. Although it gained popularity during the time of feature phones and the initial wave of smartphones, it is now considered outdated.
• Mobile Interstitial (320 x 480) – The Mobile Interstitial is a full-screen banner format specifically created for mobile devices. It usually displays at natural transition moments within a mobile website app or an app.
• Large Rectangle (336 x 280) – Ideal for advertisers seeking the advantages of a size that effectively communicate their message.
• Standard Banner (468 x 60) – One of the earliest banner formats on the internet. It was initially created for desktop sites to fit within content headers or between paragraphs. Nowadays, it is primarily a legacy format that has largely been supplanted by contemporary, high-performing sizes.
• Leaderboard (728 x 90) – This banner size is typically prominently featured at the top of a webpage. While it is often positioned above a website’s header, leaderboards can also be located above the footer, where visibility and click-through rates may be lower.
• Billboard (950 x 250) – A top-tier, high-impact banner format for desktop use. It covers nearly the full width of a standard website’s content column and is usually positioned at the very top of leading publisher websites.

The Structure of a Banner Ad

• Banner Size Selection – Choose the banner size from the available list.
• Image – An image with dimensions appropriate for the selected banner size.
• Title – Text of the headline integrated within the banner advertisement.
• Destination URL – The URL that the user arrives at after clicking the ad. It is also possible to direct to landing pages using affiliate links.

Pop Under Ads

Pop Unders display ads, are advertisements that take up a full screen size window, that load automatically at the back of the current browser window, of a website user.

In contrast to disruptive pop up ads that suddenly appear and interrupt the user’s browsing experience, pop under ads stay concealed from view. The user only becomes aware of the ad when he moves, closes or minimize his browser window, therefore pop under ads are significantly less intrusive while still ensuring good visibility.

Pros

• Low Cost – Because those ads are acquired mainly on a CPM (Cost Per Mille) model, it is considered as a less expensive ads compared to other ad types.
• Very High Traffic Volume – Pop Unders has the potential of producing massive website traffic, which is perfect for new campaigns.
• Complete Ad Viewability – Pop Under appears as a full webpage. Users are assured of viewing the entire ad page, after they complete their current browsing session.

Cons

• Ad Blocking – Numerous ad blocking solutions and stringent browser settings, automatically prevent Pop Under ads from displaying.
• Lack of Immediate Visual Interaction – Given that Pop Under ads are an intrusive format, users tend to close them swiftly. If your Pop Under pages suffers from slow loading times or have an ineffective CTA (Call to Action), you will likely see bad results.

Pop Up Ads

A Pop-Up is a type of digital marketing display ad, that unexpectedly opens in a new browser window, tab, or overlays existing website content. Created to capture instant attention, these ads are utilized to advertise products and generate leads and sales.

Pros

• Targeted Advancement – Ideal for the launch of new products, showcasing last minute sales and discounts.
• Increase in Sales Conversion Rates – Studies indicate that well-crafted Pop-Up Ads can greatly enhance customers signups and sales.
• Exalted Visibility – Pop-Up Ads are positioned directly in front of users, ensuring that their message cannot be overlooked.

Cons

• Diminished Brand Credibility – Excessive use of aggressive Pop-Up Ads can cause a premium brand to appear unreliable and spammy.
• Ad Blockers – Web browsers updates and ad blocking tools prevent Pop-Up Ads from displaying, which means a significant segment of your audience might never encounter them.
• Frustrating User Experience – High rate timed Pop-Up Ads can irritate visitors and potentially drive them away from your service or products.

VPAID and VAST Video Ads

VPAID and VAST are protocols recognized as industry standards, developed by IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) for the purpose of delivering and monitoring video advertisements across various media players.

Although the protocls are frequently utilized in conjunction, their roles are distinctly different. VPAID functions as the interactive component that enables the advertisement to react to user interactions, while VAST serves as the framework for delivering the video content.

What is VPAID?

VPAID, which stands for Video Player Ad Interface Definition, is a JavaScript based IAB standard, that operates on top of VAST to incorporate interactive features into videos.

VPAID enables the advertisement to interact with a video player, allowing it to pause the main video for users to engage with an interactive menu, complete a form within the ad unit or play a mini-game. However, since it runs external scripts, it can lead to slow loading, and can also cause the video player to stalemate.

What is VAST?

VAST is an acronym for Video Ad Serving Template. This XML based script provides specific instructions to a video player on how to function when an ad is loaded.

VAST acts as a guideline for video players. It informs players about which video file to play, the duration of playback, when to display a skip button and the destination for the user if they click on the ad. It is a static template, meaning it cannot run complex code or adapt to individual user actions.

Direct Link Ad

A Direct Link Ad, often referred to as a Direct Ad or Smart Link Ad, is a simple advertising format that lacks any visual creative elements, and consists solely of a unique URL that directs users to the advertiser’s landing page.

In contrast to conventional banner or display ads, a direct link ad lacks the visual design stage. When a user clicks on the link (which may be in the text, in an image, in a button or even in a navigation menu link), the user is redirected them to the advertiser’s landing page.

Native Ads

Native Ads resemble publishers’ websites content, facilitates precise targeting. Advertisers can optimize their campaigns to enhance user engagement and generate leads.

Further to what is written above, Native Ad is basically a digital ad format, crafted to align with the appearance, ambiance and functionality of the website is residing in. In contrast to other ads, Native Ads integrate smoothly into the user’s online experience. They manifest as a part of a website content. This seamless integration enhances user engagement.

Native Ads Top Advantages

• Reduced bounce rates, enhanced retention and improved lead quality.
• Beneficial for varoius sectors such as finance and entertainment.
• Viewability exceeds 80% on mobile devices, leading to increased user involvement.
• Achieving up to 8 times higher click through rates compared to banner ads.
• Brands foster greater trust and engagement than traditional banner ads.
• Blending websites content, providing a non-disruptive user experience.

Interstitial Ads

An interstitial ad is a screen ad that appears at certain transition points, covering the screen. In contrast to banner ads or native placements, interstitials cannot be ignored. They capture attention and are therefore among the most effective ad formats for engagement and conversions.

By appearing during user’s workflow breaks, Interstitial Ads can eliminate distractions (not always). The user is already shifting focus, making your message the center of attention.

Rather than relying on users to notice a small advertisement, this method present your ad directly to them at the optimal moment. This is why Interstitial Ads are ideal for sorts of campaigns: large scale campaigns and those aimed at specific performance objectives.

Pros

• Productive Flexibility – Enables advertisers to utilize rich media, captivating videos and even intricate interactive mini-games.
• Increased CTR (Click Through Rate) – The prominent screen presence leads to a greater number of clicks and conversions.

Cons

• Harmful User Perception – When the close button is obscured, delayed or diminutive, it significantly harms user perception of the brand.
• Disruptive – Can unexpectedly interrupt a user’s workflow (not always), leading to considerable frustration.
• Budget Reduction – Users who try to close the ad quickly often click on it unintentionally, causing the advertiser to pay for useless CPCs.

Telegram Mini Apps Ads

Telegram Mini Apps Ads serve as a marketing resource that allows advertisers to integrate their promotional content within Telegram’s web-based applications — mini-programs that function smoothly on the platform without the user’s awareness, providing an excellent additional advertising space within Telegram.

Users’ activities within the app maintain continuous engagement; they are more involved through ongoing browsing and community interaction. Telegram Mini Apps Ads enhance the experience rather than interrupt it, typically yielding higher engagement and conversion rates compared to traditional formats, as users are already in an interactive mindset.